Security Deposit

Money a tenant leaves with a landlord against damage or unpaid rent - held under state rules that usually require an itemized accounting within a fixed period after move-out.

Looking for a lawyer rather than a definition? Skip to the state-by-state list of law firms for this.

What it means

A security deposit remains the tenant's money held by the landlord for a limited purpose. Nearly every state regulates it, and the rules commonly cover how much may be collected, whether it must be held in a separate or interest-bearing account, and what it may be applied to - typically unpaid rent and damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, but not the ordinary consequences of someone having lived there.

The provision that decides most disputes is the accounting deadline. States generally require the landlord, within a set period after the tenancy ends, to return the deposit or provide an itemized written statement of what was withheld and why. Missing that deadline can forfeit the right to withhold anything at all, and a number of states add a penalty - sometimes a multiple of the deposit - where the failure is wrongful.

The recurring fight is the line between damage and wear and tear. Documented condition at move-in and move-out is what resolves it, and its absence is why so many of these disputes come down to two competing recollections.

Where this comes from

When people hire a lawyer for this

These claims are usually small enough for small-claims court, so the useful advice is often about the deadline and the paperwork rather than about litigation. It is worth asking when a deposit is withheld without an itemized statement, when the amounts charged look like ordinary wear, or when the sum is large - and worth knowing that a landlord who misses the statutory deadline may have lost the ability to withhold regardless of the condition of the property.

Worried about the cost? A lawyer can be hired for one part of a case only (limited-scope representation), may be paid from what a claim recovers (contingency fee), or may be free through a pro bono program or legal aid; a court can also waive its own filing fees.

Find a lawyer for this in your state

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Related terms

Other entries in the same area of law, each written from the same primary sources.

• Adverse PossessionThe doctrine by which a person who occupies land they do not own, openly and continuously for the period the state sets, becomes its owner - the elements, the "color of title" and tax-payment variations, and why it decides fence and driveway disputes far more often than it transfers whole parcels.
• Deed Types: Warranty, Special Warranty and QuitclaimWhat the different forms of deed promise about the title they convey - the general warranty deed's guarantee against every defect, the special warranty deed's narrower one, and the quitclaim deed's none - and what each is used for.
• EasementA legal right to use someone else's land for a defined purpose, without owning it.
• Eviction (Unlawful Detainer)The court process a landlord must use to make a tenant leave - and in most states, the only lawful way to do it.
• Foreclosure (Judicial and Non-Judicial)The process by which a mortgage lender takes and sells a home after default - the court-supervised route some states require and the trustee's sale others permit, the federal servicing rules that must be followed first, the loss-mitigation alternatives, and what the borrower can still owe or reclaim after the sale.
• HOA Covenants and Assessment LiensThe recorded restrictions that bind every owner in a planned community or condominium, the association that enforces them, and the assessment lien that lets it foreclose on a home for unpaid dues - what the documents control, how they are amended and enforced, and the limits the states have placed on association power.
• Homeowners Insurance ClaimHow a property loss claim actually works - what the policy covers, the duties it imposes on you, and where claims most often fail.
• Implied Warranty of HabitabilityA landlord's obligation to keep a rented home fit to live in - one the lease usually cannot sign away.
• Mechanic's Lien (Construction Lien)The statutory lien a contractor, subcontractor, supplier or laborer may record against a property for unpaid work or materials - the preliminary notices and filing deadlines that make or break it, why an owner who paid the general contractor can still face a subcontractor's lien, and how the lien is enforced or released.
• Purchase Contract ContingenciesThe conditions in a home-purchase agreement that let a buyer walk away with the deposit - inspection, financing, appraisal, sale of the buyer's current home, title - how each is exercised and waived, and what happens to the earnest money when the deal fails.
• Quiet Title ActionThe lawsuit that asks a court to declare who owns a property and to remove a competing claim from the record - used to clear an old mortgage never released, a break in the chain of title, a tax-sale or adverse-possession claim, or a deed that should never have been recorded.
• Seller Disclosure DutiesWhat a seller of a home must tell a buyer about the property - known material defects, water intrusion, structural and system problems, and under federal law lead-based paint - the state disclosure forms, the "as is" sale, and what a buyer can do when a problem was concealed.
• Title Search and Title InsuranceThe examination of public records that establishes who owns a property and what claims stand against it, and the insurance policy that pays if that examination missed something - who is protected by the lender's policy, who by the owner's, and what neither covers.
• Transfer-on-Death DeedA recorded deed that leaves a house to someone at death while changing nothing during life - available in many states, and not all.

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