Every state sets a deadline for returning a security deposit, most require an itemized statement, and about twenty attach a penalty of two or three times the deposit when the landlord misses it. Type your state, your move-out date and the deposit amount, and we email you the deadline, whether it has passed, and the penalty. If you want to act, a packet you sign and mail yourself arrives within 24 hours. Landlords get the other side of the same document.
Free deadline check$29 tenant packet$79 with small-claims kit$29 landlord disposition statement
Your state's statutory return deadline computed from your move-out date, whether the landlord has already passed it, whether an itemized statement was required, and the penalty your state attaches for a late or missing return, with the statute named.
Civ. Code §1950.5, receipts required, and statutory damages of up to twice the deposit for bad-faith retention. Paid packets are not yet available in California; the free check still answers.
Itemized statement with receipts; statutory damages up to twice the deposit for bad-faith retention.
Civ. Code §1950.5 · calandlordlaws.com/security-deposit-itemized-statement/Return deadline after move-out, as quoted in the BiggerPockets landlord forum.
biggerpockets.com, forum thread 1020003"In Utah, you legally have to provide them an itemized breakdown … 57-17-3," and, per another reply, a landlord who loses in court "must pay triple."
r/Landlord, 5 July 2026 · reddit.com/r/Landlord/comments/1unzkxj/You moved out, and either an itemized deduction letter arrived charging you for paint, carpet and cleaning, or nothing arrived and the deadline is passing in silence. The deposit is a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, and in the threads the reason most people give up is that they do not know the deadline, do not know what counts as normal wear and tear, and find the demand letter and small claims confusing. The packet answers those three things, in writing, with the statute quoted.
You manage your own units, the tenant handed back the keys, and you have photos, the lease, the deposit amount and a statutory clock running. The statement has to itemize each deduction, has to go out by a deadline your state sets, and has to go by the method your state requires; a California self-manager on BiggerPockets described nearly missing the 21-day window and spending hours matching photos to deductions. The disposition statement is that document, computed from your move-out date.
The packet says what the statute says and what the letter says. It does not say whether a deduction is illegal or whether you should sue; those are legal opinions, and we do not give them.
You type your state, your move-out date and the deposit amount. We reply by email with your state's statutory return deadline, whether the landlord is already past it, and what penalty your state attaches.
Refund if: Free. Nothing to refund.
Each deduction classed as wear and tear or damage against useful-life tables and your state's statute, the deadline and itemization check with the statute cited, and a demand letter in your name. Delivered within 24 hours.
Refund if: We cannot cite a security-deposit statute for your state.
Everything in the $29 packet, plus the small-claims kit for your county (form, filing limit, evidence checklist, what to bring) and one revised letter after the landlord replies.
Refund if: We cannot cite a security-deposit statute for your state, or the revised letter is not delivered within 24 hours of your upload of the landlord's reply.
A state-compliant itemized statement with the deadline computed from the move-out date, each deduction classified wear-and-tear vs damage with depreciation applied, receipt and estimate slots, and the cover letter, ready to mail. Delivered within 24 hours.
Refund if: The statute or deadline cited in the statement is wrong for your state.
Paid packets are not yet available in California. The free deadline check answers for every state.
Prices in USD. Payment opens after the free check; there is nothing to pay on this page.
An attorney will write the demand letter for $200 to $500. Free templates exist, and they do not check your deadline, classify your deductions against useful-life tables, or cite your state's statute, which is why the tenant in the Oklahoma thread was asking strangers on Reddit to check whether his letter cited the statutes correctly. On the landlord side, a property manager does the statement as part of 8 to 10 percent of the rent, and a self-manager does it from a template and a calendar reminder.
A deposit dispute is usually worth a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, so a $500 letter often costs more than the fight is worth, which is the reason people give up. $29 is priced so the letter is never the reason you give up, and it is priced that low because the statute table, the useful-life tables and the deadline arithmetic are the same for every order in a state; only your deductions and your dates change.
"[ME] Why do so many renters give up on security deposit disputes, even when they think the landlord was wrong? … Did you know about landlord deadlines, whether the deductions are legal, what counts as normal wear and tear? Or is the demand letter and small claims court so confusing"r/Renters, 18 June 2026, 55 comments; the top reply was "the time and effort required to fight it exceeds the value" (reddit.com/r/Renters/comments/1u9eprt/).
That was the Oklahoma tenant's exact question, and it is the one the $29 packet answers for your state: the letter we prepare names the statute, the deadline it sets and the penalty it attaches, and you sign it. If you already wrote a letter, send it with your order and the packet will show where the statute it should cite differs from what it says, without opining on whether the landlord broke the law.
Each state's statute uses its own words, and the useful-life tables that landlords and courts commonly use put a life on carpet, paint and fixtures. The audit classifies each deduction against both and shows its reasoning, so six-year-old paint is evaluated against the life of paint, not against a feeling. Whether the landlord's classification was legal is a question for a court or a lawyer; the packet gives you the material.
We do not decide that for you. The $79 tier gives you the county's form, the filing limit, the evidence checklist and what to bring, so the cost of finding out is low; the top reply in the Maine thread was that the effort exceeds the value, and the kit exists to shrink the effort. Collection after a judgment is a separate problem and the packet does not solve it.
Most states require an itemized statement by a deadline, and the Utah thread's replies quote that state's statute and the triple-damages risk for losing in court. The $29 disposition statement computes your deadline from the move-out date, classifies each deduction with depreciation applied and the statutory definition quoted, and leaves slots for receipts and estimates. The classification is your election; we do not advise you what to withhold.
California requires registration as a Legal Document Assistant for paid self-help document preparation, and until that is resolved we do not sell packets there. The free deadline check still answers for California, because the statute is public: 21 days, receipts, and statutory damages of up to twice the deposit for bad-faith retention.
Free, by email within one business day, for tenants and landlords in every state.