Can a landlord keep your security deposit for unpaid rent?

Rent you actually owed

The starting point is arithmetic: what rent was due for the time you occupied the unit, and what you paid. A deposit may be applied against the genuine shortfall, and in most states that deduction must appear on the itemized statement with the other deductions.

A landlord may not treat the deposit as an early source of cash. Where a landlord applies the deposit to rent while you still occupy the unit, that can create its own problem under state law — the deposit is held as security, not as a rent prepayment.

Early termination is a separate question

A charge for breaking a lease is different from unpaid rent. It can be a lawful deduction where the lease provides for it and the landlord actually lost rent — but it is not automatic, it must reflect a real loss, and it has to be itemized like any other deduction. A landlord who finds a new tenant quickly has to account for that.

What to check on a rent deduction

• Does the itemized statement show the rent due, the amount paid, and the difference?
• Does the claimed shortfall match the lease’s rent and the dates you occupied?
• Is any early-termination charge documented, and does it reflect a real loss?
• Did the statement and receipts arrive inside your state’s deadline?

Common questions

Can the landlord keep the deposit instead of asking me for rent?

Applying a deposit to rent actually owed is generally permitted, but it must be accounted for and the remaining balance returned under the state’s deadline. Treating it as automatically forfeited is a different, and weaker, position.

My lease says the deposit is non-refundable. Is that valid?

A blanket “non-refundable deposit” term is treated with suspicion in several states, because a deposit is by nature refundable. Where the clause is really a fee, the question becomes whether your state allows that kind of fee at all.

Is this legal advice?

No. This is general information with sources, not advice for your situation.