Connecticut: Security Deposit Return Deadlines & Deductions
The short answer
Connecticut gives a landlord 21 days after the tenancy ends, or 15 days after the tenant gives a written forwarding address, whichever is later, to return the deposit with any accrued interest or send an itemized statement of deductions. The deposit is capped at 2 months' rent for a tenant under 62 and 1 month's rent for a tenant 62 or older, and Connecticut is one of the few states that requires the landlord to pay interest on a held deposit every year at a rate set by the state's Banking Commissioner. The deposit must sit in an escrow account at a Connecticut financial institution. Missing the deadline makes the landlord liable for twice the deposit amount.
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This is the general rule in Connecticut. Ezel applies current Connecticut law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21 |
|---|---|
| Deadline to return the deposit | 21 days after the tenancy terminates, or 15 days after the tenant gives written notice of a forwarding address, whichever is LATER |
| Itemized statement required? | Yes, if the landlord keeps any part of the deposit — a written statement itemizing the nature and amount of the damages, delivered with the balance and any accrued interest by the same deadline |
| What can be deducted | The value of damages from the tenant's failure to meet the tenant's obligations under the lease and the landlord-tenant act — including unpaid rent or utilities and an unpaid lock-change cost. The statute never uses the phrase 'normal wear and tear' |
| Maximum deposit amount | 2 months' rent for a tenant under 62; 1 month's rent for a tenant 62 or older. A landlord who already collected more than one month's rent from a tenant who later turns 62 must refund the excess on request |
| Interest on the deposit? | Yes — mandatory annual interest at a rate set each year by the state Banking Commissioner's published 'deposit index,' paid on the tenancy's anniversary or credited toward rent. A tenant forfeits that month's interest for paying rent more than 10 days late unless the lease instead imposes a separate late fee |
| Penalty for a late/bad-faith withholding | Missing the 21-/15-day deadline makes the landlord liable for twice the deposit amount; if the ONLY violation is failing to pay the accrued interest, the penalty drops to $10 or twice the unpaid interest, whichever is greater. Separately, a landlord who knowingly and willfully withholds a deposit can face a state fine of up to $250 — a different penalty track, not money paid to the tenant |
| Separate account or bond required? | Yes — the entire deposit must go into an escrow account at a financial institution located in Connecticut immediately upon receipt, used only for disbursing deposits/interest, retaining lawful deductions, or transferring to a successor landlord |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
Requirements one by one
Governing law
Connecticut's whole deposit scheme is in one long section: Conn. Gen. Stat.
§ 47a-21.
Deadline to return the deposit
The clock has two possible triggers, and whichever runs later controls:
"Not later than twenty-one days after termination of a tenancy or fifteen
days after receiving written notification of such tenant's forwarding
address, whichever is later, each landlord... shall deliver to the tenant...
either (A) the full amount of the security deposit paid by such tenant plus
accrued interest, or (B) the balance of such security deposit and accrued
interest after deduction for any damages... together with a written
statement itemizing the nature and amount of such damages." (§ 47a-21(d)(2)).
In practice: if you give your forwarding address late, the landlord gets
extra time measured from when they actually received it.
Itemized statement required?
Yes, if the landlord is keeping any part of the deposit. The same
subsection above requires "a written statement itemizing the nature and
amount of such damages," delivered within the same 21-/15-day deadline.
What can be deducted
The statute ties deductions to the tenant's own obligations under the lease
and the landlord-tenant act — unpaid rent or utilities, and an unpaid
lock-change cost the tenant caused — reduced by "the value of any damages
that any person who was a landlord of such premises... has suffered as a
result of such tenant's failure to comply with such tenant's obligations."
(§ 47a-21(d)(1)). The statute never actually uses the phrase "normal wear
and tear" anywhere in this section.
Maximum deposit amount
Connecticut ties the cap to the tenant's age: "In the case of a tenant
under sixty-two years of age, a landlord shall not demand a security
deposit in an amount that exceeds two months' rent, [and i]n the case of a
tenant sixty-two years of age or older, a landlord shall not demand a
security deposit in an amount that exceeds one month's rent." (§ 47a-21(b)).
If you turn 62 after already paying a bigger deposit, the landlord has to
refund the difference once you ask.
Interest on the deposit?
Yes — Connecticut is one of the few states with a mandatory annual interest
requirement. The rate is set every year using the state's own "deposit
index": "the rate for each calendar year shall be not less than the
deposit index... On the anniversary date of the tenancy and annually
thereafter, such interest shall be paid to the tenant... or credited toward
the next rental payment." (§ 47a-21(i)). There's a catch, though: "Interest
shall not be paid to a tenant for any month in which the tenant has been
delinquent for more than ten days in the payment of any monthly rent,
unless the landlord imposes a late charge for such delinquency." (same
subsection).
Penalty for a late/bad-faith withholding
Missing the return deadline carries a flat doubling: "Any landlord who
violates any provision of this subsection shall be liable for twice the
amount of any security deposit paid by such tenant." There's a
narrower carve-out if interest alone was the problem: "if the only
violation is the failure to deliver the accrued interest, such landlord
shall be liable for ten dollars or twice the amount of the accrued
interest, whichever is greater." (§ 47a-21(d)(2)). Separately, a landlord
who "knowingly and wilfully fails to pay all or any part of a security
deposit when due" can be fined up to $250 by the state — a distinct penalty
track that doesn't go to the tenant, and comes with its own good-faith
defense (§ 47a-21(k)(1)).
Separate account or bond required?
Yes. "Each landlord shall immediately deposit the entire amount of any
security deposit received by such landlord from each tenant into one or
more escrow accounts established or maintained in a financial institution"
in Connecticut, held for the tenant's benefit and withdrawn only for
specific listed purposes like disbursing the deposit, paying interest, or
transferring it to a new landlord. (§ 47a-21(h)(1)).
What trips people up
The 21-day clock can restart later than move-out. If you don't give
your landlord a written forwarding address right away, the landlord's
deadline shifts to 15 days after they actually receive it — so waiting to
send your address can cost you time, not save it.
Being late on rent can cost you your interest, not just a late fee.
Unless your lease has its own late-fee clause, paying rent more than 10
days late in any given month wipes out that month's interest on your
deposit entirely.
The state fine for willful nonpayment doesn't put money in your
pocket. The $250 fine under § 47a-21(k)(1) is a penalty the state can
pursue against a landlord — it's separate from, and doesn't replace, your
own right to the doubled-deposit remedy under (d)(2) if the deadline is
missed.
Common questions
My landlord returned my deposit but never paid the annual interest — what
can I recover? If that's the ONLY violation, the penalty is narrower than
the usual doubling: $10 or twice the unpaid interest, whichever is greater,
rather than twice the whole deposit.
I turned 62 partway through my lease — does my deposit automatically drop
to one month's rent? Not automatically. The landlord must refund the
excess above one month's rent, but only once you make the request.
Does Connecticut require my landlord to keep my deposit in a Connecticut
bank specifically? Yes — the escrow account has to be at a financial
institution located in the state, not just any bank.
Statutes and sources
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21(b) — deposit cap, with a reduced cap for tenants 62 and older.
https://law.justia.com/codes/connecticut/title-47a/chapter-831/section-47a-21/ (accessed 2026-07-06) - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21(d)(2) — 21-/15-day return deadline, itemization, and the 2x penalty.
https://law.justia.com/codes/connecticut/title-47a/chapter-831/section-47a-21/ (accessed 2026-07-06) - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21(h)(1) — escrow account requirement.
https://law.justia.com/codes/connecticut/title-47a/chapter-831/section-47a-21/ (accessed 2026-07-06) - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21(i) — mandatory annual interest and the late-rent interest forfeiture.
https://law.justia.com/codes/connecticut/title-47a/chapter-831/section-47a-21/ (accessed 2026-07-06) - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21(k)(1) — separate state fine for a knowing and willful violation.
https://law.justia.com/codes/connecticut/title-47a/chapter-831/section-47a-21/ (accessed 2026-07-06)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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