California itemized security deposit statement: free template
Within 21 days after a tenant moves out, a California landlord has to send an itemized statement of what came out of the deposit, with whatever is left. For repairs and cleaning, the invoices and photos behind each charge go with it. This free fillable template has a place for everything the law asks for.
Free fillable PDF: California itemized deposit statement
Two pages: the deposit, each deduction and the refund on the first; the documents, photos and estimates the law asks for on the second. Fill it in on your computer, or print it.
The short answer
- When
- No later than 21 calendar days after the tenant moves out. Not before a notice to end the tenancy has been given, or, for a fixed-term lease, more than 60 days before it ends.
- What it shows
- The security you received, each deduction and the reason for it, and what you're returning.
- What goes with it
- When repairs and cleaning come to more than $125 in total: the invoices or receipts (or your own time and hourly rate) and the photos, with a written explanation of each cost.
- How to send it
- In person or by first-class mail, or by email if you and the tenant agreed. If the tenant paid electronically, the refund goes back electronically unless you agreed in writing on another method.
- If it goes wrong
- A landlord who misses these rules in bad faith can't keep any of the deposit, and can owe up to twice its amount in damages.
How to fill in the template
- The top. The date you send it, every adult tenant on the lease, the rental address and the move-out date. Tick how you're sending it. Mail goes to the address the tenant gave you, or to the rental address if they didn't give one.
- Security received. Everything you held as security, not just the deposit: a pet deposit, a move-in fee or a prepaid last month's rent all count. Add interest only if your city requires it.
- One line per deduction. Say what it was, where, and why it's chargeable, and give its purpose: unpaid rent, repair of damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, cleaning back to the move-in level, or furnishings if the lease allows. "Bedroom 2 carpet: pet urine stains that professional cleaning didn't remove; replaced, charged for the 4 years of its 10-year life that remained" holds up. "Carpet, $640" invites a dispute. Tick Est. for any amount that's still an estimate.
- Totals and refund. Total the deductions, show what you're returning, and tick how the refund goes back. With more than one adult tenant and no written agreement on splitting the deposit, a check is made out to all of them.
- Page 2: the documents. For each repair or cleaning line, note what's enclosed: your own time and hourly rate, the vendor's invoice, receipts for materials, and how the photos are provided (enclosed, by email, on a flash drive or by link).
- Sign it, keep a copy, and send it with the refund within the 21 days.
A worked example
A tenant held a $2,500 deposit and moved out after three years. The landlord's statement:
| # | What it was for, and why | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bedroom 2 carpet: pet urine stains that professional cleaning didn't remove. Replaced; new carpet $1,600; the carpet was 6 years into a 10-year life, so 4 years' worth is charged. | Repair | $640.00 |
| 2 | Oven and range hood: heavy grease build-up; both were clean at move-in. 2 hours of the landlord's own work at $45 an hour. | Cleaning | $90.00 |
| 3 | Bathroom towel bar pulled out of the wall: wall patched and painted, bar reinstalled (handyman's invoice). | Repair | $135.00 |
| Total deductions | $865.00 | ||
| Returned to the tenant | $1,635.00 |
Repairs and cleaning come to more than $125, so the statement goes out with the carpet installer's invoice, the handyman's invoice, a description of the oven cleaning with the time and rate, and the photos of each item taken after move-out, before the work and after it.
Not on the statement: carpet worn along the hallway, paint faded by the sun, a few small nail holes. After three years, that's ordinary wear and tear.
The carpet line uses the useful-life approach from the California Department of Real Estate's guide: the tenant pays only for the life the item had left. The useful-life calculator works it out.
What goes with the statement
For every repair or cleaning deduction, the law asks for proof of the cost, sent at the same time as the statement: a description of your own work with the time and hourly rate, or the vendor's bill, invoice or receipt, or the receipt for materials, plus the photos and a written explanation of the cost. If a repair can't reasonably be finished in 21 days, or an invoice hasn't arrived, you can deduct a good-faith estimate and send the final paperwork within 14 days. If repairs and cleaning together come to $125 or less, the documents aren't required unless the tenant asks within 14 days of getting the statement.
The full rules, in one place. What each kind of deduction needs, the estimate route, the $125 rule, and how to return the money under the 2026 changes.
California deposit lawMistakes that cost landlords the deposit
- Missing the 21 days. Count calendar days from the day the tenant moves out, weekends and holidays included.
- Charging for ordinary wear and tear, or for anything that was already there at move-in. See where the line falls, with real photos.
- Charging the full price of something old. A worn-out item would have needed replacing anyway; charge only for the life it had left.
- Charging for something left off the pre-move-out list. After a pre-move-out inspection, you generally can't deduct for repairs or cleaning that weren't on the list you gave the tenant, unless the damage happened later or their belongings hid it. Free pre-move-out checklist.
- Lines with no reason or no paperwork. "Cleaning, $300" with no photos or invoice is hard to defend, and in a dispute the landlord has to prove the amounts were reasonable.
- Professional carpet cleaning by default. It's chargeable only when it's needed to get the carpet back to its move-in condition.
Free: a move-out letter to your tenant. The pre-move-out inspection notice California requires, plus cleaning, key and deposit instructions. Fillable PDF.
Get the letterFree fillable PDF: California itemized deposit statement
Two pages: the deposit, each deduction and the refund on the first; the documents, photos and estimates the law asks for on the second. Fill it in on your computer, or print it.
Sources
- California Civil Code § 1950.5, subdivisions (b), (e), (f), (g), (h) and (m), as amended by AB 414 (Chapter 340, Statutes of 2025), in force since January 1, 2026. The photo requirements come from AB 2801: after move-out and around repairs since April 1, 2025; at move-in for tenancies starting on or after July 1, 2025.
- California Department of Real Estate, California Tenants: A Guide to Residential Tenants' and Landlords' Rights and Responsibilities, 2026 edition, pages 82–85 (the useful-life approach).
Checked against the statute's text in November 2026. General information, not legal advice. For a specific situation, talk to a California landlord-tenant attorney or your local rent board.