Maryland: Security Deposit Return Deadlines & Deductions
The short answer
A Maryland landlord has 45 days after your tenancy ends to return the deposit plus interest, minus any damages rightfully withheld, and to mail you an itemized list if anything is withheld. For most leases signed on or after October 1, 2024, the deposit itself is capped at one month's rent (older leases could carry the previous two-month cap). Maryland is one of the few states that requires interest on the deposit — a rate tied to the U.S. Treasury yield curve or 1.5% a year, whichever is higher. Miss the deadline or the itemized list without a reasonable basis, and a landlord can owe up to three times the amount wrongfully withheld plus attorney's fees.
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This is the general rule in Maryland. Ezel applies current Maryland law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-203 (receipt requirements at § 8-203.1) |
|---|---|
| Deadline to return the deposit | 45 days after the end of the tenancy — return the deposit plus accrued interest, less rightfully withheld damages. A separate 45-day process applies to a tenant who was evicted, ejected, or abandoned the unit before the tenancy ended. |
| Itemized statement required? | Yes, if any amount is withheld — a written list of damages plus an itemized statement of costs, mailed first-class to the tenant's last known address within 45 days; the itemized statement must include supporting documentation, though the landlord may substitute a cost estimate followed later by the final invoice |
| What can be deducted | Unpaid rent; damage due to breach of lease; damage by the tenant or the tenant's family, guests, or agents beyond ordinary wear and tear to the unit, common areas, appliances, or furnishings. The deposit is not liquidated damages and can't be kept for a lease breach beyond the landlord's actual loss (minus any re-rental income received during the remaining term). |
| Maximum deposit amount | 1 month's rent for leases signed on or after October 1, 2024 (2 months' rent if the tenant qualifies for utility assistance, pays utilities directly to the landlord, and both sides agree in writing); leases signed before October 1, 2024 could carry the earlier 2-month cap. A landlord who overcharges owes up to 3x the excess plus attorney's fees. |
| Interest on the deposit? | Yes — simple interest at the greater of the 1-year U.S. Treasury yield curve rate (published annually) or 1.5%/year, accruing monthly, but only once the deposit has been held at least 6 months and only on deposits of $50 or more |
| Penalty for a late/bad-faith withholding | Up to 3x the amount wrongfully withheld plus reasonable attorney's fees if the landlord, without a reasonable basis, fails to return the deposit and interest within 45 days. Separately, missing the 45-day itemized-list deadline, or failing to give the tenant proper notice of the move-out inspection, each independently forfeits the landlord's right to withhold anything for damages. |
| Separate account or bond required? | Yes — deposits must be held in a federally insured financial institution account (or equivalent insured CDs/government securities) devoted exclusively to security deposits, in an amount sufficient to cover all deposits held; the deposit can't be attached by either party's creditors |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
Requirements one by one
Governing law
Maryland's security deposit rules are concentrated in one long section, Md.
Code, Real Prop. § 8-203, with the tenant-facing receipt requirements spelled
out in the companion section § 8-203.1.
Deadline to return the deposit
The core deadline is 45 days after the tenancy ends: "the landlord shall
return the security deposit to the tenant together with simple interest...
less any damages rightfully withheld" (§ 8-203(e)(1)). A different 45-day
process applies if you were evicted or ejected for a lease violation, or
abandoned the unit, before the tenancy formally ended — in that case, you
have to affirmatively demand the deposit back in writing within 45 days of
the eviction, ejection, or abandonment, and the landlord then has 45 days
from receiving that demand to send the damage list and return what's owed
(§ 8-203(h)).
Itemized statement required?
Yes, whenever any amount is withheld. "[T]he landlord shall present by
first-class mail directed to the last known address of the tenant, within 45
days after the termination of the tenancy, a written list of the damages
claimed... together with an itemized statement of the cost incurred"
(§ 8-203(g)(1)). That itemized statement generally needs supporting
documentation identifying the materials or services provided — though the
landlord can satisfy this by giving an estimate up front, as long as the
landlord later notifies you when repairs are done, attaches the final
invoice, and refunds you the difference within 30 days if the actual cost
came in under the estimate.
What can be deducted
Unpaid rent, damage from a lease breach, and damage — beyond ordinary wear
and tear — caused by you, your family, or your guests to the unit, common
areas, major appliances, or furnishings (§ 8-203(f)(1)(i)). The statute is
explicit that a deposit isn't a landlord's free liquidated-damages fund:
"[t]he security deposit is not liquidated damages and may not be forfeited
to the landlord for breach of the rental agreement, except in the amount
that the landlord is actually damaged by the breach" (§ 8-203(f)(2)) — and if
the landlord re-rents the unit during what would have been the rest of your
lease term, that rental income has to reduce any lost-future-rent claim
against you dollar for dollar (§ 8-203(f)(3)).
Maximum deposit amount
One month's rent, for a lease signed on or after October 1, 2024 — a cap cut
down from the previous two-month limit by the 2024 Renters' Rights and
Stabilization Act. A landlord can still charge up to two months' rent, but
only if all three of these apply together: you qualify for utility
assistance, your lease requires you to pay utilities directly to the
landlord, and you and the landlord agree in writing to the higher amount
(§ 8-203(b)(2)) — all three conditions have to be met, not just one. A lease
signed before October 1, 2024 could still be governed by the earlier
two-month cap. Overcharging carries its own penalty: up to three times the
excess amount, plus attorney's fees (§ 8-203(b)(3)).
Interest on the deposit?
Yes — a genuine outlier among states. The landlord must pay "simple interest
which has accrued at the daily U.S. Treasury yield curve rate for 1 year, as
of the first business day of each year, or 1.5% a year, whichever is
greater" (§ 8-203(e)(1)). That interest only starts accruing once the
landlord has held the deposit for at least six months, doesn't accrue for a
partial month, and only applies to deposits of $50 or more. Maryland's
housing agency publishes the applicable yield-curve rates (or a calculator)
so landlords and tenants can check the math themselves.
Penalty for a late/bad-faith withholding
Up to three times the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney's
fees, if the landlord "without a reasonable basis" misses the 45-day
return-with-interest deadline (§ 8-203(e)(4)). That's separate from — and
stacks with — two independent forfeiture triggers: missing the 45-day
itemized-damage-list deadline forfeits the right to withhold anything for
damages at all (§ 8-203(g)(2)), and so does failing to give proper notice of
the move-out inspection after a tenant requests one (§ 8-203(f)(1)(vii)).
Separate account or bond required?
Yes. Deposits must sit in a federally insured financial institution account
(or equivalent insured certificates of deposit or government securities),
used exclusively for security deposits, in Maryland branches, in a total
amount enough to cover everything the landlord owes tenants (§ 8-203(d)).
The deposit is also protected from being seized by either the landlord's or
the tenant's own creditors. Maryland separately lets a tenant pay for a
private surety bond instead of some or all of the cash deposit, with its own
set of disclosure and claims rules — a distinct option this survey doesn't
track dimension by dimension, but worth knowing exists.
What trips people up
Nothing in this section can be waived by the lease, ever. Maryland says
so directly: "No provision of this section may be waived in any lease"
(§ 8-203(l)). A lease clause purporting to sign away any of these rights
doesn't hold up.
The cap changed in 2024 — don't rely on an older source that still says
two months. Plenty of guides written before October 2024 (and some CTA
tools) still describe the old two-month cap as current law; for most leases
signed today, it's one month.
The interest rate isn't a flat, easy-to-remember number. It floats with
U.S. Treasury yields (with 1.5% as a floor), not a fixed passbook or bank
rate — check the state housing department's published rate table or
calculator rather than assuming a number from memory.
Common questions
My landlord never mentioned interest — do I still get it? Yes, if the
deposit was held six months or more and is at least $50; the landlord owes
it whether or not it comes up voluntarily.
Can my landlord just keep my deposit if I broke my lease early? Only up
to the landlord's actual damages, reduced by however much rent the landlord
collects from a new tenant during what would have been the rest of your
term — not the whole deposit automatically.
What if my landlord sends the itemized list but no receipts? The
itemized statement needs supporting documentation identifying the materials
or services — though the landlord can satisfy that with an estimate
followed later by the final invoice.
Statutes and sources
- Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-203(b)(1) — 1-month deposit cap.
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=grp§ion=8-203 (accessed 2026-07-06) - Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-203(b)(2)-(3) — 2-month exception and overcharge penalty.
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=grp§ion=8-203 (accessed 2026-07-06) - Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-203(d)(1) — insured-account requirement.
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=grp§ion=8-203 (accessed 2026-07-06) - Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-203(e)(1)-(4) — 45-day return-plus-interest deadline and penalty.
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=grp§ion=8-203 (accessed 2026-07-06) - Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-203(f)(1) — permitted withholding grounds and inspection-notice forfeiture.
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=grp§ion=8-203 (accessed 2026-07-06) - Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-203(f)(2)-(3) — deposit is not liquidated damages; re-rental income offset.
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=grp§ion=8-203 (accessed 2026-07-06) - Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-203(g)(1)-(2) — itemized-list deadline and forfeiture for noncompliance.
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=grp§ion=8-203 (accessed 2026-07-06) - Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-203(l) — no provision of the section may be waived.
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=grp§ion=8-203 (accessed 2026-07-06)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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