What can a landlord deduct from a security deposit?

The categories that are normally allowed

Across the ten states this guide covers, the same categories recur. Everything a landlord keeps should fall into one of them, and should be documented:

• Unpaid rent — rent actually owed for time you occupied the unit, or amounts the lease made you responsible for and you did not pay.
• Damage beyond ordinary wear and tear — repair or replacement for harm caused by misuse, neglect or an unauthorised change, not for the unit simply ageing.
• Cleaning that restores the unit to its move-in condition, excluding ordinary wear and tear — and in some states only if the lease required a particular standard of cleanliness.
• Other lease defaults that cost the landlord money — for example removing fixtures, unpaid utilities the lease assigned to you, or a documented early-termination charge.

Deductions must be itemized — and sometimes receipted

The itemization duty is where many claims turn. Illinois requires an itemized statement with paid receipts within 30 days, and a full refund within 45 days if no statement is sent (765 ILCS 710/1). Florida requires a certified-mail notice of intent to impose a claim within 30 days if anything is withheld (Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3)). California and New York tie the itemized statement to the landlord’s right to keep any part of the deposit at all (Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5; NY Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108).

If a deduction arrives as a single unexplained figure, the useful next step is to ask for the underlying invoice: what was done, by whom, and at what cost.

What a landlord may not keep

• Ordinary wear and tear — excluded by the deposit statutes themselves, however the charge is worded.
• Improvements the landlord chose to make between tenants, such as new flooring or paint for the landlord’s own benefit.
• Amounts never itemized in writing, in the states where itemization is a precondition to keeping the deposit.
• A blanket “cleaning fee” written into the lease, where your state treats a non-refundable fee of that kind as unenforceable — a few states bar them, so check yours.

Common questions

Can a landlord charge me for repainting?

Usually only where the wall damage goes beyond ordinary wear and tear, or where the lease set a defined repainting term you agreed to. Repainting simply because the unit is being re-let is the landlord’s cost.

The landlord says the whole deposit is gone. What should I ask for?

Ask for the itemized statement and the invoices behind it. In states that require a receipted statement, a missing statement or missing receipts can limit what may be retained.

Does the deposit cover breaking a lease?

A documented early-termination charge can be a lawful deduction where the lease provides for one and the landlord actually lost rent. It is not automatic, and it has to be itemized like any other deduction.