California security deposit law for landlords (2026)

How much you can charge, what you can deduct, and how and when the deposit has to come back, checked against the current text of Civil Code § 1950.5. Includes a deposit limit calculator and a 21-day deadline calculator.

How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit?

Since July 1, 2024, a California landlord can't ask for or accept more than one month's rent as security, in addition to the first month's rent paid on or before move-in. That change came from AB 12. The old higher limits for furnished units are gone: furnished or not, the cap is the same. Deposits collected or demanded before July 1, 2024 aren't affected.

The law counts as "security" almost any payment charged at the start of a tenancy, whatever it's called. A pet deposit, a cleaning or move-in fee, or last month's rent all count toward the cap. Two things sit outside it:

• The first month's rent, paid on or before move-in.
• An application screening fee allowed under Civil Code § 1950.6.

A lease of six months or longer can also require at least six months' rent paid in advance; the cap doesn't stop that. And no lease can call any part of the deposit "nonrefundable."

The small-landlord exception

A landlord can take up to two months' rent as security, plus the first month's rent, if both of these are true:

• The landlord is a natural person, or an LLC whose members are all natural persons. Someone who is a settlor or beneficiary of a family trust counts as a natural person.
• The landlord owns no more than two residential rental properties, which together have no more than four units offered for rent.

Interest: state law doesn't require landlords to pay interest on deposits, but some cities do, including San Francisco and, for rent-stabilized units, Los Angeles. Check your city's rules.

What can a landlord deduct from a security deposit?

Only four things, and only in amounts that are reasonably necessary:

• Unpaid rent.
• Repairing damage caused by the tenant or their guests, beyond ordinary wear and tear.
• Cleaning needed to bring the unit back to how clean it was at move-in.
• Replacing or returning furnishings and other personal property, beyond ordinary wear and tear, if the lease allows the deposit to be used for that.

The law then rules out three kinds of charges: anything that was already damaged or defective before the tenancy began, ordinary wear and tear or its effects (including wear built up over several tenancies), and professional carpet or other professional cleaning that isn't reasonably necessary to get back to the move-in condition. Repair and material costs are capped at a reasonable amount to restore the move-in condition, less ordinary wear and tear.

The pre-move-out inspection

Before the tenant leaves, California gives them the chance to find out what you plan to deduct and fix it themselves. The steps:

1. Send the written notice. Within a reasonable time after either side gives notice to end the tenancy, or before the lease term ends, tell the tenant in writing that they can ask for an initial inspection and be there for it. The notice has to include the statute's short paragraph about reclaiming property left behind after move-out.
2. Schedule it if they ask. The inspection can't be earlier than two weeks before the tenancy ends. Try to agree on a time, then give at least 48 hours' written notice of the date and time. You and the tenant can both sign a written waiver of the 48 hours. Go ahead whether or not the tenant shows up, unless they withdrew the request.
3. Leave an itemized list. Based on the inspection, give the tenant a written list of the repairs and cleaning you propose to deduct for, along with the text of the law's four allowed deduction purposes. Hand it to the tenant, or leave it inside the unit.
4. Let the tenant fix things. Until they move out, the tenant can take care of anything on the list to avoid the deduction.

If the tenant doesn't ask for an inspection, you've done your part. The inspection rules don't apply to tenancies ended by certain eviction notices (Code of Civil Procedure § 1161, paragraphs 2–4). The law doesn't require photos at this inspection; the photo steps come at move-in, after move-out, and around repairs.

How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit?

21 calendar days after the tenant moves out. By then the tenant must have an itemized statement showing the deposit received and how it was used, and whatever is left over. The statement can't be sent before a notice to end the tenancy has been given, or, for a fixed-term lease, before 60 days ahead of its end.

What goes with the itemized statement

When you deduct for repairs or cleaning, the statement has to come with proof of the costs:

• Can't finish in 21 days? If a repair can't reasonably be done in time, or the invoices haven't arrived, deduct a good-faith estimate and send it with the statement. If you're waiting on someone's invoice, include their name, address and phone number. Within 14 days of finishing the work or getting the documents, send the final statement and paperwork.
• The $125 rule. If repairs and cleaning together come to $125 or less, the documents and photos above aren't required, unless the tenant asks for them within 14 days of getting the statement. Then you have 14 days to send them. The same applies if the tenant signed a waiver, which only counts if it was signed after a notice to end the tenancy, or within 60 days of a fixed-term lease's end.

The photo rules come from AB 2801: photos at move-in for tenancies starting on or after July 1, 2025, and photos after move-out and after repairs since April 1, 2025. Full details in our AB 2801 guide.

How to return it (new for 2026)

AB 414 changed how the money goes back, starting January 1, 2026:

• By default: in person, or by a check made out to the tenant and mailed first class.
• If the tenant paid the deposit or rent electronically: return it electronically, to a bank account the tenant names in writing or another electronic method they agree to in writing, unless you've agreed in writing on another method. Within a reasonable time after notice to end the tenancy, or before the lease ends, tell the tenant in writing about this right.
• Several adult tenants: unless you and all of them have a written agreement on how the deposit is split and where statements go, the refund is one check made out to all adult tenants on the lease, and the statement goes to any one of them you choose.
• The statement itself goes in person or by first-class mail, or by email or mail to an address the tenant gives you, if you've both agreed. Mail goes to the address the tenant provided, or to the vacated unit if they didn't give one.

What happens if a landlord gets it wrong?

• Losing the deduction entirely. A landlord who in bad faith doesn't follow the return rules (the deadline, the statement, the documents) can't keep any of the deposit.
• Up to twice the deposit. Keeping or claiming a deposit in bad faith can bring statutory damages of up to twice its amount, on top of actual damages. A court can award them even if the tenant didn't ask.
• The burden is on the landlord. In a dispute, the landlord has to prove the amounts claimed were reasonable.
• Small claims court. Tenants can bring these claims in small claims court when the amount is within its limits.

In practice, most of that comes down to one question: can you show how the unit looked at move-in and how it looked at move-out? That's the record a deduction stands or falls on.

Sources

• California Civil Code § 1950.5, as amended by AB 414 (Chapter 340, Statutes of 2025), in force since January 1, 2026. Earlier changes it carries forward: AB 12 (Chapter 733, Statutes of 2023), the deposit limit, from July 1, 2024; and AB 2801, the photo requirements, from April 1 and July 1, 2025.
• California Civil Code § 1950.6 (application screening fees).
• Local interest rules: San Francisco Administrative Code, Chapter 49 (interest on deposits held over a year); City of Los Angeles Rent Stabilization bulletin, interest payments on security deposits.

Checked against the statute's text in October 2026. General information, not legal advice. For a specific situation, talk to a California landlord-tenant attorney or your local rent board.