Idaho · Security Deposit Form Guide

Free Idaho Security Deposit Itemization Statement

Build a compliant, signed itemization under Idaho Code Section 6-321. When a landlord returns less than the full deposit, it must furnish a signed statement listing each amount retained, the purpose for it, and a detailed list of expenditures, delivered within 21 days of surrender (up to 30 days if the lease so provides), or forfeit the right to withhold.

Idaho Code 6-321 Signed & detailed Auto-calc refund Free PDF

An Idaho security deposit itemization statement is the signed, line-by-line accounting a landlord must produce whenever it keeps any part of a tenant’s deposit at the end of a tenancy. Under Idaho Code Section 6-321, any refund of less than the full deposit must be accompanied by a signed statement itemizing the amounts retained, the purpose for each, and a detailed list of expenditures, delivered within 21 days of surrender (or up to 30 days where the lease so provides). This tool generates that itemization, auto-calculates the refund, and pairs with a cover letter. Our Idaho security deposit laws guide covers the wider framework, and the tenant screening laws by state hub helps you place tenants who leave the unit clean in the first place.

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Video: a plain-language walkthrough of the Idaho deposit itemization – the signed itemized statement, the 21-day deadline, permissible deductions, and the forfeiture remedy for a defective accounting.

Key Takeaways: Idaho Deposit Itemization

• A signed, detailed itemization is mandatory on any partial refund. Idaho Code Section 6-321 requires a signed statement of each amount retained, the purpose for it, and a detailed list of expenditures.
• Twenty-one days to itemize and refund. The statement and any refund are due within 21 days if no time is fixed by the agreement, and within 30 days in any event, after the tenant surrenders the premises.
• No charging for wear and tear. Only unpaid rent, tenant-caused damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, reasonable cleaning to move-in condition, and lease-authorized charges may appear as deductions.
• A defective or late itemization forfeits the right to withhold. The landlord must return the full deposit, and the tenant may recover damages plus costs under Idaho Code Section 6-320.
• No deposit cap, no interest requirement, and no penalty multiplier. Idaho sets no statutory cap or interest duty, and no fixed two-times or three-times penalty; the lease governs the deposit terms.

Generate Your Idaho Itemization Statement

Complete the worksheet below to build a signed itemization ready to print and send with your refund. Enter the original deposit, add any interest the lease requires, and list each deduction with a specific description and a dollar amount. The generator adds the deposit to the interest, subtracts the itemized deductions, and calculates the refund balance owed to the tenant automatically. If the deductions exceed the deposit, it flips to show the additional balance the tenant owes. Every figure you enter flows straight into the PDF itemization, and you can review the running total on screen before you generate.

How Idaho’s 21-Day Itemization Rule Works

Idaho runs its security deposit accounting on a firm statutory clock, and the itemization statement is the document that clock is measured against. Under Idaho Code Section 6-321, refunds “shall be made within twenty-one (21) days if no time is fixed by agreement and, in any event, within thirty (30) days after surrender of the premises by the tenant.” The twenty-one-day window is the default that applies whenever the lease does not fix a specific time, and the thirty-day figure is the outer limit a landlord may reach only where the written rental agreement expressly provides for it. Missing the applicable deadline is the single most common way an Idaho landlord loses the right to keep deductions it could otherwise have justified, because the itemization is what turns a legitimate charge into an enforceable one.

The clock starts when the tenant surrenders the premises, meaning when the tenant returns possession by vacating and handing back the keys, not when the tenant later mails a forwarding address. This ordering trips up landlords who wait for an address before beginning the accounting. The defensible practice is to capture the forwarding address at move-out, begin building the itemization immediately, and treat the twenty-one-day mark as a hard mailing deadline rather than a soft goal. If the tenant never provides a forwarding address, mail the itemization and any refund to the last address known to the landlord, which is typically the rental unit itself. Because the statute counts from surrender, the itemization should carry the surrender date on its face so the timing is provable later.

What the Idaho Itemization Statement Does

The itemization statement is the document that proves the landlord did the accounting the statute requires. Under Idaho Code Section 6-321, any refund of less than the full amount deposited must be accompanied by a signed statement itemizing the amounts lawfully retained by the landlord, the purpose for the amounts retained, and a detailed list of expenditures made from the deposit. Where a return letter is the cover communication, the itemization is the substance behind it: the numbered worksheet that assigns a dollar figure and a reason to each deduction and ties both to a receipt. It is the record a landlord produces in small-claims court when a tenant disputes the withholdings.

The document does three things at once. It satisfies the statutory duty to communicate the deposit decision in writing and in signed form within the deadline. It gives the tenant a concrete, line-by-line accounting to review and, if warranted, to challenge item by item. And it creates a contemporaneous record that answers a later challenge to the deductions. Without a properly delivered, signed itemization, even legitimate deductions are exposed, because the statutory consequence of non-compliance is losing the right to withhold at all. That is why the itemization, not the refund check, is the center of gravity in an Idaho deposit dispute.

Itemization Versus the Return Letter

An Idaho landlord often produces two paired documents at move-out, and it helps to keep them distinct. The itemization statement generated on this page is the detailed worksheet: it lists each deduction with a description, a purpose, and a dollar amount, sums the deductions, subtracts them from the deposit, and shows the refund balance. The return letter is the short cover communication that transmits the refund check and states the deposit decision in prose. The two are complementary, and many landlords staple the itemization to the letter and mail them together. Because Idaho Code Section 6-321 specifically requires the signed, detailed itemization, the itemization is the document that carries the statutory weight; the letter is courtesy and context. If you want the cover communication as well, generate it with our companion Idaho security deposit return letter form, then attach this itemization to it.

The Signed, Detailed Itemized Statement

Idaho Code Section 6-321 does not merely say a landlord may deduct; it dictates how deductions must be documented. For any refund less than the full deposit, the landlord must furnish a signed statement that names each amount retained, states the purpose for each amount, and includes a detailed list of expenditures made from the deposit. The word “detailed” is doing real work: a court reviewing a deposit dispute looks for specific descriptions and supporting documentation, not category headings. A landlord who lumps costs together, omits the purpose, or fails to sign the statement risks having the deductions disallowed even where the underlying charges were fair. The itemization builder above forces the discipline the statute demands by giving each deduction its own description line and amount, so nothing is charged without a stated purpose.

Because the statute is specific about the signature and the detail, the safest itemization reads like an invoice: each line names what was damaged or cleaned, where it was located, why the charge was necessary, and the dollar amount, with a receipt or invoice behind it. Keeping every supporting document, even for small charges, closes off the argument that the statement was incomplete. When the itemization goes to a judge, the difference between “cleaning – $250” and “professional carpet cleaning of pet-stained living room carpet, invoice attached – $250” is frequently the difference between an allowed and a disallowed deduction.

Permissible Deductions and the Contingencies Clause

Idaho Code Section 6-321 provides that on surrender all amounts held as a security deposit shall be refunded to the tenant “except amounts necessary to cover the contingencies specified in the deposit arrangement.” In plain terms, a landlord may retain only what the deposit was lawfully set aside to cover, which in practice is unpaid rent, the reasonable cost of repairing tenant-caused damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, reasonable cleaning to return the unit to its move-in level of cleanliness, and other charges the tenant is contractually obligated to pay under the lease. Anything outside those categories does not belong on the itemization. A charge for an upgrade the landlord wanted anyway, for wear that ordinary use produced, or for a cost the lease never authorized will not survive scrutiny, and including it can taint the credibility of the legitimate lines around it.

No Deposit Cap and No Interest Requirement

Idaho stands apart from many states in two ways that matter to the itemization. First, Idaho has no statutory cap on the amount of a residential security deposit; the lease terms govern, and most Idaho agreements set the deposit at one to two months’ rent by market custom rather than by law. Second, Idaho requires no interest on a held deposit; any interest arrangement is a matter of contract, not statute. That means the interest field on the itemization is used only where a lease or a local ordinance separately obligates the landlord to pay it. Our Idaho security deposit laws guide walks through the collection-side rules that set the deposit figure this itemization later accounts for.

The Forfeiture Remedy and Litigation Exposure

Idaho’s remedy is what gives the itemization deadline its teeth, and it works differently from the multiplier penalties some states impose. Under Idaho Code Section 6-321, a landlord who fails to refund the deposit or provide the signed itemized statement within the statutory period loses the right to retain any portion of the deposit and must return the full amount to the tenant. Idaho Code Section 6-320 supplies the tenant’s cause of action: a tenant may sue for the landlord’s failure to return a security deposit as and when required by law, and the court may enter judgment for the damages assessed, may order specific performance, and may award costs and disbursements. Under Idaho’s general fee-shifting rules a court may also award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party. Idaho does not impose a fixed statutory multiplier such as two or three times the deposit, so a landlord’s realistic exposure is the full deposit plus the tenant’s litigation costs, not a punitive multiple. Because remedy statutes are amended from time to time, confirm the current text of Idaho Code Sections 6-321 and 6-320 before relying on any specific figure, and never threaten a penalty the statute does not contain.

Wear and Tear Versus Damage on the Itemization

Idaho Code Section 6-321 defines normal wear and tear as deterioration that occurs based on the use for which the unit is intended and without negligence, carelessness, accident, or misuse or abuse by the tenant, members of the tenant’s household, or their invitees or guests, and it bars the landlord from retaining any part of the deposit to cover it. Faded paint, minor carpet wear in walking paths, small scuff marks near door handles, and minor nail holes from hanging pictures all fall on the wear-and-tear side and must be left off the itemization. Damage is harm beyond ordinary use: large holes in walls, carpet stains or burns, broken fixtures, pet urine saturation, smoke damage, missing items, or deliberate alterations. Only damage, unpaid rent, cleaning to restore the move-in level of cleanliness, and lease-authorized charges may appear as deductions. The move-in and move-out condition records and dated photographs are the evidence that separates one from the other, which is why a thorough Idaho move-in and move-out checklist is the upstream document that makes a defensible itemization possible.

How the Auto-Calculation Works

The itemization builder is a money document, so the math is the heart of it. As you enter the original deposit and any lease-required interest, the tool sums them into a total deposit figure. As you list each deduction with a description and an amount, it adds the amounts into a total deductions figure. It then subtracts the total deductions from the total deposit and shows the result as the refund balance, updating live on screen as you type so you can see the number move before you commit. The same three figures – total deposit, total deductions, and the balance – are written into the PDF itemization, so the number on the page and the number on the document never drift apart.

The tool handles both directions of the calculation, which is exactly what a real itemization must do. When the deposit exceeds the deductions, the balance is a positive refund owed to the tenant, and the PDF labels it as the refund balance owed. When the deductions exactly equal the deposit, the balance is zero and the PDF shows a zero refund. When the deductions exceed the deposit, the balance is negative, and rather than printing a confusing negative refund the PDF flips the label to show the additional balance the tenant owes above the deposit. Consider a one thousand five hundred dollar deposit with eleven hundred dollars in documented deductions: the tool shows a four hundred dollar refund. Now raise the deductions to eighteen hundred dollars against the same deposit, and the tool shows a three hundred dollar balance owed by the tenant. Handling the deductions-exceed-deposit case on the face of the document is what keeps the accounting honest when repairs run past the amount held.

Idaho Itemization Citation Reference Table

The provisions an Idaho itemization relies on live in two adjacent statutes:

• Idaho Code Section 6-321 – refunds shall be made within twenty-one days if no time is fixed by agreement, and within thirty days in any event, after surrender of the premises.
• Idaho Code Section 6-321 – any refund of less than the full deposit must be accompanied by a signed statement itemizing the amounts retained, the purpose for each, and a detailed list of expenditures.
• Idaho Code Section 6-321 – the landlord may retain only amounts necessary to cover the contingencies specified in the deposit arrangement, and may not retain any part for normal wear and tear.
• Idaho Code Section 6-321 – the definition of normal wear and tear as deterioration from intended use without negligence, carelessness, accident, or misuse or abuse.
• Idaho Code Section 6-320 – the tenant’s cause of action for failure to return a security deposit as and when required by law, with judgment for damages, specific performance, and costs and disbursements.

Idaho sets no statutory deposit cap and requires no interest on a held deposit; both are governed by the lease. Idaho also imposes no fixed penalty multiplier on a defective itemization. Because statutory text is amended over time, confirm the current version of Idaho Code Sections 6-321 and 6-320 before you rely on a specific phrase in a filing, and check any local Idaho ordinance that may add procedural duties.

What to Send With the Idaho Itemization

A complete deposit-return package built around the itemization usually includes:

• The signed itemization statement – generated above, signed and dated within the deadline that runs from surrender.
• The refund check – for the calculated balance, if any is owed to the tenant.
• Copies of receipts for each deduction – the detailed list of expenditures Idaho Code Section 6-321 requires.
• A short cover return letter – transmitting the check and summarizing the decision, from our companion Idaho return letter form.
• The move-in and move-out condition records – they establish baseline condition against end-of-tenancy condition.
• Dated move-out photographs – paired with the condition record to prove damage rather than wear and tear.

Send the package by certified mail with return receipt to the forwarding address, retain the mailing receipt, and keep copies of everything for at least four years.

Common Idaho Itemization Mistakes

The most-litigated Idaho deposit disputes share a short list of itemization errors:

• Assuming the thirty-day window applies when the lease contains no written provision fixing that time.
• Waiting for a forwarding address before building the itemization instead of counting from surrender.
• Charging for ordinary wear and tear such as faded paint or minor carpet wear from foot traffic.
• Furnishing a vague itemization with no description, purpose, or receipts, which fails the signed-and-detailed requirement.
• Forgetting to sign the statement, leaving an itemization that is defective on its face.
• Threatening a double or triple penalty the statute does not contain, which undermines credibility before a judge.

Step by Step: Building the Idaho Itemization

An itemization that survives a challenge is built in a fixed order, and doing the steps out of sequence is where most defective statements come from. The following walkthrough mirrors the builder above and keeps each Idaho requirement in view as you go.

1. Record the surrender date first. The twenty-one-day clock in Idaho Code Section 6-321 runs from the day the tenant returns possession, so write that date at the top of your file before anything else. Every later deadline is measured from it.
2. Pull the lease and the move-in condition record. The lease tells you the original deposit amount, whether any interest is owed, and whether the written agreement fixes the thirty-day window; the move-in record is your baseline for what counts as damage rather than wear.
3. Walk the unit against the baseline. Inspect room by room, photograph each item of damage with a dated image, and separate genuine damage from the faded paint, minor carpet wear, and small nail holes that Idaho treats as normal wear and tear.
4. Gather a receipt or estimate for every charge. Idaho Code Section 6-321 requires a detailed list of expenditures, so no line goes on the itemization without an invoice, a paid receipt, or a written estimate behind it.
5. Write each deduction as a full description. Name the item, its location, the reason it is chargeable, and the amount. “Replace living-room carpet damaged by pet urine, invoice attached” carries far more weight than “carpet.”
6. Enter the numbers and let the tool total them. The builder sums the deductions, subtracts them from the deposit plus interest, and shows the refund balance or the balance owed. Check that the on-screen figure matches your own arithmetic before you generate.
7. Sign, attach the receipts, and mail early. Sign the statement, staple the receipts and dated photos, and send by certified mail with return receipt well before day twenty-one so a postal delay never costs you the deadline.

Idaho Deduction Categories in Practice

Idaho Code Section 6-321 limits deductions to the amounts necessary to cover the contingencies the deposit was set aside for. In day-to-day practice those contingencies fall into four recognizable categories, and knowing which category a charge belongs to is the fastest way to decide whether it can go on the itemization at all.

Unpaid Rent and Late Fees

Rent the tenant owed but never paid, including any pro-rated final month, is the cleanest deduction on an Idaho itemization because it is a fixed number the ledger already shows. Late fees and other charges are deductible only where the written lease authorizes them; a fee the lease never mentions is not a contingency the deposit covers. List each unpaid period separately with the amount and the month it covers so the tenant can reconcile it against their own records.

Damage Beyond Ordinary Wear and Tear

This is the category that produces the most disputes, because the line between damage and wear is exactly where tenants push back. Idaho’s statutory definition does the work: deterioration from intended use, without negligence or misuse, is wear the landlord absorbs, while holes punched in drywall, carpet burns, pet-urine saturation, broken fixtures, and cracked countertops are damage the tenant caused. The itemization should describe the specific harm and its location, and the dated move-out photograph paired with the move-in record is what proves the item was damage and not the ordinary aging of the unit.

Reasonable Cleaning to Move-In Condition

A landlord may charge the reasonable cost of returning the unit to the level of cleanliness it had at move-in, but not the cost of making it cleaner than the tenant received it. A professional clean of a genuinely filthy unit is deductible; a routine turnover cleaning the landlord would perform for any tenant is not. Tie the charge to the condition record and, where possible, to a cleaning invoice that describes the work.

Other Lease-Authorized Charges

Anything the tenant is contractually obligated to pay under the lease, such as an unreturned-key fee, an unpaid utility the tenant agreed to cover, or a contractually specified re-keying cost, may be itemized as long as the lease actually creates the obligation. If the charge is not in the lease and is not damage, unpaid rent, or cleaning, it does not belong on the itemization, and including it risks the credibility of the legitimate lines beside it.

If the Tenant Disputes the Itemization

Even a careful itemization can draw a challenge, and how a landlord responds often decides the outcome. A tenant who believes a deduction is improper typically sends a written demand for the return of the withheld amount, and Idaho’s small-claims process is the usual venue when the demand is refused. Idaho Code Section 6-320 gives the tenant the cause of action: a suit for the landlord’s failure to return the deposit as and when required by law, in which the court may enter judgment for the damages assessed, order specific performance, and award costs and disbursements. Under Idaho’s general fee-shifting rules the prevailing party may also recover reasonable attorney fees, which means a landlord who withheld in good faith with a complete, signed, and detailed itemization is in a far stronger position than one whose statement was vague, unsigned, or late.

The single best defense is the itemization itself. When a landlord can produce a signed statement delivered within the deadline, with each deduction described, purposed, and backed by a receipt and a dated photograph, the tenant’s challenge usually fails on the documents alone. When the statement is missing, late, or defective, the forfeiture rule in Idaho Code Section 6-321 does the opposite work, and the landlord is often ordered to return the full deposit regardless of whether the underlying charges were fair. This asymmetry is why the discipline of the itemization matters more than the size of any single deduction: the process, done correctly and on time, is what protects the money.

A Worked Idaho Itemization Example

It helps to walk a realistic deposit through the Idaho rules from surrender to mailing. Suppose a tenant on a written month-to-month lease surrenders the premises and returns the keys on the third of the month, giving a forwarding address at the same time. The lease does not fix a return time, so the twenty-one-day default in Idaho Code Section 6-321 applies, and the landlord’s mailing deadline is the twenty-fourth of that month. The original deposit was one thousand five hundred dollars, and the lease requires no interest, so the total deposit figure is one thousand five hundred dollars.

The landlord walks the unit the same afternoon against the move-in condition record. Two items are genuine damage: a large hole punched in the north bedroom wall, repaired for two hundred and fifty dollars with a drywall invoice attached, and living-room carpet saturated with pet urine, replaced for six hundred dollars with a flooring invoice attached. A third item, a professional clean of a genuinely greasy kitchen, costs one hundred and fifty dollars against a cleaning invoice. The faded hallway paint and the minor carpet wear in the walking path are left off entirely because Idaho treats them as normal wear and tear. The itemized deductions total one thousand dollars, so the refund balance is five hundred dollars owed to the tenant.

The landlord enters these figures in the builder, confirms the on-screen refund balance reads five hundred dollars, and generates the PDF itemization. The statement names each deduction with its location, purpose, and amount, carries the surrender date and the statement date on its face, is signed and dated, and has the three receipts and the dated move-out photographs stapled behind it. It goes out by certified mail with return receipt on the fifteenth, nine days inside the deadline, with a five-hundred-dollar refund check enclosed. If the tenant later disputes the carpet charge, the landlord can produce a complete, signed, on-time itemization with an invoice and a dated photograph for that exact line, which is precisely the record Idaho Code Section 6-321 was written to require. Had the same landlord mailed a one-line “cleaning and repairs – $1,000” note without receipts on day twenty-eight, the forfeiture rule would likely have cost the entire one thousand dollars in deductions regardless of how fair the underlying charges were.

Best Practices for a Defensible Idaho Itemization

The landlords who never lose a deposit dispute treat the itemization as a discipline, not an afterthought. Begin the accounting the day the tenant surrenders the premises, while the condition is fresh and the move-out photographs are still current. Walk the unit against the move-in condition record, note each item of damage with its location, and gather an invoice or estimate for every repair before you write the line. Draft each deduction as a full sentence a stranger could understand: what was damaged, where, why the charge was necessary, and how the amount was determined. Then sign the statement, attach the receipts, and mail it by certified mail well before the twenty-one-day mark so a postal delay never costs you the deadline.

Two habits pay for themselves. First, photograph everything at both move-in and move-out and date the images, because a dated photo paired with the condition record is the evidence that converts a contested “wear and tear” argument into a documented “damage” deduction. Second, keep the entire package for at least four years, since Idaho’s limitations period for a written-contract claim comfortably exceeds four years and a tenant can file a small-claims action long after the keys change hands. The itemization you can produce, complete and signed, years later is the one that wins.

Tenant Screening as Prevention

The cleanest move-outs come from tenants who were screened thoroughly at the application stage. A verifiable income, a steady payment history, and a clean eviction record are the strongest predictors of a unit returned in good condition, which means a short itemization, a full refund, and no litigation. Screening is the upstream control that keeps the deposit accounting simple. Our overview of how to screen tenants step by step walks through the process, and the broader tenant screening laws by state guide covers the rules that apply when you pull a report.

Idaho Security Deposit Itemization: FAQ

What is an Idaho security deposit itemization statement?

It is the signed, line-by-line accounting an Idaho landlord must furnish whenever it returns less than the full security deposit. Under Idaho Code Section 6-321, any refund of less than the full amount deposited must be accompanied by a signed statement itemizing the amounts lawfully retained, the purpose for each amount, and a detailed list of expenditures made from the deposit. The itemization is the document that proves each deduction, and it must be delivered within 21 days if no time is fixed by the agreement, and within 30 days in any event, after the tenant surrenders the premises.

How is an itemization statement different from a deposit return letter?

They are companion documents. The return letter is the cover communication that transmits the refund check and states the deposit decision. The itemization statement is the detailed worksheet behind it, listing each deduction with a specific description, a purpose, and the dollar amount, tied to receipts. Idaho Code Section 6-321 requires the signed, detailed itemization, so many Idaho landlords pair the two: a short return letter on top and this itemization statement attached.

How many days does an Idaho landlord have to deliver the itemization?

Idaho Code Section 6-321 requires the refund and the accompanying signed itemized statement within twenty-one days if no time is fixed by the rental agreement, and within thirty days in any event, after the tenant surrenders the premises. The thirty-day window is available only where the written lease expressly fixes that time; absent a written lease provision, the twenty-one-day default controls. The clock runs from surrender of the premises, not from the date the tenant provides a forwarding address.

What can an Idaho landlord deduct on the itemization?

Under Idaho Code Section 6-321 a landlord may retain only the amounts necessary to cover the contingencies specified in the deposit arrangement, which in practice means unpaid rent, the reasonable cost of repairing damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, reasonable cleaning to return the unit to its move-in condition, and other charges the tenant is contractually obligated to pay. The landlord may not retain any part of the deposit to cover normal wear and tear.

How does Idaho define normal wear and tear on the itemization?

Idaho Code Section 6-321 defines normal wear and tear as the deterioration that occurs based on the use for which the rental unit is intended and without negligence, carelessness, accident, or misuse or abuse of the premises or its contents by the tenant, members of the tenant’s household, or their invitees or guests. Faded paint, minor carpet wear along walking paths, small nail holes, and light scuffing fall on the wear-and-tear side and cannot appear as deductions.

What happens if the itemization is late or defective?

A landlord who fails to deliver a proper signed itemized statement and refund within the statutory period loses the right to retain any portion of the deposit and must return the full amount. Under Idaho Code Section 6-320 a tenant may sue for the damages caused by the failure to return the deposit as and when required by law, and the court may enter judgment for those damages plus costs and disbursements. Idaho Code Section 6-321 does not impose a fixed penalty multiplier such as two or three times the deposit; verify the current text of the statute before asserting any specific penalty.

Does Idaho require receipts to back the itemization?

Idaho Code Section 6-321 requires a detailed list of expenditures made from the deposit, which in practice means the itemization must be supported by invoices, receipts, or estimates that document the amount and purpose of each charge. A vague single-line entry such as cleaning or repairs, without a description or supporting document, is routinely disallowed. Keep every receipt, even for small amounts, and attach copies to the itemization.

Does Idaho cap the deposit or require interest on it?

No. Idaho has no statutory cap on the amount of a residential security deposit and no statute requiring a landlord to pay interest on a held deposit. The lease terms govern the amount, and any interest arrangement is a matter of contract. Most Idaho rental agreements set the deposit at one to two months’ rent by market custom rather than by law. Verify the current text of Idaho Code Section 6-321, as the statute is subject to amendment.

What does the auto-calculation on this itemization do?

The generator adds the original deposit to any interest the lease requires, subtracts the sum of the itemized deductions, and calculates the balance. If the deposit exceeds the deductions, it shows the refund owed to the tenant. If the deductions equal or exceed the deposit, it shows a zero refund or the additional balance the tenant owes. The on-screen total updates as you type, and the same figures are written into the PDF itemization so the math on the page and the math on the document always match.

How long should I keep the itemization and its supporting documents?

Keep the signed itemization, the receipts and invoices behind each line, the move-in and move-out condition records and photographs, and the certified-mail receipt for at least four years from the end of the tenancy. Idaho’s limitations period for a written-contract claim comfortably exceeds four years, so a four-year retention window covers a deposit dispute that lands in small-claims court well after the tenancy ends.

Related Idaho Deposit and Rental Guides

• Idaho security deposit laws – the full framework behind this itemization.
• Idaho deposit return letter – the cover letter that transmits this itemization and the refund.
• Idaho move-in and move-out checklist – the baseline that justifies a deduction.
• Idaho deposit receipt – the record of the deposit taken at lease signing.
• Idaho landlord-tenant laws – the wider statutory picture for the state.
• Tenant screening laws by state – screen the tenant before they move in.
• How to screen tenants – the step-by-step screening process.

Screen Idaho Tenants Before You Hand Over Keys

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About the Author

Published by Tenant Screening Background Check · Editorial Team

Established 2004. Our editorial team has spent two decades helping landlords and property managers run lawful, FCRA-compliant tenant screening across all 50 states. We translate state landlord-tenant codes and federal screening rules into processes you can actually follow.

Updated 2026

Legal Disclaimer

This form and guide are for general informational purposes only and are not legal advice. Idaho security deposit law is detailed, and local ordinances can add duties; improper documentation, an unsigned or incomplete itemized statement, or a missed deadline can forfeit deductions and expose a landlord to the tenant’s litigation costs. Review Idaho Code Section 6-321 and consult a licensed Idaho landlord-tenant attorney before withholding any part of a deposit. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.