Security deposit itemization
Also called: deposit statement, itemized deductions, security deposit return, deposit accounting, move-out statement
The written statement a landlord must send after move-out listing each deduction from the deposit — cleaning, repairs, unpaid rent — with amounts, and returning the balance, within a deadline set by state law (commonly 14–45 days). Miss the deadline and the landlord usually forfeits it.
A security deposit is the tenant’s money held against damage and unpaid rent, and every state regulates how it comes back. The mechanism is the itemized statement: within the state’s deadline after the tenancy ends — 14 days in some states, 30 in many, 45 or 60 in a few — the landlord mails a list of each deduction with a dollar amount and a description, often with receipts or estimates attached, and a check for whatever is left. Cleaning charges, repairs beyond normal wear and tear, and rent owed are the legitimate categories; routine turnover, repainting on schedule, or replacing worn carpet at full price are not.
The deadline has teeth. In most states a landlord who misses it, or sends a lump-sum deduction with no itemization, loses the right to keep any of the deposit and in some states owes a penalty of two or three times the amount. A tenant who left a forwarding address in writing has the strongest position — the statement has to reach you.
Disputing an itemization is a small-claims matter: a demand letter citing the state statute, then a filing if it’s ignored. The evidence is the move-in inspection report, dated move-out photos of every room and appliance interior, the cleaning receipt if there was one, and the itemization itself with its inflated or unexplained lines. Cleaning deductions of $200–$500 for a unit that was left clean are the most common item disputed and, with photos, the most often reversed.