California deposit law, in plain English.

What your landlord has to do with your deposit after you move out. Each rule links to the official text.

• 21 days.

  After you move out, your landlord has 21 days to return your deposit or send an itemized statement of what they kept.

  §1950.5(h)(1)

• Receipts and photos.

  If repairs and cleaning add up to more than $125, they have to include the bills, invoices or receipts. For move-outs since April 1, 2025, photos too. If the total is $125 or less, you can still ask for the receipts within 14 days.

  §1950.5(h)(2), (h)(4), (h)(5), (g)

• Off limits.

  Normal wear and tear. Anything that was already there when you moved in. Professional cleaning, unless it's needed to get the place back to how clean it was when you moved in.

  §1950.5(e)(2)

• “Nonrefundable” isn't a thing.

  A lease can't make any part of a security deposit nonrefundable.

  §1950.5(n)

• If they play games.

  Keeping a deposit in bad faith means they lose the right to keep any of it, and a court can add up to twice the deposit. They have to prove their charges are reasonable.

  §1950.5(h)(7), (m)

• Your new address.

  They mail things to the address you give them. If you don't give one, it goes to the old place. So give one.

  §1950.5(h)(6)

Checked against the official text on October 19, 2026. General information, not legal advice. Cities can add their own rules.