How Do You Write a Security Deposit Demand Letter?

What the letter should contain

1. Your name, the rental address, and the tenancy dates. The landlord must match the letter to the unit and the lease without guessing.
2. The amount owed, with the math shown. Deposit paid, minus any deductions you accept, equals the amount demanded. Attach the move-out record, photos, and the lease pages that support your numbers.
3. The state deadline the landlord missed, with the statute. Name the deadline and the statute from the table below. A letter that cites the rule reads differently from a letter that only asks for money.
4. A payment date, stated as a calendar date. Give a short, definite period, commonly 14 to 30 days from the letter. Name the date. Vague timing gives the landlord no trigger and gives you no next step.
5. How payment should arrive. Check or transfer, to the forwarding address you gave in writing at move-out. If the landlord never had a forwarding address, the letter should supply one, because in at least one state the landlord is excused from damages and penalties that result from the tenant's own failure to provide a mailing or email address.
6. The next step if payment does not arrive. State plainly that you will file a small-claims case for the amount, plus any penalty the state table allows. Then do it if the date passes.
7. Your signature, the date, and a kept copy. Send it by a method that proves delivery: certified mail with return receipt, or email with a saved sent copy plus a mailed copy. Keep the proof with the letter.

State deadline and penalty table

The table below states the return deadline and the penalty for missing it, for all eight states with deposit guides. The penalty column states what the statute allows, not what every case recovers. Bad-faith findings, where the statute requires one, are decided by a court.

Why the demand comes before the filing

In most states the demand is negotiation. In two states it is procedure. California puts the demand question on form SC-100 itself: whether you asked the defendant, in person, in writing, or by phone, to pay before you sued. Oregon requires a bona-fide, good-faith effort to collect before filing, with a statement on the claim form that you tried to resolve the issue first. A written demand with proof of delivery satisfies both. A phone call you cannot prove satisfies neither on paper.

The demand also fixes the amount. A small-claims filing needs one number, and the letter forces that number into existence: deposit paid, minus accepted deductions, equals the claim. If the landlord answers with an itemization you dispute in part, the dispute narrows to the disputed items, and the filing, if it comes, is cleaner for it.

If the date passes with nothing

File. The small-claims guides for the seven states with filing guides are in the Small Claims for a Withheld Deposit by State directory, and the Small Claims Limit Lookup checks your state's limit and court before you file. Bring the letter, the proof of delivery, the lease, the move-out record, and the landlord's itemization or lack of one. The letter is your first exhibit.

Source

Deadlines and penalties in the table come from the deposit guides, which cite the state statutes: California Civil Code section 1950.5, Texas Property Code sections 92.101 to 92.109, Florida Statutes section 83.49(3), New York General Obligations Law section 7-108(1-a), Washington RCW 59.18.280, Oregon ORS 90.300, Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-103, and Illinois 765 ILCS 710, section 1. The California demand question comes from form SC-100, and the Oregon good-faith rule from the Oregon Judicial Department small-claims page. Facts verified 2026-10-25.

This page explains how the process works and what the official rules say. It is general information, not legal advice. For a dispute about your specific situation, talk to a lawyer or your state agency.