Getting a deposit back in full comes down to three things: leaving on time with proper notice, leaving the place as clean as you found it apart from normal wear, and being able to prove both. Here are nine steps, in order, starting about six weeks before you move.
1. Give written notice on time
Check your lease and your state for how much notice you owe. Thirty days is the most common for a month-to-month rental, and many fixed-term leases ask for 30 or 60 days’ notice even at the end of the term. The notice to vacate by state table has every state’s minimum, and the notice to vacate letter fills in the dates. Deliver it in a way you can prove, and keep a copy.
2. Reread the lease
Four weeks out, read the move-out parts of the lease again. Look for cleaning requirements, such as a clause asking for professionally cleaned carpets; how keys, fobs and remotes must come back; any move-out form; and how the deposit is returned. Note anything that costs money if you miss it.
3. Find your move-in record
Dig out the move-in inspection checklist and your move-in photos. Anything marked there was there before you, and the landlord can’t charge you for it. No checklist? Your earliest photos, and emails or texts reporting problems, do the same job.
4. Know what can be charged
Normal wear and tear is the landlord’s cost. Damage is yours.
| Wear and tear: not chargeable | Damage: chargeable |
|---|---|
| Faded paint, light scuffs | Holes, crayon, paint colors you weren’t allowed |
| Carpet worn along walkways | Burns, pet stains, tears |
| Small nail holes from pictures | Large anchor holes, a hole in a door |
| Worn grout, a loose door handle | Broken blinds or windows, missing screens |
Fix what you broke, and fix it properly. A patch kit and matching paint cost less than a handyman’s minimum charge on the deposit statement.
Age matters too. Courts and state guides generally let a landlord charge only for the useful life an item had left. A stain on carpet with a 10-year life that is already 8 years old costs you a share of what that carpet was still worth, not a new carpet.
5. Clean to the move-in standard
Most deductions are for cleaning, and most are avoidable. Go room by room:
- Kitchen: inside the oven, the fridge and the microwave, the stovetop and hood, cabinets and drawers, the sink.
- Bathrooms: tub or shower, grout, toilet base, mirror, exhaust fan cover.
- Everywhere: floors, baseboards, window tracks and sills, light fixtures, switch plates.
- Last: every belonging, all trash, and replacement bulbs where any are out.
6. Ask for a walk-through before you leave
A week or two before move-out, ask the landlord to walk the unit with you, so you can fix whatever they point out while you still have the keys. Write down what they flag, and ask them to confirm the list by text or email. California gives tenants the right to this kind of early inspection, up to two weeks before move-out. Elsewhere it’s a courtesy many landlords will accept.
7. Photograph everything on the last day
After the last box is out, walk every room slowly on video, then take photos of each wall, floor and appliance, inside and out. Email them to yourself the same day, so the date is fixed.
Close out the utilities in your name for the move-out day, and photograph the meter readings so you aren’t billed for the next tenant’s first week. File a change of address with the post office, and update your bank and your employer, so the deposit refund and its statement find you.
8. Return every key and give a forwarding address
Return all keys, fobs, garage remotes and mailbox keys, and get a receipt, or at least a text confirming it. Give your forwarding address in writing. In Texas the landlord doesn’t have to refund or itemize until you do, and in Ohio you need to have given one to claim damages later.
Pay the last month’s rent too, in full or prorated if your lease allows it. Leaving it unpaid for the security deposit to cover invites late fees and a smaller refund.
9. Track the deadline and follow up
The landlord must return the deposit, or send an itemized statement of deductions, within a deadline your state sets: 14 days in New York, 21 in California, 30 in Texas and Ohio, 45 in Illinois and 60 in Alabama. The security deposit limits by state table lists every state’s deadline and cap.
Maya moves out of a New York apartment on Saturday, October 31, 2026. Her deposit is $2,100, one month’s rent, the most New York allows.
The landlord has 14 days, until Saturday, November 14, to return the deposit or send an itemized statement.
The statement lists $180 to patch and paint three large anchor holes, and $60 for a lost key fob. Faded paint and worn hallway carpet are wear and tear, so they aren’t on it. Maya gets $2,100 − $240 = $1,860.
Had the landlord missed the 14-day deadline, New York law says the landlord would lose the right to keep any of it. New York’s deposit rules have the details and the statute.
If the deposit doesn’t come back
- Send a demand letter. Give the move-out date, the amount, your state’s deadline and a date to pay by, such as 10 days out. Attach your photos. Many disputes end here.
- File in small claims. Small claims court handles most deposit disputes without a lawyer, for a modest filing fee. Limits run from $2,500 in Kentucky to $25,000 in Delaware and Tennessee; the small claims limits by state table has the rest.
- Ask for the penalty. Many states add damages when a landlord keeps a deposit in bad faith or misses the deadline: up to twice the deposit in California, three times the amount wrongly kept in Texas and Massachusetts.
Questions people ask
How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit?
It depends on the state: 14 days in New York and Arizona, 21 in California, 30 in Texas and Ohio, and up to 60 in Alabama. The clock usually starts when you move out and hand back the keys, and some states also need your forwarding address first.
What counts as normal wear and tear?
The slow decline that comes from ordinary living: faded paint, light scuffs, carpet worn along walkways, small nail holes from pictures. A landlord cannot charge the deposit for it. Holes, burns, stains, broken fixtures and pet damage are damage, and can be charged.
What if my landlord keeps my deposit without explanation?
Send a written demand with your move-out date, the amount and your state’s deadline, and give a date to pay by. In many states a landlord who misses the deadline or skips the itemized statement loses the right to keep any of it. Small claims court is the next step.
Written by LoomLease editors. Published September 30, 2026. Plain English, not legal, tax or financial advice: your lease, your state’s law and a professional who knows your situation decide what applies.