Landlord & tenant · all 51 jurisdictions
Deposit withheld past the statutory deadline, with or without an itemized list.
This one turns on state law. The deadline, the penalty and the statute itself are different in every state, so start by picking yours.
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
| state | deadline | penalty | statute |
|---|---|---|---|
| AL Alabama | 60 days↗ | Miss the 60 days and the landlord owes double the original deposit (§ 35-9A-201(f)). The itemized list of anything withheld is due inside the same 60 days, and neither clock starts until you have delivered possession.↗ | Ala. Code § 35-9A-201 |
| AK Alaska | 14 days↗ | Willful failure to comply: up to twice the amount withheld.↗ | Alaska Stat. § 34.03.070 |
| AZ Arizona | 14 days↗ | Twice the amount wrongfully withheld, plus the property and money due (§ 33-1321(E)).↗ | Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1321 |
| AR Arkansas | not written yet | ||
| CA California | 21 days↗✓ | Bad faith retention: statutory damages of up to twice the deposit, on top of actual damages (§ 1950.5(m)).↗✓ | Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5✓ |
| CO Colorado | 30 days↗ | No written statement in time forfeits all right to withhold anything. Willful retention: treble the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs. The landlord bears the burden of proving the withholding was not wrongful.↗ | Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-103 |
| CT Connecticut | 21 days↗ | Twice the amount of the security deposit paid. Where the only failure is the accrued interest, it is ten dollars or twice the interest, whichever is greater.↗ | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21(d) |
| DE Delaware | 20 days↗ | Double the amount wrongfully withheld (§ 5514(g)(1)). Failing to send the itemized list within 20 days is itself an acknowledgment that no payment for damages is due.↗ | 25 Del. C. § 5514 |
| DC District of Columbia | 45 days↗ | Bad-faith refusal to return a deposit is treble damages; short of bad faith the landlord is liable for the amount withheld (§ 309.5). Missing either deadline is prima facie evidence that you are owed the whole deposit plus its interest (§ 309.3).↗ | 14 DCMR § 309 |
| FL Florida | 15 days↗✓ | 15 days to return the deposit if no claim is made; 30 days to mail written notice of a claim. Miss the 30 days and the landlord forfeits the right to impose a claim at all. Prevailing party recovers costs and attorney's fees (§ 83.49(3)).↗✓ | Fla. Stat. § 83.49✓ |
| GA Georgia | 30 days↗✓ | Three times the amount withheld plus attorney's fees — but only against a landlord who owns more than ten units or uses a management agent. Smaller landlords are outside that penalty.↗✓ | O.C.G.A. § 44-7-34 |
| HI Hawaii | 14 days↗ | Wrongful and willful retention: three times the security deposit, plus the cost of the suit. Wrongful but not willful: the portion wrongfully retained, plus the cost of the suit.↗ | Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-44 |
| ID Idaho | 21 days↗ | The statute sets no multiplier and no fee-shifting for a late refund — the claim is for the deposit itself. That makes Idaho unusually weak on this, and small claims is usually the proportionate route.↗ | Idaho Code § 6-321 |
| IL Illinois | 30 days↗✓ | Twice the amount of the security deposit due, plus court costs and reasonable attorney's fees — but a circuit court has to find both halves of § 1(c): that the landlord refused the itemized statement or supplied it in bad faith, and that the landlord also failed or refused to return what was due inside the deadline. With no statement in 30 days, the full deposit is due back within 45.↗ | 765 ILCS 710/1✓ |
| IN Indiana | 45 days↗ | Failure to mail the itemized list within 45 days means no damages are due and the full deposit must be remitted. The landlord is then liable for the part withheld, plus reasonable attorney's fees and court costs (§ 32-31-3-16).↗ | Ind. Code § 32-31-3-12 |
| IA Iowa | 30 days↗ | No written statement within 30 days forfeits all right to withhold any portion. Bad-faith retention adds punitive damages of up to twice the monthly rent, on top of actual damages, and the court may award attorney fees to the prevailing party.↗ | Iowa Code § 562A.12 |
| KS Kansas | 30 days↗ | One and one-half times the amount wrongfully withheld (§ 58-2550(c)).↗ | Kan. Stat. Ann. § 58-2550 |
| KY Kentucky | not written yet | ||
| LA Louisiana | 30 days↗ | Willful failure: the portion wrongfully retained, plus $300 or twice that portion, whichever is greater (R.S. 9:3252). Failing to remit within 30 days of your written demand is itself willful.↗ | La. R.S. 9:3251 |
| ME Maine | 21 days↗ | Failing to provide the written statement or return the deposit in time forfeits the landlord's right to withhold any portion of it.↗ | 14 M.R.S. § 6033 |
| MD Maryland | 45 days↗ | Up to threefold the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney's fees. Failing to send the written list of damages within 45 days forfeits the right to withhold any of it.↗ | Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-203 |
| MA Massachusetts | 30 days↗ | Three times the deposit, plus 5% interest, court costs and reasonable attorney's fees, where the landlord failed to hold the deposit in a proper escrow account, failed to transfer it to a successor, or failed to return it within 30 days of the tenancy ending (§ 15B(7), reaching clauses (a), (d) and (e) of § 15B(6)). Failing to furnish the itemized list of damages within 30 days, or using an unlawful lease term, forfeits the right to retain anything and the right to counterclaim for damage to the unit — but does not carry the trebling.↗ | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186, § 15B |
| MI Michigan | 30 days↗✓ | No itemized list within 30 days means no damages are due and the full deposit must be returned (§ 554.610). A landlord who does not comply waives the claimed damages and is liable for double the amount retained (§ 554.613(2)).↗✓ | Mich. Comp. Laws § 554.609✓ |
| MN Minnesota | 21 days↗ | A penalty equal to the portion withheld, on top of returning that portion with interest. Bad-faith retention adds punitive damages of up to $500 per deposit.↗ | Minn. Stat. § 504B.178 |
| MS Mississippi | not written yet | ||
| MO Missouri | 30 days↗ | Twice the amount wrongfully withheld (§ 535.300(6)).↗ | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300 |
| MT Montana | 30 days↗ | No written list of damages and cleaning charges forfeits all right to withhold for them (§ 70-25-203). Wrongful withholding is worth the sum wrongfully withheld, and attorney fees may go to the prevailing party (§ 70-25-204).↗ | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-202 |
| NE Nebraska | 14 days↗ | The property and money due, court costs and reasonable attorney's fees. Willful failure that is not in good faith adds liquidated damages of one month's rent or twice the deposit, whichever is less.↗ | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1416 |
| NV Nevada | 30 days↗ | An amount equal to the entire security deposit, plus a further sum fixed by the court of up to the amount of the entire deposit (§ 118A.242(6)).↗ | Nev. Rev. Stat. § 118A.242 |
| NH New Hampshire | 30 days↗ | Twice the sum of the deposit plus any interest due, less lawful deductions for damages, unpaid rent or the tenant's share of real estate taxes (§ 540-A:8, I(b)).↗ | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 540-A:7 |
| NJ New Jersey | 30 days↗ | Double the amount wrongfully withheld, together with court costs and reasonable attorney's fees.↗ | N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1 |
| NM New Mexico | 30 days↗ | Missing the 30 days forfeits the right to withhold any part of the deposit, forfeits any counterclaim in an action brought to recover it, makes the owner liable for court costs and reasonable attorney's fees, and forfeits any independent action against the resident for damage to the rental property — in that order in § 47-8-18(D). Retaining a deposit in bad faith adds a civil penalty of $250 payable to the resident (§ 47-8-18(E)).↗ | NMSA 1978, § 47-8-18 |
| NY New York | 14 days↗✓ | Miss the 14 days and the landlord forfeits any right to retain any portion of the deposit. A willful violation adds punitive damages of up to twice the deposit (§ 7-108(1-a)(e), (g)).↗✓ | N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108✓ |
| NC North Carolina | 30 days↗✓ | An interim accounting is due within 30 days and a final accounting within 60 days where the extent of the damage cannot be determined in time. The landlord may not keep more than actual damages, and may not charge for normal wear and tear.↗✓ | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-52✓ |
| ND North Dakota | 30 days↗ | Treble damages for any security deposit money withheld without reasonable justification.↗ | N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.1 |
| OH Ohio | 30 days↗✓ | Damages equal to the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney's fees (§ 5321.16(C)) — but only if you gave the landlord a written forwarding address.↗✓ | Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.16✓ |
| OK Oklahoma | 45 days↗ | Recovery of the damage and security deposit and any prepaid rent — no multiplier and no fee-shifting. Misappropriating the escrowed deposit is separately a crime.↗ | 41 O.S. § 115 |
| OR Oregon | 31 days↗ | Twice the amount withheld without a written accounting, or withheld in bad faith (§ 90.300(16)).↗ | Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.300 |
| PA Pennsylvania | 30 days↗✓ | Unpaid after 30 days: double the amount by which the escrow exceeds actual damages. No written list within 30 days: the landlord forfeits all right to withhold anything, and to sue you for damage to the premises.↗✓ | 68 Pa. Stat. § 250.512✓ |
| RI Rhode Island | 20 days↗ | The amount due, plus damages equal to twice the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney fees.↗ | R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-18-19 |
| SC South Carolina | 30 days↗ | Three times the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney's fees.↗ | S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-410 |
| SD South Dakota | 21 days↗ | A lessor who fails to comply forfeits all right to withhold any part of the deposit. Bad-faith retention, or a bad-faith failure to give the written statement, adds punitive damages — but capped at $200, which is the lowest ceiling of any state.↗ | S.D. Codified Laws § 43-32-24 |
| TN Tennessee | not written yet | ||
| TX Texas | 30 days↗✓ | Bad faith retention: three times the portion wrongfully withheld, plus attorney's fees (§ 92.109). The landlord need not refund until you give a written forwarding address (§ 92.107).↗✓ | Tex. Prop. Code § 92.103✓ |
| UT Utah | 30 days↗ | The full deposit, the full amount of any prepaid rent, and a civil penalty of $100 (§ 57-17-5). Costs and attorney fees only where the court finds the other side acted in bad faith.↗ | Utah Code § 57-17-3 |
| VT Vermont | 14 days↗ | Missing the 14 days forfeits the right to withhold any portion of the deposit. A willful failure is worth double the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney's fees and costs.↗ | 9 V.S.A. § 4461 |
| VA Virginia | 45 days↗ | Willful failure to comply: the court orders the deposit returned, together with actual damages and reasonable attorney fees — unless you owe rent, in which case the deposit is credited against it instead.↗ | Va. Code § 55.1-1226 |
| WA Washington | 30 days↗ | The full amount of the deposit, and the landlord is barred from asserting any claim to it at all. The court may award up to twice the deposit for an intentional refusal. The prevailing party gets costs and reasonable attorneys' fees either way.↗ | RCW 59.18.280 |
| WV West Virginia | 60 days↗ | Where the noncompliance is willful or not in good faith: the unreturned deposit, plus damages for annoyance and inconvenience equal to one and a half times the amount wrongfully withheld (§ 37-6A-5).↗ | W. Va. Code § 37-6A-2 |
| WI Wisconsin | 21 days↗ | Withholding in breach of ATCP 134 is actionable under Wis. Stat. § 100.20(5) for twice the pecuniary loss, together with costs and a reasonable attorney fee.↗ | Wis. Stat. § 704.28; Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.06 |
| WY Wyoming | 30 days↗ | Unreasonable failure to comply: the full deposit and court costs. No multiplier — and if the court finds you sued unreasonably, costs can run the other way.↗ | Wyo. Stat. § 1-21-1208 |
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