Security Deposit Rules Compared: CA, FL, TX, AZ, MI (2026)

Only three of these five statutes cap the deposit: California at one month’s rent (two for some small landlords), Arizona and Michigan at 1.5 months. Florida and Texas set no cap in the text. The bigger difference is the deadline and the price of missing it: the first deadline runs from 14 days (Arizona, excluding weekends and holidays) to 30 days (Florida, Michigan, Texas), with California at 21 days and Michigan adding a 45-day limit to sue or return the balance. Penalties run from losing the right to deduct to double or triple damages, some of them only for bad faith.

The five statutes side by side

State	Dollar cap	Deadline, and what starts the clock	What the landlord must send	If the deadline is missed	Section
California	One month’s rent, plus first month’s rent paid by initial occupancy (c)(1). Two months for a natural-person landlord (or an LLC of natural persons) with up to two rental properties and four units, unless the tenant is a service member (c)(5). Also outside the cap: advance rent of six months or more on a lease of six months or longer (c)(2); security collected before 1 July 2024 (c)(6).	21 calendar days after the tenant has vacated (h)(1). A good-faith estimate may cover repairs not finished, or documents not received, within 21 days; the rest is due within 14 calendar days of completion or receipt (h)(3).	Itemized statement of basis, amount and disposition, by personal delivery or first-class mail (e-mail only by mutual agreement) (h)(1)(B). Balance: personal delivery or mailed check, or electronically if the landlord received the security or rent electronically; one check payable to all adult tenants unless they agree otherwise (h)(1)(A), (C). Copies of bills, invoices or receipts and photographs for deductions (h)(2).	Bad-faith noncompliance: no claim to the security (h)(7). Bad-faith claim or retention: may bring statutory damages of up to twice the security, plus actual damages (m).	Civ. Code 1950.5
Florida	No cap in the statute text (s. 83.49).	15 days after termination of the rental agreement to return it if no claim; 30 days after it for written notice of a claim (3)(a). No objection within 15 days of receipt: balance due within 30 days after the notice date (3)(b). Weekends and holidays: text silent.	No claim: the deposit itself. Claim: written notice of the amount and reason, in substantially the statutory form, by certified mail or by e-mail under s. 83.505 (3)(a).	Forfeits the right to impose a claim and to set off against the deposit, but may sue for damages after returning it (3)(a). In a court action over the deposit, the prevailing party gets costs and attorney’s fees (3)(c).	Fla. Stat. 83.49
Texas	No cap in the statute text (Subchapter C, ss. 92.101-92.113).	30th day after the tenant surrenders the premises (92.103(a)); no duty until a written forwarding address is given (92.107(a)). A refund or accounting postmarked by the due date is presumed made (92.1041). Weekends and holidays: text silent.	The balance, if any, with a written description and itemized list of all deductions (92.104(c)); no list if the tenant owes rent when surrendering possession and the amount is not in controversy (92.104(c)(1)-(2)).	Bad faith: $100, three times the portion wrongfully withheld, and attorney’s fees (92.109(a)). Bad-faith failure to send the list forfeits the right to withhold or to sue for damages to the premises (92.109(b)). Missing day 30 is presumed bad faith (92.109(d)).	Prop. Code 92.103, 92.104, 92.107, 92.109
Arizona	1.5 months’ rent, including prepaid rent; the tenant may voluntarily pay more rent in advance (A).	14 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and other legal holidays, after termination of the tenancy and delivery of possession and demand by the tenant (D).	Itemized list of all deductions with the amount due, if any, by first-class mail to the tenant’s last known place of residence unless the tenant arranges otherwise in writing (D).	Tenant may recover the money due plus damages equal to twice the amount wrongfully withheld (E).	A.R.S. 33-1321
Michigan	1 1/2 months’ rent (554.602), counting required prepayment beyond the first full rental period (554.601(d)).	Mail the notice of damages within 30 days after termination of occupancy (554.609(1)); sue or return the balance within 45 days after termination (554.613(1)). Weekends and holidays: text silent.	Notice itemizing the damages, with the estimated repair cost of each item (554.609(1)), plus a check or money order for the difference or, instead, direct deposit or electronic transfer within 10 days after mailing (554.609(2)-(3)).	Landlord agrees no damages are due and must remit the full deposit at once (554.610). Failing to comply fully with the 45-day section waives all claimed damages and makes the landlord liable for double the deposit retained (554.613(2)).	MCL 554.609, 554.613

California: the paperwork travels with the statement

Copies of bills, invoices or receipts go “along with and at the same time the itemized statement is sent” (1950.5(h)(2)), and a deduction for repairs or cleanings also requires the photographs taken under subdivision (g) (h)(2)(D): move-in photographs for tenancies beginning on or after 1 July 2025 (g)(1), and from April 1, 2025, photographs after possession returns and after repairs (g)(2). The $125 exception (h)(4)(A) excuses the documents, not the statement, and a tenant request within 14 calendar days after receiving the statement revives the duty (h)(5).

Florida: two clocks and a forfeiture

No claim: return by day 15. Claim: notice by day 30 (83.49(3)(a)). Miss day 30 and the landlord “forfeits the right to impose a claim upon the security deposit”. Unless the written rental agreement says otherwise, a tenant who owes the 7-day written notice in subsection (5) (early move-out, or a periodic tenancy) but does not give it relieves the landlord of the (3)(a) notice duty, though not of the tenant’s right to the deposit.

Texas: the forwarding address gate

Section 92.107(a) says the landlord need not refund or itemize until the tenant gives a written forwarding address, yet 92.107(b) says the tenant does not forfeit the refund by not giving one. A lease requirement that the tenant give advance notice of surrender as a condition of the refund is effective only if underlined or in conspicuous bold print (92.103(b)). E-mail notice is allowed if the parties have previously communicated by e-mail (92.113(a)).

Arizona: three triggers, not one

The 14 days run after “termination of the tenancy and delivery of possession and demand by the tenant” (33-1321(D)). If the tenant does not dispute within 60 days after mailing, the list is “deemed valid and final” and further claims of the tenant are waived (D). Nonrefundable fees need a written purpose; a fee not designated nonrefundable is refundable (B).

Michigan: the move-in notice and the sue-or-return rule

A landlord “shall not require a security deposit unless” written notice goes out within 14 days of possession (554.603). Without a money judgment (or proof the tenant cannot be served) the landlord may keep nothing for claimed damages unless an exception in 554.613(1)(a)-(d) applies: no forwarding address, no tenant response, a written agreement, or a claim entirely for unpaid rent.

Three mistakes to avoid in all five states

Starting the clock on the wrong event. Vacating (California), termination of the rental agreement (Florida), surrender (Texas, where the duty also waits on a forwarding address), termination, delivery of possession and tenant demand (Arizona), termination of occupancy (Michigan).
Sending a bare total. Every statute calls for a written statement of the claim, itemized in four of them. California and Texas bar deductions for wear and tear (1950.5(e)(2)(A); 92.104(b)); Michigan covers only damage that directly results from conduct not reasonably expected in normal habitation (554.607(a)).
Sending it to the wrong place. Arizona: last known place of residence. Florida: last known mailing address, or e-mail under 83.505. California: the address the tenant provided, else the vacated unit (h)(6). Michigan: it must be mailed (554.609(1)).

What this table leaves out

Interest: only Florida addresses it (83.49(1), (9)); the other four sections we read have no interest rule.
Prepaid and last month’s rent: California (b), Florida (83.49(1)), Arizona (A) and Michigan 554.601(d) count some advance rent as deposit; Texas 92.102 excludes it. Of the sections we read, only Texas addresses a tenant withholding the last month’s rent (92.108).
Pet and cleaning fees: Florida s. 83.43(4) lists pet deposits as deposit money; California bars a lease provision calling any security “nonrefundable” (n). The Texas and Michigan sections do not name pet fees.
Roommates: only California says how to return a deposit to several adult tenants (h)(1)(C).
Local rules: Florida s. 83.425 preempts local regulation of security deposits; the other four sections we read are silent on local ordinances.
Not covered: where the deposit must be held (s. 83.49(1); MCL 554.604), sale of the property, abandoned property, court procedure.

This page describes statute text and is not legal advice. For a specific dispute, ask a licensed attorney in that state.

Checked against the statute text for each state on 5 October 2026.

Sources

The guides:

Informational only, not legal advice. Hexloom Labs sells one of the products compared on this page; we have tried to be fair and corrections are welcome through the support page.