Disclaimer

The short version

That notice appears under every result the calculator produces and in the footer of every page. The rest of this page explains what is behind it.

Where a figure can be wrong

Being specific is more useful than a general warning, so here is the actual list.

• The law may have changed. Every state page shows the date its rule was last checked against the statute. If that date is old, treat the page with proportionate caution and follow the link to the official text, which is always current.
• Your facts may not match the rule's assumptions. The calculator works from a deposit, two dates, and a few conditions. Real tenancies have renewals, transfers between landlords, partial refunds, deposits paid in instalments and mid-tenancy rent changes. Any of those can change the answer in a way the form cannot capture.
• A city ordinance may override your state's rule. Several cities set their own deposit interest requirements that supersede the state rule, and this site does not yet cover them. If you rent in a city with its own tenancy ordinance, check it.
• Rounding and the counting of months. Interest is computed in whole months. A statute, or a court, may count a period differently at the edges.

Where the calculator refuses to answer

This is the unusual part, and it is deliberate. In two situations the site will not give you a number at all.

When no rate is published

Of the 14 jurisdictions that require interest, 9 tie the rate to whatever the account holding your deposit actually earned. There is no published figure for those — not a hard-to-find one, none at all. Only your landlord knows it.

In those states the result tells you the accrual period and what to ask your landlord for, and stops. It would be easy to substitute a plausible market rate and produce a confident number. That number would be fiction, and you might put it in an email to your landlord or in front of a judge.

When the statute genuinely does not settle it

At least one state's text supports two readings that produce materially different amounts, and no court has resolved which is right. The calculator reports that as unresolved rather than picking one. A well-formatted figure implies a certainty that does not exist.

A refusal to answer is not a failure of the tool. It is the honest answer, and it is more useful than a wrong one.

What this site is not

• It is not a law firm and gives no legal advice.
• Using it creates no attorney-client relationship and no professional duty.
• It cannot tell you how a court in your county will read your particular facts.
• It does not represent, and has no relationship with, any landlord, letting agent, property manager or tenant organisation.

If you find an error

An error in a legal rule here is the most serious kind of problem this site can have. If you find one, tell me — with the state, the figure, and the source that contradicts it. Corrections are made to the underlying record, which updates every page that depends on it.

See also the methodology page for how rules are sourced and checked, and the terms of use.