Every change we have made to the rules we apply in California, newest first. Each entry gives the ruleset version, the day we made the change and the rules it touched.
Dates are the days we made each change. A change reaches tektolo.com with the next release of the site. Changes that apply in every state are in the rules changelog. Rules changelog.
Published interest rates and the cleaning rule are now written as dated values, one value from each date. No rule changed and no answer moved.
TEKTOLO-407 to 410: one due date on the letter; inputs the engine ignored (GA, MT, MA, NC); blanks to describe each deducted item (TX, WI, GA, WA, NH, MA); CA estimates, demand wording and tenant-door gaps.
An exemption whose exception is unknown keeps the statute's answer (New Jersey, New Hampshire), with fixes for Wisconsin, West Virginia, DC photos, and Michigan and California return methods.
Removes field names and developer wording from the Berkeley, North Dakota, Ohio and Wyoming notes.
California's $125 receipt exemption also covers its photo conditions; a Massachusetts balance returned without its interest is a contested forfeiture; Washington keeps rent outside the checklist bar.
Adds the Evanston, Illinois ordinance (City Code 5-3-5-1); Berkeley Regulation 704 is interest for an unpaid year, not a late-refund penalty.
A refund that keeps nothing needs no statement, except in California; a return before the clock starts is on time; interest paid through the move-out is not owed again.
Uses inputs the statutes refer to: pet deposits and prepaid rent in caps and interest, Minneapolis's prepaid cap, North Carolina's term, published interest rates and move-in reports.
Interest owed at the end of the tenancy can be due earlier than the refund: San Francisco two weeks after the move-out, Connecticut 21 days after the termination.
Adds trash and abandoned items as a deduction, Maine's bar on a fee for ending the tenancy, cap variants for small landlords and older tenants, and owner-occupancy exemptions.
Lease charges a statute's damages wording may cover are 'depends', not 'no'; California late charges only as a valid liquidated-damages clause; New York's cap dated to 2019.
Unmet documentation duties now change the charges (California, DC, Portland, Hawaii, Washington), with move-in statements in Montana and Washington and Georgia's move-out list.
Adds each state's statute on re-renting and mitigation (33 states); in Oregon and Florida the early-termination fee and the later rent are alternatives.
Deposit caps computed and versioned by collection or lease date (California AB 12, Georgia, Maryland, Colorado), with the exceptions the inputs show.
Interest rate histories for San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Maryland and Minnesota, each period at its own rate and counted each place's way.
Weekend and holiday roll-forward under each state's time-computation statute (32 states), with each state's own legal holidays.
Cleaning is typed per state, as named in the statute or recoverable only as damage beyond normal wear; a cleaning line of unknown kind is 'depends', never refused outright.
Documentation duties computed (California move-in photos, Washington records); Massachusetts utilities, Delaware painting, and interest held until returned in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Loss of the right to withhold is typed per state and computed into the totals; consequences the tool does not compute are listed as unknowns.
Adds official plain-language guides (California, Florida, Maryland, New York, Texas, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle) and state small claims court pages.
Review fixes: inclusive tenancy thresholds, state holiday sets, Los Angeles and Maryland interest per rate year, Florida's notice of claim, Colorado's carpet and paint limits.
Each rule we apply in California, with the day it took its current form.
| Rule | In this form since | Version |
|---|---|---|
| Deductions | October 15, 2026 | sd-2026.11.19 |
| Deposit cap | October 10, 2026 | sd-2026.10.29 |
| Interest | October 9, 2026 | sd-2026.10.0 |
| Itemized statement and records | October 15, 2026 | sd-2026.11.18 |
| Loss of the right to withhold | October 9, 2026 | sd-2026.10.3 |
| Notes | October 9, 2026 | sd-2026.10.1 |
| Official guides | October 9, 2026 | sd-2026.10.2 |
| Penalties | October 9, 2026 | sd-2026.10.0 |
| Recent amendments | October 9, 2026 | sd-2026.10.0 |
| Return deadline | October 10, 2026 | sd-2026.11.10 |
| Small claims court | October 9, 2026 | sd-2026.10.2 |
| Statute | October 9, 2026 | sd-2026.10.0 |
| Statute text | October 9, 2026 | sd-2026.10.0 |
| Berkeley: Notes | October 9, 2026 | sd-2026.10.0 |
| Berkeley: Overrides | October 15, 2026 | sd-2026.11.19 |
| Berkeley: Statute text | October 9, 2026 | sd-2026.10.0 |
| Los Angeles: Notes | October 9, 2026 | sd-2026.10.1 |
| Los Angeles: Overrides | October 15, 2026 | sd-2026.11.19 |
| Los Angeles: Statute text | October 9, 2026 | sd-2026.10.0 |
| San Francisco: Notes | October 10, 2026 | sd-2026.10.26 |
| San Francisco: Official guides | October 9, 2026 | sd-2026.10.2 |
| San Francisco: Overrides | October 15, 2026 | sd-2026.11.19 |
| San Francisco: Statute text | October 9, 2026 | sd-2026.10.0 |
The same history is available as JSON. The API is free and needs no key.
/v1/rules/changes?state=CA&since=2026-01-01/v1/rules/history?rule=deposit-settlement/states/CA%23return/v1/rules/as-of?rule=deposit-settlement/states/CA&known=2026-10-01&valid=2025-12-01