The rule
- Deposit limit
- 2 weeks’ rent (week-to-week); 1.5 months’ (month-to-month); 2 months’ (longer terms)
- Return deadline
- 30 days
- Interest owed
- Not required
- Itemized deductions
- Required
- The deadline
- 30 days after the tenancy ends and possession is returned. If damages can’t be set by then, an interim accounting is due in 30 days and a final one within 60.
- Interest
- State law doesn’t require interest on the deposit.
- Deductions
- The landlord must give you an itemized list of anything kept from the deposit.
- If it isn’t returned
- Willful failure to account or refund voids the right to keep any deposit. The tenant may recover damages, plus attorney’s fees for willful noncompliance (G.S. 42-55).
Law: N.C.G.S. §§ 42-51, 42-52, 42-55
Last reviewed September 30, 2026
Not legal advice. Statutes change; check the linked section.