Topic
Disputes with a landlord, lease problems, and getting your security deposit back — in plain English, with the right next step for your situation.
Many renters assume the lease is the whole story — that whatever it says, goes. In reality, every state layers protections on top of the lease that no clause can sign away: the right to a habitable home, limits on when a landlord can keep a deposit, and a ban on self-help evictions. A landlord who changes the locks, shuts off utilities, or hauls belongings to the curb without a court order is breaking the law in virtually every state, no matter what the lease says. Courts routinely refuse to enforce lease clauses that waive these baseline rights. So a lease that "says" a tenant has no options is often wrong about that — the floor is set by statute, not by the document either side signed.
The dollar-and-day details are where states diverge: how large a deposit can be, how many days a landlord has to return it, how much notice a rent increase requires, and how fast an eviction can move. What varies much less is the structure underneath. Every state requires some form of court process before an eviction, nearly all recognize an implied warranty of habitability, and most ban retaliation against tenants who complain to code enforcement. That split matters in practice: the broad rights travel with you between states, while the deadlines and dollar caps do not. Checking the specific numbers for the state where the rental sits — not the state a friend lived in — is usually the first real step in any dispute.
Landlord-tenant disputes tend to be won or lost on documentation rather than on who is right. A repair request made by phone is a memory; the same request sent in writing, with a date, is evidence. Move-in and move-out photos settle most deposit fights before they start, because the burden of proving damage beyond normal wear generally sits with the landlord. When these disputes do reach a courtroom, it is usually small claims — informal, fast, and built for people without lawyers — and the side that walks in with dated photos, copies of notices, and a rent-payment record has most of what the judge will ask for.
Almost every landlord-tenant right operates through a notice period: notice before entry, notice before a rent increase, notice to fix a lease violation, notice to end the tenancy. Two things follow from that. First, the number of days is jurisdiction-specific and often shorter than people expect — eviction notices in particular can be a matter of days, not weeks. Second, how the days are counted matters: when the clock starts, whether weekends count, and whether the notice was delivered the way the statute requires can each make a notice invalid. A defective notice does not usually end a dispute, but it often resets the clock — which, in an eviction, can be the time a tenant needs.
Whether the deposit amount is capped, and how many days a landlord has to return it after a tenancy ends, in every state. A cell shows a figure where a verified statute sets one; otherwise the row links that state's primary source so you can read the rule directly.
| State | Deposit cap | Return deadline | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 1× monthly rent (except for pets, changes to the premises, or increased liability risks to the landlord or premises) | 60 calendar days | Ala. Code § 35-9A-201 |
| Alaska | 2× monthly rent (Does not apply to rental units where the rent exceeds $2,000 a month; a landlord may also require an additional pet deposit (for a non-service animal) not to exceed one month's periodic rent.) | 14 calendar days | Alaska Stat. § 34.03.070 |
| Arizona | 1.5× monthly rent | 14 business days | A.R.S. §33-1321 (security deposits) |
| Arkansas | 2× monthly rent (Per Ark. Code §18-16-303, the security-deposit subchapter (including this cap) does not apply to a landlord who owns five or fewer dwelling units, unless those units are managed by a third party for a fee.) | 60 calendar days | Ark. Code §18-16-305 (refund); cap at §18-16-304 |
| California | 1× monthly rent (Since July 1, 2024 (AB 12) the cap is one month's rent for furnished or unfurnished units. A small landlord who owns no more than two residential properties with four or fewer units total may collect up to two months' rent.) | 21 calendar days | Cal. Civ. Code §1950.5 (security deposits) |
| Colorado | See source | See source | Colo. Rev. Stat. §38-12-103 |
| Connecticut | 2× monthly rent (For a tenant 62 years of age or older, the maximum is one month's rent.) | 21 calendar days | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21 |
| Delaware | 1× monthly rent (Applies where the rental agreement is for 1 year or more; the statute sets no maximum for shorter (e.g. month-to-month) terms.) | 20 calendar days | 25 Del. C. § 5514 |
| District of Columbia | Not yet sourced | — | — |
| Florida | No statutory cap | 15 calendar days | Fla. Stat. §83.49 (security deposits) |
| Georgia | No statutory cap | 30 calendar days | O.C.G.A. § 44-7-34 |
| Hawaii | 1× monthly rent | 14 calendar days | Haw. Rev. Stat. §521-44 |
| Idaho | No statutory cap | 21 calendar days | Idaho Code § 6-321 |
| Illinois | No statutory cap | 45 calendar days | 765 ILCS 710/1 (Security Deposit Return Act) |
| Indiana | No statutory cap | 45 calendar days | Ind. Code § 32-31-3-12 |
| Iowa | 2× monthly rent | 30 calendar days | Iowa Code §562A.12 |
| Kansas | 1 month's rent (unfurnished); up to 1.5 months if furnished, plus up to 0.5 month extra for pets | 30 calendar days | K.S.A. 58-2550 |
| Kentucky | See source | See source | Ky. Rev. Stat. §383.500, Ky. Rev. Stat. §383.580(1), Ky. Rev. Stat. §383.580(4) |
| Louisiana | No statutory cap | 30 calendar days | La. R.S. 9:3251 |
| Maine | 2× monthly rent | 30 calendar days | Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 14, §6033 |
| Maryland | 1× monthly rent (For leases entered into on or after October 1, 2024, the cap is 1 month's rent; a deposit of up to 2 months' rent is permitted only where the tenant qualifies for utility assistance and pays utilities directly to the landlord under a written agreement.) | 45 calendar days | Md. Code, Real Property § 8-203 |
| Massachusetts | 1× monthly rent (No lessor may require an amount in excess of the first month's rent as a security deposit (in addition to first and last month's rent and a lawful lock/key fee).) | 30 calendar days | M.G.L. c. 186, § 15B |
| Michigan | 1.5× monthly rent (Security deposit shall not exceed 1 1/2 months' rent (Mich. Comp. Laws § 554.602).) | 30 calendar days | Mich. Comp. Laws § 554.609 |
| Minnesota | No statutory cap | 21 calendar days | Minn. Stat. § 504B.178 |
| Mississippi | No statutory cap | 45 calendar days | Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-21 |
| Missouri | 2× monthly rent | 30 calendar days | Mo. Rev. Stat. §535.300 |
| Montana | No statutory cap | 30 calendar days | Mont. Code Ann. § 70-25-202 |
| Nebraska | 1× monthly rent (Limited to one month's periodic rent; a pet deposit not exceeding one-fourth of one month's periodic rent may additionally be demanded.) | 14 calendar days | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1416 |
| Nevada | 3× monthly rent | 30 calendar days | NRS 118A.242 (security deposits) |
| New Hampshire | One month's rent or $100, whichever is greater | 30 calendar days | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 540-A:7 |
| New Jersey | 1.5× monthly rent (Per N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.2; any additional security collected annually may not exceed 10% of the current security deposit.) | 30 calendar days | N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1 (return); cap at N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.2 |
| New Mexico | 1× monthly rent (This one-month cap applies to leases shorter than one year. For a lease of one year or longer, New Mexico sets no dollar cap on the deposit.) | 30 calendar days | NMSA 1978, §47-8-18 (deposits) |
| New York | 1× monthly rent (Since the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, the deposit (plus any advance) may not exceed one month's rent for most residential tenancies.) | 14 calendar days | N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law §7-108 |
| North Carolina | Up to 2 weeks' rent (week-to-week), 1.5 months' rent (month-to-month), or 2 months' rent (terms longer than month-to-month) | 30 calendar days | N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 42-51, 42-52 |
| North Dakota | 1× monthly rent (General maximum is one month's rent; the statute allows more (e.g., up to two months' rent) where the tenant has a felony conviction or a prior lease violation, and a pet security deposit may not exceed the greater of $2,500 or two months' rent.) | 30 calendar days | N.D. Cent. Code § 47-16-07.1 |
| Ohio | No statutory cap | 30 calendar days | Ohio Rev. Code §5321.16 |
| Oklahoma | No statutory cap | 45 calendar days | 41 Okla. Stat. § 115 |
| Oregon | No statutory cap | 31 calendar days | Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.300 |
| Pennsylvania | Two months' rent during the first year of the lease; no more than one month's rent during the second and subsequent years or any renewal | 30 calendar days | 68 P.S. §§ 250.511a, 250.512 (PA Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951) |
| Rhode Island | 1× monthly rent (one month's periodic rent) | 20 calendar days | R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-18-19 |
| South Carolina | No statutory cap | 30 calendar days | S.C. Code § 27-40-410 |
| South Dakota | 1× monthly rent (A larger deposit may be agreed upon between the lessor and lessee where special conditions pose a danger to maintenance of the premises (SDCL 43-32-6.1).) | 14 calendar days | SDCL § 43-32-24 (return) & § 43-32-6.1 (cap) |
| Tennessee | See source | See source | Tenn. Code §66-28-102(a), Tenn. Code §66-28-301(a), Tenn. Code §66-28-301(f) |
| Texas | No statutory cap | 30 calendar days | Tex. Prop. Code §92.103 (return of security deposit) |
| Utah | No statutory cap | 30 calendar days | Utah Code § 57-17-3 |
| Vermont | No statutory cap | 14 calendar days | 9 V.S.A. § 4461 |
| Virginia | 2× monthly rent | 45 calendar days | Va. Code § 55.1-1226 |
| Washington | No statutory cap | 30 calendar days | Wash. Rev. Code §59.18.280 |
| West Virginia | No statutory cap | 60 calendar days | W. Va. Code §37-6A-1 |
| Wisconsin | No statutory cap | 21 calendar days | Wis. Stat. § 704.28 |
| Wyoming | No statutory cap | 30 calendar days | Wyo. Stat. § 1-21-1208 |
General statutory information, not legal advice. Caps and deadlines carry exceptions — for example, the return clock often starts only once the tenant gives a written forwarding address. Open the cited statute for the exact text and confirm the current law for your state.
NotALawyer.com is not a law firm. We provide general legal information only, not legal advice. Pay your attorney directly — we never take a cut.