Getting Your Apartment Security Deposit Back: A Guide for New York Tenants
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Document everything, understand the rules around “wear and tear” and know your rights if your landlord refuses to return your money.
The end of your lease is approaching and you’re starting to pack your boxes and take your art off the walls. Many months or even years ago, you probably paid the first month’s rent and a security deposit.
As you’re preparing to move out, how do you make sure you get your deposit back? How much of that money can your landlord keep? And what do you do if for some reason you can’t recover it?
Read on for your rights and responsibilities as a tenant — and those of your landlord, plus tips from lawyers who have represented both sides in Housing Court:
What’s the deal with the deposit?
No matter if you live in a rent-stabilized or market-rate apartment, your security deposit can’t exceed the cost of one month’s rent, thanks to New York’s Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019. (If you paid more than that for your rent-stabilized apartment, you can file a complaint to the state using this form.)
A landlord must return the full amount of the security deposit if the tenant complied with the terms of the lease and left the apartment in the same condition as when they moved in, except for wear and tear. (More below on what “wear and tear” means.)
A landlord has 14 days after you move out to send an itemized list of what they’re deducting from the security deposit in order to cover the cost of repairs for damage. If the landlord doesn’t do this within the two-week period, they must return the full amount of the deposit.
“If the 14 days are up, no matter what the tenants did to the property — even if they took an ax to the walls — that security deposit gets returned to the tenants,” said Adam Lietman Bailey, a lawyer who mostly represents large landlords. “[If] the landlord did not write a letter within 14 days complaining about the problems within the apartment, then that security deposit gets returned.”
What is normal wear and tear and how does it compare to damage?
Bailey said a landlord cannot charge for repainting or cleaning “unless it’s such a mess that it goes beyond a reasonable amount of dirt.”
Wear and tear is all about “what happens naturally over time,” said Archana Dittakavi, deputy director of the Tenant Rights Coalition of Legal Services NYC. For instance, it could include faded or scuffed painted walls, or a floor that needs to be buffed.
Small holes from nails in the walls — from picture hooks, for example — is where it can get tricky. It’s advised that tenants try to fix the holes as best they can. But severity matters.
“A gaping hole or something that would prevent the landlord from renting it to the next tenant is beyond wear and tear,” said a tenants’ rights attorney. “The apartment doesn’t need to be spotless and clean. It just means you can sweep a broom through and it’s good to go for the next tenant.”
As a tenant, you have the right to request an inspection of the apartment before you leave, and you can be present for the inspection. This way, the landlord can point out anything they take issue with, and then you have the opportunity to fix the problems — and get your full deposit back.
“Leaving it up to the landlord to decide what might be a reasonable fee to fix something might put tenants in a worse position than fixing the things themselves,” she said.
Requesting an inspection shortly after moving in can also be helpful, in order to distinguish any damage that was there before you settled in so you’re not liable for it.
What must I do to have the best chance of getting my full deposit back?
Document, document, document, attorneys advise. Amassing evidence will cut down on disputes later and, in case you do end up in court, can help prove your claims.