What to Do When Your Landlord Won't Return Your Deposit

First confirm that your state's return deadline has passed and that the landlord had your forwarding address in writing. Then send a demand letter that names your state's deposit law and the penalty it allows, and try free help, such as an attorney general complaint or mediation, before you file in small claims court. Deadlines run from 14 days after you move out in New York to 30 days in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas, and Washington, and a landlord that misses one can lose the right to keep any of the deposit or owe two or three times the amount withheld.

Step 1: Confirm the deadline has passed

Count from the event your state uses, then note the law and penalty your letter will cite:

Two timing rules can move your date. New York's 14-day rule does not cover a rent-stabilized lease signed or renewed before November 15, 2025; for those, the attorney general's guide says the deposit is due at the end of the lease or within a reasonable time after. In New Jersey, if you moved out early without legal cause but gave the notice your lease requires, the 30 days start when the unit is re-rented or the lease term ends, whichever comes first.

If the deadline has not passed yet, wait for it before you send a demand. Our guide to return deadlines explains which event starts each clock, and our overview of state security deposit laws adds the rules for Illinois, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

Step 2: Make sure the landlord had your forwarding address

• Texas: the landlord does not have to refund or itemize until you give a written forwarding address, though not giving one does not forfeit your deposit. A lease can also make advance notice of move-out a condition of the refund, but only if that clause is underlined or in conspicuous bold print, so check your lease for one. Since September 1, 2025, deposit notices and letters may go by email if you and the landlord or its agent have emailed each other before.
• California: the refund and statement go to the address you gave, or to the unit you left if you gave none, so have your mail forwarded. If you paid the deposit or rent electronically, the refund must come electronically to an account you name in writing, unless you agree in writing to another method.
• Florida: a notice of claim goes by certified mail to your last known mailing address, or by email if you signed a lease addendum agreeing to email notices. Unless your written lease says otherwise, if you leave before the lease ends or rent month to month, you must give 7 days' written notice by certified mail or hand delivery, with an address where you can be reached. Skipping that notice excuses the landlord from sending a notice of claim, though you keep your right to the deposit.

If you never gave an address, send it now in writing by a method you can prove, such as certified mail, and keep a copy.

Step 3: Compare what you received with your records

If an itemized statement arrived, check every line against your move-in checklist, photos, and receipts, using our guides to security deposit deductions and documenting your apartment's condition. In Florida, you have 15 days after you receive a notice of claim to object in writing; without an objection, the landlord may take the amount claimed, though you can still sue for it. If nothing arrived by the deadline, note that date for your letter.

Then work out the amount to demand: the deposit, plus any interest your state requires, minus any deductions you accept.

Step 4: Send a demand letter

Include:

• Your name, the rental address, your move-out date, and the date and method you gave your forwarding address.
• The deposit amount, any interest owed, the exact amount you are demanding, and each disputed deduction with your reason.
• The law and deadline from the table above, and the penalty that law allows.
• A date to pay, such as 14 days from the letter, and how you want to be paid.
• A statement that you will file in small claims court if you are not paid by that date.

Example (Massachusetts): your $2,000 deposit was not returned within 30 days after your lease ended. Your letter demands the $2,000 plus any interest owed and states that, under section 15B, a tenant who proves this violation is awarded three times the amount owed, $6,000, plus 5% interest, court costs, and attorney's fees.

Send the letter by certified mail with a return receipt, as California's tenant guide recommends, and keep a copy. California's small claims form says you must ask the defendant to pay before you sue, in person, in writing, or by phone, and the letter covers that step.

Step 5: Try free help before you sue

• Your state attorney general. Check your attorney general's website for a consumer or tenant complaint form. New York's attorney general takes rent security deposit complaints through an online form and says its office may be able to help you get the deposit back. Not every state has this route: New Jersey's Department of Community Affairs says no state agency has authority over deposit disputes there, so they go to court.
• Local agencies and legal help. California's tenant guide lists local consumer protection agencies, housing departments, rent boards, and tenant associations as places to ask, along with county bar lawyer referral and volunteer attorney programs and free law school clinics.
• Mediation. A mediator is a neutral person who helps you and the landlord reach a voluntary agreement; the mediator does not decide the case, and either side can decline to take part. California's tenant guide says court-funded county mediation programs are free to parties in certain court cases and can be used before trial or at the courthouse on the trial date.
• Free small claims advice. Each California county has a small claims advisor who helps for free.

Step 6: Decide whether to sue

• Court limits: in California, individuals can claim up to $12,500 in small claims. In New Jersey, a deposit case goes to small claims when the amount in dispute, counting the penalty, is $5,000 or less.
• Counterclaims: in California, the landlord can file a counterclaim (its own claim against you in the same case) for unpaid rent or damage, including amounts above the deposit.
• Burden of proof: in California, New York, and Texas, the landlord must prove its deductions were reasonable.
• Time to sue: in California, you have 4 years to sue on a written rental agreement and 2 years on an oral one.
• Attorney's fees: Florida, Massachusetts, Texas (for bad faith), and Washington let a winning tenant recover attorney's fees, and New Jersey lets the court award them. In Florida and Washington the winner on either side recovers fees, so a tenant who loses can owe the landlord's. In California, lawyers cannot represent either side at a small claims hearing, and the tenant guide says you collect fees only if a lawyer represented you and your lease has a fee clause.

Our guide to small claims court for deposit disputes covers filing, serving the landlord, and preparing for the hearing.