Security Deposit Deadline Calculator
Every state gives a landlord a fixed window to return your deposit or send an itemized list of deductions. Miss it, and in most states they owe you more than the deposit. Pick your state and move-out date to see the exact day the clock runs out.
California: 21 days to return the deposit or send an itemized statement (Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5).
Worth knowing: Twenty-one calendar days from when you hand back possession. Since 2025, deposits are capped at one month's rent for most landlords, and the landlord must attach receipts for any deduction over $125.
If they miss it: Up to twice the deposit in statutory damages for a bad-faith retention, plus the actual amount owed.
How the deadline actually works
In most states the clock starts when you hand back possession — keys returned, unit empty — not when the lease says the term ends. A handful of states (Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska among them) do not start the clock at all until the landlord has your written forwarding address, which is the single most common reason a tenant loses a deposit case they should have won. Put the forwarding address in writing, send it in a way that produces a receipt, and keep the receipt.
The deadline is usually satisfied by either returning the money or sending an itemized statement of deductions. A landlord who sends a real itemization on day 20 has met the deadline even if you disagree with every line. The fight then moves to whether the deductions are legitimate: normal wear and tear — faded paint, worn carpet in traffic paths, small nail holes — is not chargeable in any state.
What to do the day the deadline passes
Send a written demand before you file anything. In several states the written demand is legally required to unlock the penalty damages, and in every state it gives you a dated record that you asked and were refused — which is what a judge wants to see. Give the landlord a short, specific deadline (7 to 14 days), state the amount, cite the statute, and say what you will do next.
Get the letter written
Easy Legal AI drafts the demand with your state's statute, the deadline math, and the penalty exposure already in it, and gives you a PDF and Word file to send. Preview free.
Deadlines reviewed February 2026 against the cited statutes. Easy Legal AI is not a law firm and this is not legal advice — confirm the current text of your state's statute before relying on a date.