California security deposit deadline calculator

What has to go out by day 21

• An itemized statement

  The deposit you received, the basis for and amount of each deduction, and what happens to the rest. §1950.5(h)(1)

• The rest of the deposit

  By personal delivery or a check sent first-class mail. If the tenant paid the deposit or rent electronically, it goes back electronically to an account the tenant names in writing, unless you agreed in writing on another method. §1950.5(h)(1)(A)

• Delivered the way the law allows

  The statement goes by personal delivery or first-class mail. Email only if you and the tenant agreed to it. §1950.5(h)(1)(B)

• Receipts for repair and cleaning deductions

  A copy of the bill, invoice or receipt from whoever did the work, plus their name, address and phone number if the invoice does not show them. If you or your employee did it: a description of the work, the time spent and the hourly rate. §1950.5(h)(2)(A)–(C)

• Photos for repair and cleaning deductions

  The photos the law requires you to take: at move-in (for tenancies that began on or after July 1, 2025), after move-out before the work, and after the work. A link where the tenant can view them online is allowed. §1950.5(g), (h)(2)(D)

Two exceptions

• Work not finished, or the invoice not in hand, by day 21: deduct a good-faith estimate and send it with the statement; if the invoice is what is missing, include the name, address and phone number of whoever did the work. Then, within 14 calendar days of finishing the repair or receiving the invoice, send the final statement with its receipts. §1950.5(h)(3)
• Repair and cleaning deductions of $125 or less in total: the receipts and photos above are not required. The statement and the deposit still are, within 21 days. §1950.5(h)(4)(A)

How the days are counted

The clock starts when the tenant vacates. The move-out day is day 0 and the next day is day 1, so day 21 is the same weekday three weeks later. The law says calendar days: weekends and holidays count. This calculator does not move the date for a weekend or holiday — whether that applies to a deposit statement is not settled, and the safer plan is to have everything out before day 21.

Why the date matters

If a court finds a deposit was kept in bad faith, it may award the tenant up to twice the deposit in statutory damages, on top of actual damages. In a dispute, the landlord has to show the amounts were reasonable (§1950.5(m)). A statement sent late, or without its receipts and photos, is harder to defend.