How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit in Kansas?

1 month's rent — That is the ceiling for an unfurnished unit. Landlord-owned furniture raises it to 1½ months' rent and a permitted pet adds up to ½ month more, so the ceilings run to 1½ months unfurnished with a pet and 2 months furnished with a pet.

How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Kansas?

30 days. Two clocks run together. Once the landlord has figured the deductions the balance is due within 14 days, and the outer limit starts only when three things have happened: the tenancy has ended, possession has been delivered, and the tenant has demanded the money back.

What happens if a landlord does not return the deposit on time in Kansas?

The tenant gets the withheld portion of the deposit back plus damages equal to 1½ times the amount wrongfully withheld, so the total recovery is 2½ times what was wrongfully kept. Kansas judges have no discretion to reduce that figure.

Do landlords have to pay interest on security deposits in Kansas?

No — Kansas does not require interest on the security deposit to be paid to the tenant. The Kansas Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (K.S.A. 58-2540 through 58-2573) contains no escrow, trust-account, or interest requirement.

What are the security deposit rules in Kansas?

Verified July 11, 2026 All Kansas topics →

Kansas caps security deposits at one month's rent for an unfurnished rental, 1½ months' rent if the unit comes furnished, plus up to an extra half month's rent as a pet deposit when the lease allows pets.

Cited to K.S.A. 58-2550 (a)-(f) and 2 more cited sources · Verified July 11, 2026

Return runs on two clocks: once the landlord has figured the deductions the balance is due within 14 days, and in no event may the landlord hold it more than 30 days past the tenancy ending, possession being delivered, and the tenant demanding it back — and if the tenant never demands it, the landlord must simply mail the money to the tenant's last known address after 30 days. Deductions are limited to unpaid rent and damages from the tenant's breach of statutory duties or the lease, itemized in a written notice. A landlord who blows the deadline or skips the itemization owes the withheld amount plus a penalty of 1½ times whatever was wrongfully withheld, and judges have no discretion to soften it. Kansas also requires landlord and tenant to complete a signed joint move-in inventory within five days of occupancy, though a missing inventory does not by itself bar damage claims. There is no interest, escrow, or receipt requirement, and tenants may not quietly apply the deposit to the last month's rent — doing so forfeits the deposit.

Kansas security deposits at a glance

Maximum deposit	1 month's rent — That is the ceiling for an unfurnished unit. Landlord-owned furniture raises it to 1½ months' rent and a permitted pet adds up to ½ month more, so the ceilings run to 1½ months unfurnished with a pet and 2 months furnished with a pet. The furnished figure applies where the rental agreement provides for the tenant to use furniture owned by the landlord; the additional pet deposit is available where the agreement permits pets. A federally subsidized municipal housing authority whose rent is set solely by tenant income may instead use a deposit schedule based on bedroom size, and must offer a deferred payment plan (K.S.A. 58-2550(a)).
Return deadline	30 days
Deadline conditions	Two clocks run together. Once the landlord has figured the deductions the balance is due within 14 days, and the outer limit starts only when three things have happened: the tenancy has ended, possession has been delivered, and the tenant has demanded the money back. Under K.S.A. 58-2550(b), if the landlord keeps any part of the deposit for expenses or damages, the balance is due within 14 days after the landlord determines the amount of those charges — but in no event more than 30 days after termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession and demand by the tenant. If the tenant makes no demand within 30 days after the tenancy ends, the landlord must mail the portion due to the tenant's last known address.
Itemization required	Yes
Itemization rules	Amounts applied from the deposit must be itemized by the landlord in a written notice delivered to the tenant (K.S.A. 58-2550(b)). Deductions are limited to accrued rent and damages the landlord has suffered from the tenant's noncompliance with K.S.A. 58-2555 (tenant duties) or with the rental agreement. Failure to furnish the itemized statement triggers the subsection (c) penalty (Geiger v. Wallace, 233 Kan. 656 (1983)).
Separate account required	No
Interest owed to tenant	No
Account & interest rules	The Kansas Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (K.S.A. 58-2540 through 58-2573) contains no escrow, trust-account, or interest requirement. Fifty-state charts importing other states' interest or escrow rules into Kansas are wrong.
Pet deposits	If the rental agreement permits the tenant to keep or maintain pets, the landlord may demand an additional security deposit of up to ½ of one month's rent on top of the base cap (K.S.A. 58-2550(a)). The pet deposit is part of the security deposit scheme — same return clocks, itemization duty, and 1½-times penalty.
Non-refundable fees allowed	Not addressed by statute
Penalty for violation	The tenant gets the withheld portion of the deposit back plus damages equal to 1½ times the amount wrongfully withheld, so the total recovery is 2½ times what was wrongfully kept. Kansas judges have no discretion to reduce that figure. That is the remedy when the landlord fails to comply with subsection (b) (K.S.A. 58-2550(c)); the penalty base is the withheld amount, not the whole deposit, and it stacks on return of the withheld portion. Kansas courts have no discretion to reduce the statutory damages (Love v. Monarch Apartments, 13 Kan. App. 2d 341 (1989)).
Tenant forwarding-address duty	No affirmative statutory duty to provide a forwarding address. Instead, the tenant's demand is one of the three events that closes the 30-day outer window, and if the tenant makes no demand within 30 days after termination the landlord must mail the balance to the tenant's last known address (K.S.A. 58-2550(b)).

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Kansas Security Deposit Laws (verified July 11, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/security-deposits/kansas/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

Generate a Kansas security-deposit return letter — free, no signup, built on the same verified Kansas law as this page.

Notes and caveats

Two return clocks run together — Once the landlord determines the charges, the balance is due within 14 days — but in no event more than 30 days after termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession AND demand by the tenant (K.S.A. 58-2550(b)). Secondary sources routinely headline one clock or the other and drop the demand trigger and the mail-to-last-known-address fallback.
Penalty trap: 1.5x the amount withheld, not the deposit — '1.5x the deposit' is wrong — 58-2550(c)'s base is the amount wrongfully withheld, recovered on top of return of the withheld portion itself, so the effective recovery is 2.5x what was wrongfully kept.
Applying the deposit to last month's rent forfeits it — Under 58-2550(d), a tenant who applies the deposit to the last month's rent without lease permission forfeits the deposit and still owes the rent. Clark v. Walker, 225 Kan. 359 (1979) upheld the provision's constitutionality and requires forfeiture provisions to be in the rental agreement.
Relabeled 'fees' cannot dodge the cap — No statute authorizes or bans nonrefundable fees, which is why that answer reads as not addressed by statute — but the 58-2543(m) definition captures any sum 'however denominated' deposited as a condition precedent to occupancy that can be forfeited under the agreement, so deposit-like 'fees' cannot escape the cap by relabeling. Beyond that it is a lease-drafting question.
'No checklist, no deductions' guides overstate — 58-2548 mandates a JOINT signed move-in inventory within 5 days of occupancy or delivery of possession (the tenant gets a copy), but Buettner v. Unruh, 7 Kan. App. 2d 359 (1982) holds that absence of the inventory does not preclude the landlord's damages evidence.
The housing-authority exception is real and routinely omitted — The municipal-housing-authority bedroom-size deposit schedule in 58-2550(a) is a genuine statutory exception that most summaries leave out.
Mobile home lots are a different act — Mobile home LOT tenancies are governed by the separate Mobile Home Parks act (K.S.A. 58-25,100 et seq.) with different deposit rules — 58-2543(c) excludes them from this act unless the home itself is rented from the landlord.
Dead bill: SB 482 never became law — SB 482 (2026), which addressed deposit and rent return for condemned units, died in Senate Judiciary at sine die adjournment on 2026-04-11.

Common questions: Kansas security deposits

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit in Kansas?: 1 month's rent — That is the ceiling for an unfurnished unit. Landlord-owned furniture raises it to 1½ months' rent and a permitted pet adds up to ½ month more, so the ceilings run to 1½ months unfurnished with a pet and 2 months furnished with a pet.
How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Kansas?: 30 days. Two clocks run together. Once the landlord has figured the deductions the balance is due within 14 days, and the outer limit starts only when three things have happened: the tenancy has ended, possession has been delivered, and the tenant has demanded the money back.
What happens if a landlord does not return the deposit on time in Kansas?: The tenant gets the withheld portion of the deposit back plus damages equal to 1½ times the amount wrongfully withheld, so the total recovery is 2½ times what was wrongfully kept. Kansas judges have no discretion to reduce that figure.
Do landlords have to pay interest on security deposits in Kansas?: No — Kansas does not require interest on the security deposit to be paid to the tenant. The Kansas Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (K.S.A. 58-2540 through 58-2573) contains no escrow, trust-account, or interest requirement.
Can a landlord charge a non-refundable fee in Kansas?: Not addressed by statute.

Citations

K.S.A. 58-2550 · (a)-(f) (verified 2026) Official source
K.S.A. 58-2548 (verified 2026) Official source
K.S.A. 58-2543 · (m) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text on the official Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes site (ksrevisor.gov), each section carrying a figure on this page read twice independently, with all figures reconciled verbatim: 58-2550 (1-month/1.5-month/half-month pet caps, 14-day and 30-day return clocks, 1.5x penalty), 58-2548 (5-day joint inventory), 58-2557 (reasonable notice/reasonable hours entry), 58-2570 (7-day/30-day/15-day termination notices), 58-2565(b) (30-day absence entry, 10-day abandonment presumption), 58-2564(b) (3-day nonpayment cure), 58-2563 (1.5 months' rent ouster remedy), and 12-16,120 (express local rent-control preemption). Negative checks run against the full Residential Landlord and Tenant Act: all 34 sections (58-2540 through 58-2573) downloaded and searched — no late-fee, grace-period, deposit-interest, escrow/separate-account, or rent-increase-notice provision exists. Pending-bill check 2026-07-11 on kslegislature.gov: 2025-26 biennium adjourned sine die 2026-04-11; HB 2666 (late-fee restrictions), SB 482 (condemned-unit deposit return), and HB 2768 (split rent payments) all died in committee; enacted Sub HB 2357 (eviction expungement) and SB 391 (voucher-mandate preemption) do not affect these four topics. Sight-confirmed 2026-07-12 on each bill's official history page (kslegislature.org/li/b2025_26/measures/): all three show 'Died in Committee' 2026-04-10 as the final entry.