California security deposit rules: limit, 21-day return and photos

How much deposit you can take

Since July 1, 2024 the general limit is one month’s rent, whether the unit is furnished or not. It is counted on top of the opening month’s rent paid at or before move-in. On a unit that rents for $2,400 a month, the most a landlord can hold as security is $2,400.

A small landlord who meets both tests below may take up to two months’ rent, so $4,800 on the same unit. The limit covers every payment, fee, deposit or charge taken as security, whatever the lease calls it, and a lease can’t label any of it “nonrefundable.”

General limit

An amount equal to one month’s rent, in addition to the rent for the opening month paid on or before initial occupancy. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(c)(1)

Small landlord limit

Two months’ rent, if the landlord meets both tests. Test one: the landlord is a natural person or a limited liability company in which all members are natural persons. Test two: the landlord owns no more than two residential rental properties that together include no more than four dwelling units offered for rent. A natural person includes a settlor or beneficiary of a family trust. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(c)(5)(A), (C)

Service member tenants

The two-month limit doesn’t apply when the prospective tenant is a service member. The one-month limit does. A landlord can’t turn down a service member because of this. Since April 1, 2025, a landlord who charges a service member a higher than standard or advertised deposit because of credit or housing history gives a written explanation by lease signing and returns the extra amount after no more than six months if no rent is in arrears. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(c)(5)(B)

Older deposits

The limit doesn’t apply to security collected or demanded before July 1, 2024. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(c)(6)

Prepaid rent

The limit doesn’t prohibit an advance payment of not less than six months’ rent when the lease term is six months or longer. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(c)(2)

“Nonrefundable” deposits

A lease or rental agreement can’t call any security “nonrefundable.” Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(b), (n)

The 21-day return and the itemized statement

The clock is 21 calendar days from the date the tenant has vacated. Inside that time the landlord sends a copy of an itemized statement that shows the security received, the basis and amount of each deduction, and returns the rest.

Example: the tenant vacates on March 10. Day 21 is March 31. A $2,400 deposit with $310 of cleaning and repair deductions means a $2,090 refund, the itemized statement, copies of the bills and the photos, all sent by March 31.

Rules that took effect January 1, 2026 (AB 414) changed how the refund travels. A landlord who received the deposit or rent electronically returns the refund electronically to an account the tenant names in writing, unless the two agree in writing on another method.

Deadline

No later than 21 calendar days after the tenant has vacated the premises. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(h)(1)

What the statement shows

The basis for, and the amount of, any security received and what became of it. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(h)(1)

Returning the money

By personal delivery or by a check payable to the tenant, sent by mail with postage prepaid. If the landlord received the security or rent electronically, the refund goes electronically to a bank account or other financial institution the tenant designates in writing, or by another electronic method the tenant agrees to in writing. Landlord and tenant can agree in writing on a different method, such as a mailed check. The landlord also tells the tenant in writing about this right within a reasonable time after either side gives notice to end the tenancy, or before the lease term ends. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(h)(1)(A)

Sending the statement

By personal delivery or by mail with postage prepaid. By email if landlord and tenant agreed to it. Mail goes to the address the tenant provided. If the tenant gave none, it goes to the unit that was vacated. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(h)(1)(B), (h)(6)

More than one adult tenant

Without a written agreement signed by all adult tenants, the refund is one check payable to all adult tenants on the lease when the tenancy ends, and the statement goes to any one of them. A written agreement between the landlord and all adult tenants can say who receives the refund, how it is split and where each statement is sent. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(h)(1)(C)

What you can deduct, and the receipts

The statute lists four uses for a deposit: unpaid rent, repair of damage caused by the tenant or the tenant’s guests beyond ordinary wear and tear, cleaning needed to bring the unit back to the level of cleanliness it had at the start of the tenancy, and, if the lease allows it, restoring or replacing personal property. Deductions are limited to amounts reasonably necessary for those purposes.

When repair and cleaning deductions together are more than $125, copies of the documents that show the charges go out with the statement. Example: $90 of cleaning and $60 of repairs is $150, so copies are due. At $90 and $30, a total of $120, they aren’t, unless the tenant asks for them.

Not deductible

Damage or defects that existed before the tenancy, ordinary wear and tear and its effects, including wear that builds up over one or more tenancies. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(e)(2)(A)

Professional cleaning

No charge for professional carpet cleaning or other professional cleaning unless reasonably necessary to return the unit to its condition at the start of the tenancy, apart from ordinary wear and tear. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(e)(2)(C)

Work by you or your employee

The statement reasonably describes the work and includes the time spent and the reasonable hourly rate charged. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(h)(2)(A)

Work by someone else, and materials

A copy of the bill, invoice or receipt. If the document doesn’t show the name, address and telephone number of the person or company that did the work, the statement gives them. For supplies bought on an ongoing basis, a vendor price list or similar vendor document can show the cost. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(h)(2)(B), (C)

$125 line

The documents aren’t required when deductions for repairs and cleaning together do not exceed $125, or when the tenant waived them in writing after notice to end the tenancy. Even then, a tenant can ask for the documents within 14 calendar days after receiving the statement, and the landlord has 14 calendar days after that request to send them. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(h)(4), (h)(5)

Work not finished in 21 days

The landlord may deduct a good faith estimate and send it with the statement. This applies when a repair by the landlord or an employee can’t reasonably be completed in the 21 days, or a vendor’s documents haven’t arrived. Within 14 calendar days of completing the repair or receiving the documents, the landlord sends the final statement and documents. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(h)(3)

Photos and the inspection before move-out

AB 2801 added photo requirements in 2025. They come in three sets: at the start of the tenancy, after the unit comes back and before any repair or cleaning that will be deducted, and again after that work is finished. When a deduction is made for repairs or cleaning, the photos go to the tenant with the statement.

The inspection before move-out is older law. The landlord tells the tenant in writing that the tenant may ask for one. If the tenant asks, the landlord walks the unit, leaves an itemized list of proposed deductions, and the tenant has until the tenancy ends to fix what is on the list.

Move-in photos

For tenancies that begin on or after July 1, 2025, photographs of the unit immediately before, or at the inception of, the tenancy. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(g)(1)

Move-out photos

Beginning April 1, 2025, photographs within a reasonable time after possession is returned, before any repairs or cleanings that will be deducted, and again within a reasonable time after that work is completed. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(g)(2)

Giving photos to the tenant

With the itemized statement, along with a written explanation of the cost, when a deduction is made for repairs or cleanings. By mail, email, computer flash drive, or a link where the tenant may view the photographs online. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(h)(2)(D)

Notice of the inspection option

In writing, within a reasonable time after either side gives notice to end the tenancy, or before the end of the lease term. If the tenant chooses not to request an inspection, the landlord’s duties under this part of the statute are discharged. It doesn’t apply when the tenancy is ended under Code of Civil Procedure § 1161(2), (3) or (4). Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(f)(1)

Timing of the inspection

At a reasonable time, no earlier than two weeks before the termination or end of lease date, with at least 48 hours’ prior written notice of the date and time. Landlord and tenant can both sign a written waiver of the 48-hour notice. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(f)(1)

After the inspection

An itemized statement of the proposed repairs or cleanings, with the text of § 1950.5(b)(1) to (4), handed to the tenant or left inside the unit. If an inspection was made and the tenant’s belongings didn’t block the view, deductions for repairs or cleaning are limited to items on that statement, plus anything that happens after the inspection. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(f)(2), (f)(4), (f)(6)

Penalties

The statute has two consequences for bad faith. A landlord who, in bad faith, fails to follow the 21-day and itemization rules loses the right to claim any of the deposit. And a court can add statutory damages of up to twice the deposit on top of the tenant’s actual damages.

Example: on a $2,400 deposit kept in bad faith, a court could award the $2,400 back plus up to $4,800 in statutory damages. In court, the landlord has the burden of proving that the amounts claimed were reasonable.

Bad faith failure to itemize or return

The landlord isn’t entitled to claim any amount of the security. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(h)(7)

Bad faith claim or retention

Statutory damages of up to twice the amount of the security, in addition to actual damages. The court may award these damages whenever the facts warrant, whether or not the tenant asked for them. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(m)

Small claims court

A deposit case can be heard in small claims court when the damages claimed are within that court’s limit: $12,500 for a claim brought by a natural person. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(o); Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 116.221

Interest, special accounts and what this page doesn’t cover

Section 1950.5 sets no interest on deposits and names no special account or bond. It says the deposit is held by the landlord for the tenant, and that the tenant’s claim to it comes ahead of the landlord’s creditors.

This page covers state law for ordinary residential rentals. Lots in mobilehome parks follow the Mobilehome Residency Law, which has its own deposit section. Subsidized housing programs can carry their own deposit terms. Cities can add their own rules on top of state law, so check your city’s code.

Interest

The statute sets none. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5

How the deposit is held

Held by the landlord for the tenant who is party to the lease. The statute names no separate account. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(d)

Sale of the property

Within a reasonable time, the landlord either transfers the remaining deposit to the new owner and notifies the tenant, or returns it to the tenant with an accounting. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(i)

Mobilehome park lots

A separate section applies: a deposit of no more than two months’ rent, in addition to the opening month’s rent, with its own refund rules. Cal. Civ. Code § 798.39