Security Deposit Laws by State

A 50-state comparison for residential rentals, with every state verified against official statutes. Each figure in this table comes from a statute verification pass against official state sources — each row shows its own verified date, and each state links to the full rules with citations.

29 of the 50 states cap residential security deposits by statute — from 1 month's rent in Alabama, California, Delaware and 11 more up to 3 months' rent — while 21 states set no maximum at all. 48 states fix a return deadline, most commonly 30 days, and 12 require the landlord to pay the tenant interest on the money.

* Conditions apply — see the state's page for the full rule and citations.

No figure appears here unless it was verified against official state sources on the date shown — see how we verify.