What are the security deposit rules in California?

Verified July 7, 2026 All California topics →

Check your municipality. California does not preempt local rent regulation — city or county ordinances may impose rent caps, notice rules, and fee limits that are stricter than the state-level rules on this page and are not covered here. Verify your municipality's ordinances before relying on any figure below.

What the state record says

Tenant Protection Act (AB 1482, Civ. Code § 1947.12): annual increases on covered units capped at the lesser of 5% + regional CPI or 10%, measured against the lowest rent in the prior 12 months, max two increases per 12 months, in effect through 2030. Exempt: housing with certificate of occupancy within 15 years (rolling), most single-family homes/condos not owned by corporations or REITs (exemption requires statutory written disclosure to the tenant), owner-occupied duplexes. Stricter local rent-control ordinances control where they exist.

California caps security deposits at one month's rent for leases signed on or after July 1, 2024, whether the unit is furnished or not — with a narrow small-landlord exception allowing two months.

Landlords have 21 days after move-out to return the deposit with an itemized statement and repair receipts, leases may not label any deposit 'nonrefundable,' and bad-faith withholding can cost the landlord up to twice the deposit in statutory damages on top of the refund. Recent amendments (AB 2801) also require photo documentation of claimed damage at move-out.

California security deposits at a glance

Maximum deposit	1 month's rent — One month's rent regardless of furnished/unfurnished (AB 12, leases from July 1, 2024). Small-landlord exception: up to two months if the landlord is a natural person (or all-natural-person LLC) owning no more than two rental properties totaling no more than four units — exception does not apply to service-member tenants. The cap aggregates all security-functioning charges (pet deposits, prepaid last month's rent, refundable fees).
Return deadline	21 days
Deadline conditions	Itemized statement and any refund due within 21 calendar days after the tenant vacates. If repairs cannot be completed in 21 days, a good-faith estimate is required within the window, with the final statement and receipts within 14 days of completion.
Itemization required	Yes
Itemization rules	Itemized statement of deductions with copies of receipts/invoices for repairs and cleaning (documentation requirement subject to the statutory small-deduction and waiver provisions). Tenant has a right to request an initial pre-move-out inspection with an itemized list of fixable issues.
Separate account required	No
Interest owed to tenant	No
Account & interest rules	No state statute; some local rent-control jurisdictions (e.g. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Berkeley) require interest by ordinance.
Pet deposits	No separate category; refundable pet deposits count fully toward the one-month cap. No deposits may be charged for service/assistance animals.
Non-refundable fees allowed	No
Penalty for violation	Bad-faith retention or demand exposes the landlord to statutory damages of up to twice the deposit amount in addition to actual damages (Civ. Code 1950.5(l)); landlord bears the burden of proving deductions reasonable.
Tenant forwarding-address duty	Not addressed by statute

Notes and caveats

Pre-July-2024 leases retain their original deposit amounts until renewal/material modification. AB 2801 (2024) added photographic-documentation requirements phasing in during 2025 — include on page copy.

Statute citations

Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5 (c), (g), (l), (m), (n) Official source
AB 12 (2023), Stats. 2023 Official source

How this record was verified: Web verification against leginfo.legislature.ca.gov (Civ. Code 1950.5, 827; AB 12 bill text) with corroborating county/city government sources (SF.gov, LA County DCBA, San Mateo County) for AB 1482 and Civ. Code 1954 operation.