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

60 days. The deadline is whichever comes first — 60 days after the tenancy terminates, or 45 days after a new tenant occupies the unit. By that date the landlord must deliver the deposit minus deductions together with a written itemization.

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

If the landlord's noncompliance with the article is 'willful or not in good faith,' the tenant is entitled to judgment for (1) the amount of any unreturned security deposit and (2) damages for annoyance or inconvenience equal to one and a half times the amount wrongfully withheld.

Do landlords have to pay interest on security deposits in West Virginia?

No — West Virginia does not require interest on the security deposit to be paid to the tenant. West Virginia's residential security-deposit law (ch. 37, art. 6A) contains no interest requirement, and no section of chapter 37 requires a separate, trust, or escrow account either.

Can a landlord charge a non-refundable fee in West Virginia?

Yes — non-refundable fees are allowed in West Virginia.

What are the security deposit rules in West Virginia?

Verified July 11, 2026 All West Virginia topics →

West Virginia puts no cap on security deposits, but the landlord must return the deposit with a written itemization within 60 days after the tenancy ends — or within 45 days after a new tenant moves in, whichever comes first.

Cited to W. Va. Code § 37-6A-1 (7), (14) and 4 more West Virginia statutes · Verified July 11, 2026

If damages exceed the deposit and a third-party contractor is needed for repairs, the landlord can take 15 extra days to itemize, but only after sending the tenant written notice of that fact within the original window. A landlord whose failure is willful or in bad faith owes the unreturned deposit plus damages for annoyance and inconvenience equal to one and a half times the amount wrongfully withheld, though anything the tenant still owes in rent is subtracted first. There is no interest, escrow, or separate-account requirement. Pet fees and application fees may be made nonrefundable only by express written agreement — otherwise a refundable pet deposit is treated as part of the security deposit. The whole scheme dates to a 2011 law and does not govern deposit agreements signed before June 10, 2011.

West Virginia security deposits at a glance

Maximum deposit	No statutory cap
Return deadline	60 days
Deadline conditions	The deadline is whichever comes first — 60 days after the tenancy terminates, or 45 days after a new tenant occupies the unit. By that date the landlord must deliver the deposit minus deductions together with a written itemization. W. Va. Code 37-6A-1(7), applied by 37-6A-2(a), calls that the 'notice period': (A) within 60 days of the termination of the tenancy, or (B) within 45 days of the occupation of the premises by a subsequent tenant, whichever time period is SHORTER. So 60 days is the outer limit, and a quick re-rental shortens it. One extension exists: if damages exceed the deposit AND require the services of a third-party contractor, the landlord may take an additional 15 days to deliver the itemization, but only if written notice of that fact is given within the base notice period (37-6A-2(c)). Delivery may be personal or by mail to the tenant's last-known or provided forwarding address; if a mailing comes back undeliverable, the landlord holds the deposit for six months for personal pickup within 72 hours of the tenant's written request (37-6A-2(g)).
Itemization required	Yes
Itemization rules	A written itemization of damages or other charges must accompany the returned balance within the notice period (37-6A-2(a)). The deposit may be applied only to: unpaid rent including reasonable lease-specified late charges; damages from the tenant's noncompliance less reasonable wear and tear; unpaid utilities billed to and paid by the landlord; reasonable removal/storage costs for the tenant's personal property; and other damages or charges provided in the rental agreement, including third-party contractor repairs (37-6A-2(b)). The landlord must keep itemized deduction records for one year after termination and allow inspection or provide a copy within 72 hours of a written request (37-6A-3).
Separate account required	No
Interest owed to tenant	No
Account & interest rules	West Virginia's residential security-deposit law (ch. 37, art. 6A) contains no interest requirement, and no section of chapter 37 requires a separate, trust, or escrow account either.
Pet deposits	No separate cap or rules. Under the definition in 37-6A-1(14), a refundable pet deposit is simply part of the 'security deposit' and subject to the whole article; a pet fee escapes the article only if the parties expressly agree, in writing, that it is nonrefundable.
Non-refundable fees allowed	Yes
Penalty for violation	If the landlord's noncompliance with the article is 'willful or not in good faith,' the tenant is entitled to judgment for (1) the amount of any unreturned security deposit and (2) damages for annoyance or inconvenience equal to one and a half times the amount wrongfully withheld. If the tenant owes rent, the court credits the award against the rent due (37-6A-5(a)). Suit lies in magistrate or circuit court where the premises are located (37-6A-5(b)); other remedies are preserved (37-6A-5(c)). This section carries no attorney-fee award — fees are available under 37-6A-4 only when a landlord sues to enforce a prohibited waiver clause.
Tenant forwarding-address duty	Soft duty: 'It shall be the responsibility of the tenant to provide an accurate address to the landlord' (37-6A-2(g)), but the return clock does NOT wait for an address — the landlord must mail to the last-known address, and an undeliverable return triggers the six-month hold/72-hour pickup mechanism rather than forfeiture.

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

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

Notes and caveats

Sixty days is the outer limit, not the deadline — Many charts print a flat '60 days' and miss the shortener — the itemized return is due within 45 days of a new tenant's occupancy if that comes first.
The 15-day extension has three conditions, not one — Some summaries miss that the extra 15 days to itemize requires both that the damages exceed the deposit and that a third-party contractor is needed, plus timely written notice to the tenant.
No 2017 amendment — the 1.5x penalty is original 2011 text — There is no roughly-2017 amendment here: the annoyance-and-inconvenience damages of one and a half times the amount wrongfully withheld are the original 2011 enactment language, verified verbatim against the enrolled act.
The code site's 'Bill History' list can fool you — The 37-6A-5 page lists SB 590 (2022), SB 147 (2023) and SB 165 (2024), which can read as if the section was amended in those years. All three died — SB 590 lapsed at sine die on March 12, 2022 without Senate concurrence in the House amendment, the House rejected SB 147 on March 10, 2023 (Roll No. 638), and SB 165 died in House Judiciary after January 15, 2024. The same page's 'Signed Bills' list shows only 2011's HB 3202, and HB 4695 (2006), also listed, died in Senate Judiciary.
The 30-day return window is a federal rule, not WV law — Legal Aid WV mentions a 30-day return window for tenants with federal rental assistance. That is a federal housing-program rule, not West Virginia statute.
No cap is an absence of law, not a gap — The maximum-deposit answer is empty because no cap exists anywhere in article 6A or article 6 — an absence of law rather than missing data.
Nonrefundable fees rest on a definition — Nonrefundable fees are marked allowed on the strength of 37-6A-1(14), which recognizes nonrefundable pet and application fees where the parties 'expressly agree, in writing.' The article does not otherwise authorize nonrefundable charges 'however denominated.'
Three official sources agree on these figures — The official section pages at code.wvlegislature.gov, the official full-article text of article 6A, and the enrolled HB 3202 slip text all carry the deposit figures shown here in identical terms.

Common questions: West Virginia 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 West Virginia?: No statutory cap.
How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in West Virginia?: 60 days. The deadline is whichever comes first — 60 days after the tenancy terminates, or 45 days after a new tenant occupies the unit. By that date the landlord must deliver the deposit minus deductions together with a written itemization.
What happens if a landlord does not return the deposit on time in West Virginia?: If the landlord's noncompliance with the article is 'willful or not in good faith,' the tenant is entitled to judgment for (1) the amount of any unreturned security deposit and (2) damages for annoyance or inconvenience equal to one and a half times the amount wrongfully withheld.
Do landlords have to pay interest on security deposits in West Virginia?: No — West Virginia does not require interest on the security deposit to be paid to the tenant. West Virginia's residential security-deposit law (ch. 37, art. 6A) contains no interest requirement, and no section of chapter 37 requires a separate, trust, or escrow account either.
Can a landlord charge a non-refundable fee in West Virginia?: Yes — non-refundable fees are allowed in West Virginia.

Statute citations

W. Va. Code § 37-6A-1 (7), (14) (verified 2026) Official source
W. Va. Code § 37-6A-2 (a)-(c), (g) (verified 2026) Official source
W. Va. Code § 37-6A-3 (verified 2026) Official source
W. Va. Code § 37-6A-5 (a)-(b) (verified 2026) Official source
Enrolled Com. Sub. for H.B. 3202, 2011 W. Va. Acts ch. 149 (eff. June 10, 2011) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text on the official WV Legislature code site (code.wvlegislature.gov): sections 37-6A-1, 37-6A-2, 37-6A-5, and 37-6-5 each read at least three times across two distinct official presentations (individual section pages read twice independently, plus the official whole-article 'email view' pages /email/37-6A/ and /email/37-6/), with all key figures matching verbatim (60-day/45-day whichever-shorter return window, 15-day contractor-itemization extension, 1.5x annoyance/inconvenience damages, one-full-period month-to-month termination notice, 6-month hold and 72-hour delivery rules). All of article 6A additionally reconciled character-for-character against the enrolled Committee Substitute for HB 3202 (2011) on wvlegislature.gov — approved by the Governor 2011-04-01, Chapter 149, Acts 2011, effective 2011-06-10 — proving the 1.5x penalty is original 2011 text with no later amendment. Verified negatives (no deposit cap, no interest, no separate account, no late-fee or grace-period statute, no entry-notice statute, no rent-increase-notice statute, no rent-control or preemption statute) run against the full official texts of ch. 37 arts. 6 (all 31 sections), 6A, and 15. Bill outcomes verified on official Bill_Status action tables: dead bills SB590 (2022), SB147 (2023, House-rejected Roll No. 638), SB165 (2024), HB4695 (2006), HB4570/HB4432/HB5155/HB5334 (2026), HB2537/HB2648/HB2828/HB2903 (2025). Enacted 2025 acts: HB2434 (Stop Squatters Act, Ch. 219, eff. 2025-07-10) confirmed off-topic for these deposit, rent, fee, and entry topics (it added the ch. 55 art. 3C squatter-removal scheme, treated as out of scope in the eviction topic's notes); HB3272 (Ch. 1, Acts 2025 — passed 2025-04-12, approved by the Governor 2025-04-28, eff. 2025-07-11) is on-topic, not off: it amended and reenacted W. Va. Code 55-3A-1, the core residential-eviction petition statute (filing-first hearing scheduling plus the tenant's five-day written-defense window), and its changes are carried in the eviction_process topic. The eviction topic is verified on its own track (see its topic_verified date and notes): its build pass reconciled the codified 55-3A-1 against the enrolled HB3272 word for word and ran currency checks on adjacent sections (50-2-1 reflecting HB2761 (2025), 2-2-1 reflecting SB793 (2026), 55-3C reflecting HB2434 (2025)); 55-3A-1 and 37-6-19 were independently re-read 2026-07-25; and on 2026-08-05 the enrolled HB3272 text and the codified 55-3A-1 were each read twice more and matched character-for-character, with the passage (2025-04-12) and gubernatorial-approval (2025-04-28) dates confirmed as distinct events from the official Bill_Status action table. 2026 regular session adjourned sine die 2026-03-14 with no on-topic bill passing. Legal Aid WV pages used as corroboration only.