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Real estate rentals · 15 min

Landlord rules: deposits, repairs and eviction

The rent is yours. The deposit isn't, the heat has to work, and only a court can take back the keys. Here are the rules a landlord lives by, and why they change at the state line.

Ticket 01 · The guess

How fast does the deposit go back?

Your tenant in California moves out. How many days do you have to send back their security deposit, with a written list of anything you kept?

60 days
0 days90 days
Words to know

Spot something wrong?

Tell us what looks off. No name or email needed.

What kind of problem?

0 / 1000

We'll also send this page, the lesson, ticket 1, so we can find it. Nothing else. Privacy

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Sources and every number (1)

Sources

  • California Civil Code section 1950.5: security for a residential rental (the deposit's limit, what it may pay for, the 21-day itemized statement, photos, bad-faith damages) · California Legislative Information, 2025

Every number

  • 21 daysca.gov ·2025 · California: calendar days after the tenant moves out to send the itemized statement and the rest of the deposit.
  • $125ca.gov ·2025 · California: at or below this total for repairs and cleaning (or if the tenant waived it in writing), the landlord needn't send copies of the bills with the itemized statement.
  • 2 times the depositca.gov ·2025 · California: the most a court may add for keeping a deposit in bad faith, on top of the actual damages.
  1. Lessons›
  2. Industries›
  3. Real estate rentals
  • ·Before this: Repairs and reserves
  • ·Next: Taxes on a rental
  • ·Free guide: How landlords make money
Skip to the lesson
Back to the home page and map, from TryOwning · Real estate rentals · Lesson 5
Part 1 of 3Part 1 of 3, 0 done

Real estate rentals · 15 min

Landlord rules: deposits, repairs and eviction

The rent is yours. The deposit isn't, the heat has to work, and only a court can take back the keys. Here are the rules a landlord lives by, and why they change at the state line.

Ticket 01 · The guess

How fast does the deposit go back?

Your tenant in California moves out. How many days do you have to send back their security deposit, with a written list of anything you kept?

60 days
0 days90 days
Words to know

Spot something wrong?

Tell us what looks off. No name or email needed.

What kind of problem?

0 / 1000

We'll also send this page, the lesson, ticket 1, so we can find it. Nothing else. Privacy

·
Sources and every number (1)

Sources

  • California Civil Code section 1950.5: security for a residential rental (the deposit's limit, what it may pay for, the 21-day itemized statement, photos, bad-faith damages) · California Legislative Information, 2025

Every number

  • 21 daysca.gov ·2025 · California: calendar days after the tenant moves out to send the itemized statement and the rest of the deposit.
  • $125ca.gov ·2025 · California: at or below this total for repairs and cleaning (or if the tenant waived it in writing), the landlord needn't send copies of the bills with the itemized statement.
  • 2 times the depositca.gov ·2025 · California: the most a court may add for keeping a deposit in bad faith, on top of the actual damages.
  1. Lessons›
  2. Industries›
  3. Real estate rentals
  • ·Before this: Repairs and reserves
  • ·Next: Taxes on a rental
  • ·Free guide: How landlords make money