Security deposit return deadlines by state

There is no national deadline for returning a security deposit. Each state sets its own, and the spread is wide enough that assuming a familiar number from a previous tenancy is a genuine mistake — the same move-out that is comfortably inside the deadline in one state is a month late in another.

Of the 51 jurisdictions, 15 give the landlord 14 to 21 days, 26 give 30 to 31 days, and 9 give 45 days or more. The remaining one is covered below.

What the deadline is actually counted from

This is the part that catches people out, and the table below cannot capture it. A "30 day" deadline does not mean thirty days from the day you stopped living there in every state. Depending on the statute, the clock may start from:

• the date the tenancy legally ended
• the date you actually surrendered possession and handed back the keys
• the date the landlord received your written forwarding address
• the date of a final inspection

Those are materially different dates, and a dispute about whether a landlord was late is very often a dispute about which one applies. Each state page here sets out its own rule, with the statute linked, so read that before counting days.

In 7 of the 50 states with a number, the statute says something the number alone cannot carry: a second, shorter deadline running alongside it for a landlord withholding anything for damage; a competing date the count runs against, so that whichever falls later — or sooner — is the one that binds; a different period for seasonal lettings; or a cut-off after which an unclaimed deposit becomes the landlord's for good. The table gives one figure per state because that is what a table can do. Where a figure is qualified, the qualifying wording is on that state's own page, quoted from the statute.

The deadlines

Every row links to that state's page, where the deadline appears alongside the statute it comes from and the date it was last checked.

The state without a number in this table

Kentucky sets no fixed number of days. Its statute expresses the obligation differently, and its own page sets out what it requires instead. A deadline expressed as something other than a count of days is still a deadline; it does not mean a landlord may hold a deposit indefinitely.

What happens when the deadline is missed

Nearly every state attaches a consequence, and in several the consequence is considerably larger than the deposit: multiples of the amount withheld, forfeiture of the landlord's right to keep any of it, or liability for the tenant's costs. Those provisions vary far too much to summarise responsibly in one paragraph, so each state page carries its own, quoted from the statute and linked to the official text.

If your deadline has passed, the practical order of operations is inwhat to do if your landlord will not return your deposit. If your state is also one of the fourteen that require interest on the deposit, ask for both in the same letter — there isa template for that.

How this table is maintained

Every deadline on this page is generated from the same dataset that drives the state pages, so the two can never disagree. Each entry was checked against the state's own statute, and each state page shows the date its rule was last verified. Themethodology page explains the sourcing and the checks in more detail.