Deposit limits are set state by state, and they range from no cap at all to one month's rent. Pick your state in the free security deposit calculator below to see the maximum legal deposit, the deadline to return it after move-out, allowed deductions, and the statute citation — instantly, free, no signup.
LeaseHelper generates a complete, state-specific residential lease with the correct deposit clauses, return deadlines, and required disclosures baked in.
Generate a state-specific lease — $39 Move-out checklist & deposit itemization — $9Security deposit law is set state by state. Roughly 30 states + DC cap the maximum deposit at 1–3 months' rent, while about 20 states impose no statutory cap. Return deadlines after move-out range from 10 days (Montana, no deductions) to 60 days (Alabama, Arkansas, West Virginia), and a dozen-plus states require interest on held deposits. This tool reflects the statewide statute for each state — the same statutes cited in our 50-state security deposit comparison table. Landlords use it to check what they can charge and when they must return the deposit; tenants use it to check whether a deposit is legal and when it's due back.
Three separate numbers decide whether a deposit is handled lawfully: the cap, the return deadline, and (in some states) interest. Take a $1,500-a-month unit in Connecticut, rented to a tenant under 62.
Miss any one of the three and the exposure is not just the deposit. Many states add statutory damages — commonly two to three times the amount wrongly withheld, plus attorney’s fees — on top of returning the money. Select your state above for its own cap, deadline, interest rule and citation.
This tool answers for one state at a time. The reference tables put every jurisdiction next to every other, with the statute and the record status on each row:
The maximum deposit, the return deadline, and whether interest is owed are all set by state law, and several states changed theirs for 2026. For the full legal picture in one state — deposit limits, allowed deductions, late fees and required disclosures — open its guide:
A dozen-plus states and DC require interest on a held deposit — Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and others among them — and the rate, the payment interval and the exemptions differ in every one. Connecticut, for example, requires annual interest at the state's published deposit index rate under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21. Select your state above to see whether interest is required and the statute that sets it.
Connecticut requires annual interest on the deposit at the deposit index rate published by the state for that year, under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21. Because the rate is reset annually rather than fixed in the statute, a deposit held across several years accrues at a different rate each year — so the calculation runs year by year, not as one flat percentage across the whole tenancy. Confirm the current published rate before paying or demanding interest.