Delaware: Security Deposit Return Deadlines & Deductions

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Delaware's deposit rules live in 25 Del. C. § 5514, part of the Residential
Landlord-Tenant Code, with a companion surety-bond provision at § 5515.

Deadline to return the deposit

"If the landlord is not entitled to all or any portion of the security
deposit, the landlord shall remit the security deposit within 20 days of
the expiration or termination of the rental agreement" (§ 5514(e)). Unlike
several other states, the clock runs from the lease ending alone — it isn't
also gated on the tenant physically handing back the keys or on a
forwarding address being provided first.

Itemized statement required?

Yes. "Within 20 days after the termination or expiration of any rental
agreement, the landlord shall provide the tenant with an itemized list of
damages to the premises and the estimated costs of repair for each and
shall tender payment for the difference" (§ 5514(f)). Skip it, and "failure
to do so shall constitute an acknowledgment by the landlord that no payment
for damages is due" — the landlord loses the claim entirely. If the tenant
doesn't object in writing within 10 days of getting the itemized payment,
the tenant is treated as agreeing to it.

What can be deducted

"Actual damages caused to the premises by the tenant which exceed normal
wear and tear, or which cannot be corrected by painting and ordinary
cleaning"; unpaid "rental arrearage... including late charges and rental
due for premature termination or abandonment"; and reasonable
renovating/re-renting expenses tied to the tenant's premature termination,
capped at one month's rent for a termination under § 5314 (§ 5514(c)).

Maximum deposit amount

"No landlord may require a security deposit in excess of 1 month's rent
where the rental agreement is for 1 year or more" (§ 5514(a)(2)). For a
month-to-month or undefined-term tenancy, there's no stated cap until the
tenancy itself "has lasted 1 year" — after that point, "the landlord shall
immediately return, as a credit to the tenant, any security deposit amount
in excess of 1 month's rent" (§ 5514(a)(3)). None of this applies to a
furnished rental unit at all: "the security deposit limits set forth above
shall not apply to furnished rental units" (§ 5514(a)(4)). A separate pet
deposit, also capped at one month's rent, can be charged on top
(§ 5514(i)).

Interest on the deposit?

No. Nothing in § 5514 requires the landlord to pay interest on a held
deposit.

Penalty for a late/bad-faith withholding

Two separate tracks. Missing the 20-day remit deadline "shall entitle the
tenant to double the amount wrongfully withheld" (§ 5514(g)(1)).
Separately, "failure by a landlord to disclose the location of the security
deposit account within 20 days of a written request by a tenant, or failure
by the landlord to deposit the security deposit in a federally-insured
financial institution... shall constitute forfeiture of the security
deposit by the landlord to the tenant" outright — and if the landlord then
doesn't "return the full security deposit to the tenant within 20 days from
the effective date of forfeiture," the tenant is owed "double the amount of
the security deposit," this time the whole deposit, not just what was
withheld (§ 5514(g)(2)).

Separate account or bond required?

Yes. Each deposit "shall be placed by the landlord in an escrow bank
account in a federally-insured banking institution with an office that
accepts deposits within the State," used for no other business purpose, its
location disclosed to the tenant, and "held and administered for the
benefit of the tenant" with priority over the landlord's other creditors
even if commingled (§ 5514(b)). A tenant may instead purchase a surety bond
in place of some or all of the deposit under § 5515.

What trips people up

A furnished unit has NO deposit cap at all, not a higher one — the
statute's cap language expressly doesn't apply to furnished rentals.

Not giving a forwarding address costs you the double-damages remedy, but
not the deposit itself. If you don't provide one, the landlord is off the
hook for the double-damages penalty and the return notice — but still owes
you the unused portion of the deposit if you claim it in writing within a
year of the lease ending (§ 5514(h)).

Two different penalties measure different amounts. The 20-day-remit
penalty doubles only the amount wrongfully withheld; the escrow-disclosure/
proper-account penalty forfeits — and can double — the ENTIRE deposit, a
much bigger number if only a small part was ever in dispute.

Common questions

How long does my Delaware landlord have to return my deposit? 20 days
after the lease ends or expires.

Is there a cap on my deposit? One month's rent once your lease has run
a year or more (or once a month-to-month tenancy passes its own first
year). No cap at all applies to a furnished unit.

What if my landlord never tells me where my deposit is being held? If
you ask in writing and the landlord doesn't disclose the account's location
within 20 days — or never puts it in a proper escrow account at all — you
are entitled to the whole deposit, doubled if it isn't paid within 20 days
after that.

Statutes and sources

• 25 Del. C. § 5514(a) — the deposit cap, its month-to-month/1-year rule, and the furnished-unit exception.
  https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c055/index.html (accessed 2026-07-06)
• 25 Del. C. § 5514(b) — the escrow-account requirement.
  https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c055/index.html (accessed 2026-07-06)
• 25 Del. C. § 5514(c) — permitted deductions.
  https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c055/index.html (accessed 2026-07-06)
• 25 Del. C. § 5514(e) — the 20-day remit deadline.
  https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c055/index.html (accessed 2026-07-06)
• 25 Del. C. § 5514(f) — the 20-day itemization duty.
  https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c055/index.html (accessed 2026-07-06)
• 25 Del. C. § 5514(g) — the double-damages and forfeiture penalties.
  https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c055/index.html (accessed 2026-07-06)
• 25 Del. C. § 5514(h) — the forwarding-address rule and 1-year claim window.
  https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c055/index.html (accessed 2026-07-06)