Does a landlord have to pay interest on a security deposit in Wyoming?
Wyoming expressly denies tenants interest on security deposits: the statute directs that the balance of a deposit "shall be delivered or mailed without interest" to the renter when the tenancy ends.
Cited to Wyo. Stat. § 1-21-1208 (deposit return; the 'without interest' clause) (a) and 1 more cited source · Verified August 28, 2026
The phrase sits in the second sentence of W.S. 1-21-1208(a), qualifying the return duty itself, so the no-interest answer here rests on the statute's own words rather than on silence. Wyoming's rental article also imposes no escrow, trust, or separate-account duty of any kind on deposits — the money's custody between move-in and move-out is left to the lease. The only interest figure anywhere in the article runs the other way: a renter who causes damage beyond the deposit owes the owner ten percent per year on the unpaid excess, which is a damages rule, not deposit interest.
Wyoming deposit interest at a glance
| Interest owed to the tenant | No — the statute addresses the interest and does not give it to the tenant |
|---|---|
| How the rate is set | No rate exists — there is no interest duty |
| Current figure | No published figure exists |
| Rate rules | No rate rules — no duty exists |
| Accrual and payment | No payment duty exists |
| Who and what is covered | No statutory conditions stated — see the summary and notes |
| Statute controls where or how the deposit is held | No statute addresses how the deposit is held |
| Interest-bearing account required | No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest |
| Custody rules | No statute addresses custody of the deposit |
| Penalty for violation | No statutory penalty reaches an interest violation specifically |
| Local rules | None noted for this state |
Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Wyoming Security Deposit Interest Laws (verified August 28, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/deposit-interest/wyoming/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.
Check the verified Wyoming answer — and every state and city that differs — in the deposit interest calculator — free, no signup, built on the same verified Wyoming law as this page.
Notes and caveats
- The statute's own words — W.S. 1-21-1208(a) requires the balance of the deposit and prepaid rent, with a written itemization of any deductions, to be "delivered or mailed without interest" to the renter within 30 days after the tenancy ends or 15 days after the owner receives the renter's new mailing address, whichever is later, with a 30-day extension where the unit is damaged. The no-interest wording is part of that return sentence — cite subsection (a), not the section generally.
- No account rules either — Nothing in article 12 requires a deposit to sit in an escrow, trust, or separate account, and no section addresses whether the account earns anything. Wyoming pairs an express no-interest rule with a complete absence of custody rules — two different questions with two different answers, and sources that merge them misstate both.
- A ten percent figure that misleads — W.S. 1-21-1211(b) charges a renter ten percent per year on damage amounts that exceed the deposit — money owed by the renter to the owner. It is the only percentage in the article, and it is sometimes garbled into a claim that Wyoming pays interest on deposits. It does not: deposits come back without interest, and the ten percent runs in the opposite direction.
Common questions: Wyoming deposit interest
Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.
- What is the Wyoming security deposit interest rate right now?
- No published figure exists.
- When must a landlord pay or credit deposit interest in Wyoming?
- No payment duty exists.
- Does the deposit have to be in an interest-bearing account in Wyoming?
- No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest.
- What happens if a landlord does not pay deposit interest in Wyoming?
- No statutory penalty reaches an interest violation specifically.
- Do any cities or counties in Wyoming have their own deposit-interest rules?
- None noted for this state.
Citations
- Wyo. Stat. § 1-21-1208 (deposit return; the 'without interest' clause) · (a) (verified 2026) Official source
- Wyo. Stat. § 1-21-1211 (renter's liability for damages beyond the deposit) · (b) (verified 2026) Official source
How this record was verified: Direct read of Wyoming Statutes title 1, chapter 21, article 12 (Residential Rental Property, W.S. 1-21-1201 through 1-21-1211) in the Legislative Service Office's published Title 1 statute file, with sections 1-21-1207, 1-21-1208, 1-21-1209 and 1-21-1211 read in full and the separately published 2023 statute edition read as an independent confirmation of the wording of section 1-21-1208; the whole article searched for every account and interest term, with all five occurrences of the word 'interest' examined in context; and the Legislature's 2026 session bill index, all 335 bills, checked for any measure touching the article.