Free Security Deposit Itemization (Auto-Calc PDF)
Deposit In, Deductions Out, Refund Calculated — the itemized disposition statement a landlord sends after move-out. It adds up your deductions, subtracts them from the deposit, and writes the refund straight into the PDF.
A security deposit itemization — also called a deposit disposition or a statement of deductions — is the written accounting a landlord sends after a tenant moves out. It starts with the original deposit, adds any interest the state requires, subtracts each itemized deduction for unpaid rent, damage beyond ordinary wear, and cleaning, and shows the refund the tenant is owed or the balance the tenant still owes. The generator below does the arithmetic for you: enter the deposit and the line-item deductions, and it totals them, subtracts, and prints the result into a ready-to-send PDF. The one figure this page will never guess for you is the deadline — that is set by your state, and you should confirm it on your state’s deposit-laws page before you mail the statement.
Deposit Itemization at a Glance
The math
Deposit + interest − deductions = refund
Deadline
State-specific (often 14–30 days)
Not deductible
Normal wear and tear
Bad-faith penalty
Often 2×–3× plus fees (varies)
Normal wear and tear is never a deduction
Every state that has weighed in agrees on one point: a landlord may charge a tenant for damage but not for normal wear and tear. Faded paint, small nail holes, and carpet worn thin in a walkway are the cost of doing business; a landlord who deducts for them is inviting a dispute and, in many states, a multiple-damages penalty. Deduct only for conditions that go beyond ordinary living, and keep the receipt that proves each charge.
How the Deposit Itemization Works
The itemization is really just one equation dressed up as a legal document. You begin with the original security deposit the tenant paid. If your state requires you to pay interest on held deposits — many do, and a handful set the rate every year — you add that interest to the deposit, because it is legally the tenant’s money too. From that combined figure you subtract every legitimate deduction, each one listed on its own line with a description and a dollar amount. What remains is the refund you send back. If your deductions add up to more than the deposit, the equation goes negative, and the statement instead shows a balance the tenant owes you.
Doing that arithmetic by hand is where landlords slip. Transpose a digit, forget to add the interest, or leave a line off the total, and the statement contradicts itself — which is exactly the kind of error a tenant’s attorney points to in small claims court. The generator on this page removes that risk: it sums the deduction lines live as you type, adds interest, subtracts, and prints the same numbers into the PDF, so the math on the page and the math on the document always agree.
Establish the starting figure
Enter the original deposit and, if your state requires it, the accrued interest. Together these are the pool of money you are accounting for.
Inspect against the move-in record
Walk the unit with the move-in inspection checklist and photograph anything that is damage beyond normal wear and tear. The comparison is what makes a deduction defensible.
Itemize each deduction
Add one line per charge: a plain description and the dollar amount. Attach the receipt or invoice that backs it up.
Let the form calculate the refund
The generator totals the deductions, subtracts them from the deposit plus interest, and shows the refund due or the balance owed.
Deliver within your state’s deadline
Send the statement, receipts, and any refund to the tenant’s forwarding address within your state’s window, and keep proof of delivery.
Generate Your Itemized Deposit Statement
Fill in the parties, the deposit and any interest, and one line for each deduction. As you type, the calculator at the bottom of the form updates in real time; when you click generate, the same totals are written into a formatted PDF you can print, sign, and send. Every field below reaches the document, and the refund or balance is computed for you.
What this form does
It produces a signed, itemized disposition statement that accounts for the deposit dollar for dollar. It does not assert your state’s deadline for you — confirm that on your state deposit-laws page — but it guarantees the arithmetic on the statement is correct.
1. Parties & Property
From (Landlord / Property Manager)
To (Tenant)
2. Deposit & Interest
Leave interest at zero if your state does not require it. Confirm on your state’s deposit-laws page.
3. Itemized Deductions
List each deduction on its own line. Deduct only for damage beyond normal wear and tear, unpaid rent, cleaning to move-in condition, or lease-authorized unpaid utilities.
| Description | Amount ($) | |
|---|---|---|
A positive figure is the refund you owe the tenant. If deductions exceed the deposit and interest, the figure turns red and becomes the balance the tenant owes you.
4. Statement Details
5. Signature
What a Landlord May — and May Not — Deduct
The line between a lawful deduction and an unlawful one is the difference between damage and normal wear and tear. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development describes normal wear and tear as the deterioration that results from the intended, ordinary use of a dwelling — the aging that happens even when a tenant is careful. Damage, by contrast, is harm caused by negligence, carelessness, accident, or abuse. Only the second category may come out of the deposit.
✓ Generally deductible
- Unpaid rent and lease-authorized late fees
- Holes in walls larger than a small nail hole
- Pet stains, urine odor, and flea treatment
- Burns, deep gouges, or tears in carpet or flooring
- Broken windows, doors, or fixtures from misuse
- Cleaning to return a filthy unit to move-in condition
- Unauthorized paint colors requiring a repaint
- Unpaid utilities the lease makes the tenant responsible for
✕ Not deductible (normal wear)
- Faded or slightly worn paint from sunlight and age
- Small nail holes and picture-hanger marks
- Carpet worn thin in hallways and high-traffic paths
- Minor scuffs and scratches on walls and floors
- Loose grout, worn caulk, or a tired appliance finish
- Routine cleaning between tenancies
- Fading of curtains, blinds, or countertops over time
- Loose door hinges or a stiff lock from ordinary use
A useful test is to ask whether the condition came from living in the unit or from misusing it. Carpet flattened along the path from the door to the sofa is wear; the same carpet with a bleach stain is damage. Many landlords also apply the depreciation idea baked into HUD’s life-expectancy tables: if a carpet’s useful life is seven years and the tenant lived there for five, the landlord cannot bill for a brand-new carpet, because most of that carpet’s value was already used up by ordinary aging. When in doubt, deduct conservatively and document thoroughly — an over-aggressive itemization is the fastest route to a penalty.
A Worked Example, Start to Finish
It helps to watch the equation run once with real numbers. Suppose a tenant paid a security deposit of fifteen hundred dollars and the lease is in a state that requires the landlord to pay interest on held deposits; over the tenancy that interest came to twenty-two dollars and fifty cents. The starting pool of money the landlord is accounting for is therefore fifteen hundred twenty-two dollars and fifty cents — the deposit plus the interest, because the interest is legally the tenant’s money too.
At move-out the landlord inspects against the move-in checklist and finds three chargeable items. The tenant left one month of rent unpaid, which the lease pegs at nine hundred fifty dollars. A dog left urine stains that required professional carpet treatment, invoiced at two hundred eighty dollars. And a bedroom wall had several fist-sized holes that cost one hundred twenty dollars to patch and repaint. Faded paint elsewhere and a worn path in the hallway carpet were left off the list entirely, because those are normal wear and tear and charging for them would poison the whole statement.
The three legitimate deductions total thirteen hundred fifty dollars. Subtracting that from the starting pool of fifteen hundred twenty-two dollars and fifty cents leaves a refund of one hundred seventy-two dollars and fifty cents owed back to the tenant. Had the damage been worse — say a ruined subfloor pushing deductions past sixteen hundred dollars — the equation would have gone negative, and the statement would instead show a balance the tenant owes, with the same line-item detail and receipts behind it. The generator above produces exactly this arithmetic, whichever way it lands, and prints the matching figures into the PDF so the page and the document never disagree.
Deposit Interest and Prorating for Age
Two refinements separate a rushed itemization from a defensible one. The first is deposit interest. A number of states, and many individual cities, require a landlord to hold the deposit in a way that earns interest and to pay that interest to the tenant at move-out, sometimes at a rate published annually. Where interest applies, it is added to the deposit before deductions are subtracted, and forgetting it is not a rounding error — in some jurisdictions it is an independent violation that carries its own penalty. If your state or city requires interest, enter it in the interest field so the calculator folds it into the starting pool.
The second refinement is prorating for an item’s age. Landlords cannot bill a departing tenant the full price of a brand-new replacement for something that was already partway through its useful life. HUD’s life-expectancy guidance is the common reference point: interior paint is often treated as lasting two or three years, plush carpet roughly five to seven, and larger appliances closer to ten. If a carpet with a seven-year life is damaged after five years of tenancy, only the remaining fraction of its value is fairly chargeable, not a whole new carpet. Applying that proration signals good faith, keeps the deduction proportionate, and is far easier to defend if the tenant challenges the amount in small claims court.
Tenant Remedies When a Deposit Is Wrongfully Withheld
A tenant who believes the itemization is wrong or the deposit was kept without cause is not without recourse. The universal remedy is small claims court, where deposit disputes are among the most common cases and where a tenant does not usually need a lawyer. What raises the stakes for a careless landlord is that most states layer a penalty on top of simply returning the money.
Many states let a court award multiple damages — commonly two or three times the amount wrongfully withheld — plus the tenant’s court costs and attorney fees, when the landlord failed to follow the statute or acted in bad faith. The specifics are firmly state law and vary widely: some states require the tenant to prove bad faith, while others impose the penalty automatically whenever the landlord misses the deadline or ignores the itemization requirement, and the multiplier itself differs from state to state. Because the number is state-specific, this page does not assert a single national figure; confirm your state’s remedy on its deposit-laws page.
Why the penalty exists
The multiple-damages remedy and the attorney-fee shift exist to make the small dollar amounts worth litigating and to discourage landlords from treating deposits as found money. For a landlord, the lesson is simple: itemize accurately, attach the receipts, and hit the deadline. For a tenant, it means a wrongfully kept deposit can be worth far more than its face value if the landlord cut corners.
Common Itemization Mistakes
Most disputes trace back to a short list of avoidable errors. Reviewing them before you send the statement is the cheapest insurance available.
| Mistake | Why it backfires |
|---|---|
| Missing the state deadline | Many states forfeit the landlord’s right to deduct anything — and trigger a penalty — the moment the window closes. |
| Charging for normal wear and tear | Wear is never deductible; billing for faded paint or a worn path invites a multiple-damages claim. |
| Vague descriptions | A line that just says “cleaning” with a lump number and no detail reads as a made-up figure to a judge. Describe the specific condition. |
| No receipts or invoices | An unsupported deduction is hard to defend and, in receipt-required states, may be disallowed outright. |
| Arithmetic that does not add up | A total that contradicts the line items undermines the whole statement. The generator above prevents this. |
| Billing full replacement cost | Ignoring an item’s age and used-up life expectancy overstates the deduction and looks punitive. |
| Mailing to the wrong address | Send to the tenant’s forwarding address; a statement the tenant never receives is treated as no statement at all. |
State-by-State Deadlines and Rules
The one thing this form deliberately does not fill in is the return deadline, because there is no national number. Depending on the state, a landlord may have as little as roughly two weeks or as long as a month or more after move-out to deliver the itemized statement and any refund, and several states set a shorter clock when there are no deductions than when there are. Whether interest must be paid, whether receipts are mandatory, and the exact penalty for getting it wrong all vary the same way. Rather than print a figure that could be wrong for your jurisdiction, this page sends you to the authoritative source for your state.
Find your state’s number
Look up your deadline, interest rule, receipt requirement, and penalty on the state security deposit laws directory. Pair it with the move-in inspection checklist so every deduction on this statement can be tied back to a documented change in condition.
Best Practices for a Defensible Itemization
- Photograph at move-in and move-out. Dated photos next to the inspection checklist turn “your word against mine” into documented fact.
- Itemize line by line. One description and one amount per deduction, never a single lump sum.
- Attach every receipt. If a vendor did the work, include the invoice; if you did it yourself, note materials and reasonable labor.
- Respect the item’s life expectancy. Prorate for age rather than charging full replacement cost on a used item.
- Add interest if your state requires it. Held-deposit interest is the tenant’s money; leaving it out is itself a violation in some states.
- Beat the deadline. Confirm the number for your state and send early, with proof of mailing to the forwarding address.
- Keep a copy. Retain the signed statement, the receipts, and the delivery proof in the tenant’s file.
Bottom line
A clean itemization is deposit plus interest, minus documented deductions, equals the refund — nothing for normal wear and tear, a receipt behind every charge, and the whole thing delivered within your state’s deadline. Get the arithmetic and the paperwork right and a deposit dispute rarely goes anywhere; get them wrong and many states let a tenant recover two or three times the amount plus attorney fees.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a security deposit itemization?
It is the written disposition statement a landlord sends after move-out that accounts for the deposit. It shows the original deposit, adds any required interest, subtracts each itemized deduction, and states the refund due to the tenant or the balance the tenant still owes.
What can a landlord deduct from the deposit?
Unpaid rent, damage beyond normal wear and tear, cleaning needed to return the unit to move-in condition, and unpaid utilities the lease makes the tenant responsible for. Normal wear and tear — faded paint, small nail holes, worn walkway carpet — is never deductible.
How is the refund calculated?
Add any deposit interest to the original deposit, total every itemized deduction, and subtract the deductions from the deposit plus interest. A positive result is refunded to the tenant; if the deductions are larger than the deposit and interest, the result is a balance the tenant owes. The generator on this page does this arithmetic and prints it into the PDF.
What is the difference between normal wear and tear and damage?
Normal wear and tear is deterioration from ordinary living without negligence or abuse — the aging HUD says results from the intended use of the dwelling. Damage is harm from carelessness, accident, or abuse, such as large holes, pet stains, burns, and broken fixtures. Only damage may be deducted.
How long does a landlord have to return the deposit?
The deadline is set by state law and commonly runs from roughly two weeks to a month after move-out, though several states differ and some set a different clock when there are no deductions. There is no single national deadline, so confirm the number on your state’s security deposit laws page before you send the statement.
What happens if the landlord wrongfully withholds the deposit?
The tenant can sue in small claims court. Many states let a court award multiple damages — often two or three times the amount wrongfully withheld — plus attorney fees when the landlord missed the deadline or acted in bad faith. The exact penalty and whether bad faith must be proven are state-specific.
Do I have to attach receipts?
Many states require the landlord to attach or provide receipts and invoices for repairs and cleaning. Even where it is not strictly required, a receipt behind every deduction is what makes the charge defensible if the tenant disputes it in court.
Does this form work for every state?
Yes. The itemization format and the deposit-minus-deductions math are the same nationwide, so the generator works in all fifty states and the District of Columbia. The only figure that changes by state is the deadline and any penalty, which you confirm on your state’s deposit-laws page.
Screen tenants thoroughly before move-in
A clean move-out starts with the right tenant. Tenant Screening Background Check has been verifying renters since 2004 — credit, eviction filings, criminal background, and employment — across all 50 states and DC.
Related Resources
Published by Tenant Screening Background Check
Established 2004 · 20+ Years · All U.S. States & Territories · Statute-Based · Attorney-Reviewed
A Private Eye Reports™ service trusted by landlords, property managers, and attorneys.
