Most states require your landlord to send a written, itemized statement of every deduction within a set number of days after you move out. A lump sum with no breakdown usually does not satisfy that requirement, and in many states failing to provide one weakens or removes the landlord's right to keep the money at all.
What counts as an itemized statement?
A list. Each deduction named separately, with an amount.
"Cleaning: $250. Carpet repair in second bedroom: $310. Unpaid water bill for July: $84" is an itemization. It tells you what you are being charged for and lets you check each line.
"Damages and cleaning: $644" is not. It is a total. You cannot verify it, dispute a specific part of it, or tell whether it includes things a landlord is not allowed to charge for.
Requirements vary by state, and some go further:
- Receipts or invoices may be required, sometimes only above a dollar threshold
- A particular delivery method — several states require the statement be mailed to your last known address, and a few attach consequences to sending it another way
- A sworn statement in a small number of states
- A specific deadline, which is often the same deadline as returning the money
What if I got nothing at all?
Then the question is simply whether the deadline has passed.
If it has, the landlord is generally in breach of the statute. What follows from that depends on your state, but the consequences fall into three broad groups:
The deduction right weakens. In many states a landlord who misses the itemization deadline loses some or all of their ability to keep the deposit — even if the underlying damage was real. In most of those states what they lose is the right to withhold from the deposit; they may still bring a separate claim for damages. Pennsylvania is the exception where the landlord loses the right to sue as well, and only where the tenant gave a written forwarding address.
A penalty becomes available. Most states provide a statutory multiple on deposits wrongly withheld, usually gated on the landlord having acted in bad faith. Whether missing a deadline is itself evidence of bad faith varies by state; some presume it, others require more.
Fees may shift — but far less often than people assume. Some states allow a tenant who wins to recover attorney's fees, but it is not the default, and in several it runs both ways: a tenant who sues and loses can be ordered to pay the landlord's fees. Treat it as a state-specific question, not a safety net.
These are not automatic. They are arguments that have to be made.
My landlord sent something, but it is vague. Does that count?
Often it does not, and this is worth pushing on.
If a statement gives you one number, or a category with no amounts, or refers to "repairs" without saying what was repaired, it may not meet your state's requirement even though something was technically sent. A statement that cannot be checked defeats the purpose of the rule.
The practical response is to write back and ask for the itemization the statute requires, naming the charges you cannot verify. Put a date on it.
Do I have to prove the charges are wrong?
Usually not. In most states the landlord carries the burden of substantiating a deduction — showing the damage existed, that it went beyond ordinary wear, and that the amount is reasonable.
That matters for how you write to them. You are not obliged to prove the carpet was fine. You are entitled to ask them to show why it was not, with documentation.
What about the move-in checklist?
A number of states require a move-in inspection checklist, and in some of those, failing to provide one costs the landlord the right to claim deductions for condition — see my landlord never did a move-in inspection.
If you never received or completed a move-in inspection, that is worth knowing. It is one of the more commonly missed obligations, and it goes directly to whether the landlord can show that damage was yours.
What should I do now?
- Write down the dates. Move-out, forwarding address, anything received.
- Work out your state's deadline and whether it passed. Our state deadlines page lists all 51 jurisdictions with the statute for each.
- Gather what you have — photos, the checklist, messages, the lease.
If the deadline has passed or the statement is inadequate, the next step is usually a written demand. What that demand should raise depends on your state and your facts: the two interact, and the same missing statement carries very different weight from one state to the next.
SecurityDeposit.co is built for that step. It takes your situation and produces a written demand for the rules that apply where you rented, then sends it by certified mail so delivery is on record.
Frequently asked questions
Is a text message an itemized statement? Usually not. Most statutes require it in writing, and several require it to be mailed. A text may still be useful evidence of what the landlord claimed.
The statement arrived after the deadline. Does that fix it? Not necessarily. A late statement is still a missed deadline, and in many states the consequence attaches to the miss rather than to never sending it at all.
They sent receipts I think are inflated. Now what? Dispute the amount rather than the existence of the work. Most states allow a deduction only for a reasonable cost, and a quote from another contractor is useful evidence.
They kept the deposit for unpaid rent, not damage. Is that different? Generally landlords may apply a deposit to genuinely unpaid rent, but it still has to be itemized and it still has to be accurate. Ask for a ledger showing the amounts and dates.
Last reviewed: 30 August 2026. Requirements change; check your state's current statute before relying on a deadline or a rule described here.
Sources. Itemization duties and their deadlines are statutory in almost every state — see the state table, where each row links its statute. On what a missed deadline costs a landlord: Fla. Stat. § 83.49 (30-day notice of intent to claim, or the claim is forfeited); 68 Pa. Stat. § 250.512.
SecurityDeposit.co turns a renter's facts into a customized written demand based on the rules that apply in that state.