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Estimate the return deadline, deposit-limit check and remaining deposit in the ten largest renter states, with the statute behind each answer.
Ordinary return deadline under the assumptions
October 22, 202621 calendar days after move-out, assuming any required termination and possession events happen that day.Refund after entered deductions
$1,850The entered deposit less $150 in proposed deductions leaves $1,850 before interest.
Deposit limit check
Within the statutory limit
Statutory limit: $2,000
Civil Code 1950.5(c)(1): one month’s rent for security collected from July 1, 2024, furnished or not. Pet, key and cleaning charges count as security; an advance payment of at least six months’ rent on a lease of six months or longer is allowed separately (1950.5(c)(2)). If a service member was charged more than the standard security, the extra must be returned after no more than six months without rent arrears (1950.5(c)(4)); that refund is not calculated.
Statute cited
Rates as of
Choose the property’s state, then enter the move-out date and the date the landlord received a forwarding address in writing.
Enter monthly rent, the deposit held, whether the property was furnished and each proposed deduction. Some states then ask for the extra facts their rules depend on. The remaining deposit is a subtraction, separate from whether a deduction is lawful.
The calculator counts calendar days from the day after the triggering date, with no weekend or holiday extension. Where state law sets no date for the entered facts, the result says so.
A California tenant moves out on October 1, 2026 and provides a forwarding address that day. Monthly rent and the deposit are both $2,000; the landlord, who is not a small landlord, collected the deposit on October 1, 2025. One proposed, documented damage deduction is $150.
The example assumes the deduction meets the legal requirements.
California Civil Code 1950.5 sets 21 days and New York General Obligations Law 7-108 sets 14. Pennsylvania (68 P.S. 250.512), Ohio Revised Code 5321.16, North Carolina General Statutes 42-52, Georgia O.C.G.A. 44-7-34 and New Jersey N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1 use 30 days with different trigger wording.
Texas Property Code 92.103 and 92.107 count 30 days from the later of surrender and a written forwarding address; until the address arrives, the period has not started. Illinois’s Security Deposit Return Act, 765 ILCS 710/1, has covered every residential building since January 1, 2024 (Public Act 103-224): a damage itemization within 30 days after the later of move-out and the end of the right of possession, otherwise full return within 45 days of move-out.
Florida Statutes 83.49 allow 15 days when no claim is made. With deductions, the landlord must send a claim notice within 30 days or forfeit the claim. If the tenant does not object within 15 days of receiving it, the balance is due 30 days after the notice date; if the tenant objects, there is no fixed date and the claim is settled by agreement or in court.
For Georgia, the result links the Department of Community Affairs handbook because the official code viewer had no linkable statute page; the sources list the enacted HB 404 text of the two-month cap.
California Civil Code 1950.5(c) uses the date the security was collected: one month’s rent from July 1, 2024, or two months for a small landlord unless the tenant is a service member; earlier security keeps the former two- or three-month limits, with lower service member limits from 2020. Georgia’s two-month cap applies to leases entered into or renewed from July 1, 2024. New Jersey allows one and a half months, and security added in a year may not exceed 10% of the current deposit; owner-occupied premises with no more than two rental units are outside its law unless the tenant invokes it. New York allows one month for standard and rent-stabilized units, with no cap for registered seasonal units or owner-occupied cooperatives. Pennsylvania and North Carolina use the tenancy history and term entered above.
No statewide dollar ceiling does not mean every amount is lawful. Local ordinances such as Chicago’s, subsidized-housing conditions, New York rent control, emergency displacement, protected early termination, deposit interest and whether a deduction is lawful are outside this estimate. Dates assume ordinary residential housing, with move-out, legal termination, surrender and acceptance on the same day where required; deposit rights depend on the tenancy and delivery evidence. Georgia move-in inspection and escrow rules are not checked, and Florida’s statutory tenant move-out notice requirements are assumed to be met.
Ask a lawyer or the housing authority when deductions are disputed, the legal end date differs from move-out, the landlord did not receive an address, the property has local deposit rules, or a tenant left after an emergency or protected early termination.
It depends on the state and what starts the clock. The ten states covered here use periods from 14 to 45 days, and some only start once a written forwarding address arrives, as in Texas. The result names its assumptions and separates a refund deadline from an accounting or claim-notice date.
California generally requires the remaining deposit and an itemized statement within 21 days after the tenant vacates (Civil Code 1950.5). Where a good-faith repair estimate is permitted, supporting receipts and any adjustment follow the statutory process. The calculator shows the ordinary 21-day date and does not decide whether an estimate or deduction is valid.
Thirty days, counted from the later of surrender and the tenant giving a written forwarding address (Property Code 92.103 and 92.107). Until that address is given, the landlord is not obligated to refund the deposit, and the calculator shows that the 30 days have not started. The tenant does not lose the deposit just by not giving an address.
The remedies depend on the state, the notice and delivery evidence, the deductions and sometimes bad faith. In Florida, for example, a claim notice sent after 30 days forfeits the claim against the deposit. A missed date does not produce an automatic damages award from this calculator, so keep the lease, move-out records, address notice and receipts, and ask a lawyer or housing authority about the remedy.
Compare three methods for part of a month, with daily rates and days charged.
Check the remaining statewide rent allowance and notice timing in California, Oregon or Washington.
Estimate interest on a deposit under state and DC rules, using your bank rate and tenancy facts.
