Security Deposit Penalty Checker
Pick your state and enter your deposit. You get the landlord's return deadline, the statutory penalty if it was wrongfully withheld, the exact statute to cite, and the small-claims ceiling, for all 50 states and DC. Every entry verified against the state's own statute text.
Penalty multipliers are statutory maximums. Courts apply them case by case, and most statutes require the withholding to be "willful," "wrongful," or in "bad faith" before the multiplier attaches. A missed deadline or a missing itemized statement is often what triggers it. This is legal information, not legal advice.
Want the 5-step checklist for getting it back? Free: how to calculate your state's deadline, what your landlord cannot deduct, and the demand-letter language that cites the statute. One email, no spam.
Deadline passed or deductions bogus? A demand letter that cites your state's statute and names the penalty is usually what gets a check written. Generate one with your specifics in about 10 minutes: $15, or $29 with the small-claims escalation kit.
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The deadline is how many days your landlord has after move-out (or after receiving your forwarding address, in some states) to return the deposit or send an itemized statement of deductions. Miss it, or send deductions the statute does not allow, and the penalty column is what a court can award on top of, or instead of, the deposit itself. The treble damages guide explains the trigger language state by state, and the deadline guide covers the clock in detail.
Writing about deposit law? Link this checker.
This lookup is free to cite and link. All 51 entries are verified against primary statute text, corrections and all (we caught six states' compiled values disagreeing with the actual statutes). Copy the link:
https://www.claimsmaximizer.com/deposit-recovery/penalty-checker/