The security deposit disposition letter, read from the tenant's side

What it is, and its other names

The disposition letter is the landlord's written accounting of your security deposit after you move out: what you paid, what they kept, why, and what is coming back. Statutes and leases call it different things: an itemized statement, an itemization, an accounting, a notice of deductions, a disposition. In Florida it arrives as a "notice of intention to impose claim." Same document.

Most states require it, on a deadline, whenever a landlord keeps any part of the deposit. That deadline is the same one that governs returning the money, and your state page has the day count and the statute.

What a proper one contains

The starting figure. The deposit you paid, sometimes with interest where the state requires it.

Each deduction on its own line. A description specific enough to check ("replace bedroom carpet, 12x14, $480" and not "damages, $480") and a dollar amount. Some states require receipts or estimates to be attached, or provided on request.

The arithmetic. Deposit minus deductions equals the refund, and the refund is either enclosed or on its way.

The date, and where it was sent. It has to reach you inside the statutory window, at the forwarding address you gave. A statement mailed to the apartment you just left is a statement you never received, and in several states that is the landlord's problem, not yours.

Six things to check, line by line

1. The math. Add the deductions yourself. Errors are common and always in one direction.

2. The dates. Compare the postmark or the date on the letter to your state's deadline, counted from move-out or from the day the landlord had your forwarding address. Late is late.

3. Wear and tear billed as damage. Worn carpet in a walkway, faded paint, small nail holes, loose hinges. Our guide to normal wear and tear vs. damage goes item by item.

4. Replacement cost with no age applied. A charge for brand-new carpet when the carpet was seven years old when you arrived. Courts commonly expect the remaining useful life, not the price of new.

5. Cleaning you already did. If you have move-out photos, a cleaning charge has to explain what they show.

6. Things the deposit does not cover. Charges that belong to a separate lease clause, a fee you already paid, or rent for a period after you surrendered the keys.

If it never arrived

Silence is the landlord's weakest position. In many states, a landlord who neither returns the deposit nor sends the itemized statement inside the deadline loses the right to keep any of it, and can owe more than the deposit on top. If the deadline has passed and nothing came, the next page to read is what to do when the landlord did not return the deposit, and the step it describes is a written demand sent by certified mail.

If it is wrong: answer it in writing, line by line

Do not argue the total. Argue the lines. A letter that says "I disagree with your deductions" is easy to ignore; a letter that lists three charges and gives a reason against each one is not, because each reason now needs an answer. Attach the photos that show the condition. Cite the statute and its deadline. Give a date to pay by, and send the letter certified.

That letter is a demand letter, and this guide shows how to write one, with a template. If you would rather have it prepared and mailed, the one this site prepares takes your disputed lines one at a time and cites your state's statute for you.

Common questions

General legal information, not legal advice. Deadlines, procedures and remedies differ by state and court, and courts decide outcomes; nothing here predicts one in your situation. For advice about your specific facts, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

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