Open data

Security deposit rules by US state and city

Name: Security deposit rules by US state and city
Creator: Tektolo
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Download the security deposit rules for all 50 states, DC and 9 cities as one CSV or JSON file. You can reuse and republish them under the CC BY 4.0 license, as long as you credit Tektolo.

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Version sd-2026.11.20, sources last checked 2026-10-15. Free, no sign-in. How to credit Tektolo.

Jurisdictions: 60
Fields: 69

License

The data is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). You can copy it, share it and build on it for any purpose, including commercial use. In return, credit Tektolo, link to the license, and say if you changed the data.

The statutes and ordinances themselves are public law. The license covers how Tektolo collected, summarized and structured them.

How to credit Tektolo

To cite the data, copy this:

Tektolo. Security deposit rules by US state and city, version sd-2026.11.20. https://tektolo.com/data/deposit-rules/. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

For a short credit in an app or on a web page:

Security deposit rules from Tektolo (tektolo.com), CC BY 4.0.

Download

File	Latest	Version sd-2026.11.20
CSV, one row per state and city	deposit-rules.csv	sd-2026.11.20/deposit-rules.csv
JSON, the same rows with every citation	deposit-rules.json	sd-2026.11.20/deposit-rules.json
Frictionless data package: the fields, license and version of the files beside it	datapackage.json	sd-2026.11.20/datapackage.json

The latest files always match the rules the tool uses today. A version's address keeps that version: the current one while it is current, and an archived one for good. Every file states its ruleset version and hash, and the hash changes whenever any rule changes.

What each version changed, with feeds by state, is in the rules changelog. To check a Tektolo summary or statement, open its verify link or paste the code at /verify.

What is in the data

One row for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, and one for each city whose own ordinance changes the state rule.
The deadline to return the deposit, what starts it, and the other deadlines the statute sets in some cases.
Whether an itemized statement is required and when, and the receipts, photo and move-in checklist duties.
The deductions the statute allows, whether normal wear is excluded, and whether the statute prorates by age.
Interest on the deposit, the penalty for a late or wrongful refund, and what the landlord forfeits by missing a deadline.
The deposit cap, recent amendments and notes for landlords and tenants.
For every row, the statute or ordinance, the quoted text, the official source's address and the day it was last read.

What is not in it

The engine that applies these rules to a move-out: counting the days with weekends and holidays, testing each condition, judging each deduction and working out the refund, interest and penalty.
Depreciation tables (useful lives of carpet, paint and so on) and research notes.
Legal advice. The rules are summarized for planning, and the statute governs.

Work out your own case

The data gives the rule. To apply it to a real case, with your own dates and amounts, use the free Deposit settlement tool. It runs on the same rules and shows its work.

See whether your landlord returned your deposit on time and which deductions your state's rule allows. Open the security deposit check.

How the data is made

The files are built from the same ruleset the tool runs on, so the data and the tool's answers agree. A test checks the published files against the tool's own rules lookup. Each rule was read at its official source on the date given in the row.

Found a rule that looks wrong? Tell us.

Fields

Each row is one of the 60 jurisdictions. The CSV and the JSON have the same fields. A list is an array in the JSON and is joined with | in the CSV. The JSON also gives every citation for each row.

All 69 fields

Field	Type	Description
`id`	string	Two-letter state code (TX), or the city's id (chicago) for a city row.
`jurisdiction_type`	string	state (the 50 states and DC) or city (a city ordinance layered on the state rule).
`state`	string	Two-letter state code.
`state_name`	string	State name.
`city`	string	City name on a city row; empty on a state row.
`summary`	string	The rule in one paragraph, as the Tektolo rules operation states it: deadline, other deadlines, interest, penalty and forfeiture, with the statute.
`statute`	string	The state statute the rule comes from.
`city_ordinance`	string	The city ordinance layered on the state rule (city rows).
`deadline_citation`	string	The section that sets the return deadline.
`deadline_quote`	string	That section's text, quoted or summarized (see deadline_quote_verbatim).
`deadline_quote_verbatim`	boolean	true: deadline_quote is the statute's own words; false: it is a summary.
`source_title`	string	The official source the deadline section was read at.
`source_url`	string	Address of that official source.
`source_checked_on`	date	The day the source was last read.
`city_ordinance_url`	string	Address of the city ordinance's official source (city rows).
`verified`	boolean	true: the main rule text was read word for word at the official source; false: read at a secondary copy or summarized.
`return_days`	integer	Days to return the deposit (or send the itemized statement and any balance). Empty when the period is in months or there is no deadline.
`return_months`	integer	Months to return the deposit, where the statute counts months.
`return_counting`	string	calendar or business days.
`return_starts`	string	The event the period runs from (a key: vacate, termination, forwarding_address, demand, ...).
`return_starts_text`	string	The same event in words.
`no_statutory_deadline`	boolean	true: the statute sets no deadline to return the deposit.
`needs_forwarding_address`	boolean	true: the duty starts only once the tenant gives a written forwarding address.
`last_day_rolls_forward`	boolean	true: a last day on a weekend or legal holiday moves to the next business day under the state's time-computation statute.
`deadline_text`	string	The return deadline in one sentence.
`other_deadlines`	list	Other deadlines the statute sets in some cases, each with its condition in words. A list in JSON; joined with ' \| ' in the CSV.
`statement_required`	boolean	true: an itemized statement of deductions is required.
`statement_with_refund`	boolean	true: the statement goes with the refund, by the same deadline; false: it has its own deadline (statement_days or statement_months).
`statement_days`	integer	Days to send the itemized statement, when it has its own deadline.
`statement_months`	integer	Months to send the itemized statement, when it has its own deadline in months.
`receipts_required`	boolean	true: receipts or invoices must back the deductions.
`receipts_over_usd`	number	The receipts duty applies above this repair and cleaning total (US dollars).
`photos_required`	boolean	true: dated photos must back the deductions.
`photos_required_from`	date	The photo duty applies to move-outs on or after this day.
`move_in_checklist_section`	string	The section that ties deductions to a written move-in condition statement, where there is one.
`allowed_deductions`	list	What the statute lets the landlord deduct (keys: unpaid_rent, damage_beyond_wear, ...). A list in JSON; joined with ' \| ' in the CSV.
`allowed_deductions_text`	string	The same list in words.
`normal_wear_excluded`	boolean	true: normal wear and tear cannot be deducted.
`depreciation`	string	required (the statute prorates by age), guidance (an official guide does) or silent (no formula in the statute).
`interest_required`	string	yes, no or conditional: whether the landlord must pay interest on the deposit.
`interest_condition`	string	When interest is owed, for a conditional rule.
`interest_rate_percent`	number	The interest rate in percent a year (the current rate when it is published yearly).
`interest_rate_kind`	string	fixed_percent, statutory_index (published each year) or bank_rate (what the account earns).
`interest_rate_year`	integer	The year interest_rate_percent is for, for a published rate.
`interest_payable`	string	annually or at_end (with the deposit).
`interest_note`	string	The interest rule in words.
`penalty_kind`	string	multiple (a multiple of an amount), fixed (a set amount), forfeiture_only or actual_only (actual damages).
`penalty_multiple`	number	The multiple, for a multiple penalty.
`penalty_basis`	string	What the multiple is taken of: deposit, amount_withheld or monthly_rent.
`penalty_fixed_usd`	number	A set amount (US dollars): the penalty itself, or added to the multiple.
`penalty_minimum_usd`	number	The penalty is at least this (US dollars).
`penalty_condition`	string	When the penalty applies (a key: bad_faith, any_late, willful, ...).
`penalty_applies_if`	string	The same condition in words.
`penalty_text`	string	The penalty in words.
`penalty_attorney_fees`	boolean	true: the statute also awards attorney fees.
`penalty_discretionary`	boolean	true: a court may award the penalty but need not.
`penalty_note`	string	The penalty rule in words, from the statute.
`city_additional_penalty`	string	A city penalty in addition to the state's (city rows).
`forfeiture`	list	What the landlord loses by missing a deadline, in words. A list in JSON; joined with ' \| ' in the CSV.
`deposit_cap_months_rent`	number	The most the deposit may be, in months of rent. Empty when the statute sets no cap.
`deposit_cap_text`	string	The deposit cap in words.
`deposit_cap_note`	string	Details and exceptions of the cap.
`applicability`	string	Who the rule covers, where the statute limits it.
`recent_changes`	list	Recent amendments, each with its effective date. A list in JSON; joined with ' \| ' in the CSV.
`notes`	list	Notes on the rule for landlords and tenants. A list in JSON; joined with ' \| ' in the CSV.
`official_guides`	list	Official plain-language guides (government publishers). A list of addresses in JSON; joined with ' \| ' in the CSV.
`page_url`	string	The rule's page on tektolo.com, with a worked example and the tool.
`ruleset_version`	string	The Tektolo ruleset version this row is from.
`ruleset_hash`	string	SHA-256 of the whole ruleset: it changes whenever any rule changes.

This data summarizes the law for planning. It is not legal advice, and the statute or ordinance governs. Disclaimer.