Wisconsin: Security Deposit Return Deadlines & Deductions
The short answer
A Wisconsin landlord has 21 days after your tenancy ends to return the deposit or send a written statement itemizing what was withheld. There's no cap on how much a landlord can charge as a deposit and no requirement to pay interest. If a landlord violates the withholding rules, the tenant can sue under Wisconsin's unfair-trade-practices law for double the amount wrongfully withheld plus attorney's fees — and, unusually, a landlord who never sends the required withholding statement can even face criminal prosecution on top of the civil claim.
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This is the general rule in Wisconsin. Ezel applies current Wisconsin law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | Wis. Stat. § 704.28, together with Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.06 (a DATCP rule that largely duplicates the statute's return/deduction/itemization rules and is separately enforceable as an unfair trade practice under Wis. Stat. § 100.20) |
|---|---|
| Deadline to return the deposit | 21 days, counted from whichever trigger applies: the termination date if the tenant vacates on that date; the termination date (or the new tenant's move-in date if the unit is re-rented first) if the tenant vacates or is evicted before the term ends; or the date the landlord learns the tenant vacated or was removed, if that happens after the term ends |
| Itemized statement required? | Yes, if any amount is withheld — a written statement describing each item of damage or other claim and the amount withheld for it, delivered or mailed within the same 21-day window. A landlord who otherwise complied isn't in violation just because the mail couldn't reach the tenant's given address. |
| What can be deducted | Tenant damage, waste, or neglect beyond ordinary wear and tear; unpaid rent; unpaid utility charges the tenant owed that the landlord becomes liable for; unpaid municipal permit fees the landlord becomes liable for; anything else only if it's spelled out in a separate signed "NONSTANDARD RENTAL PROVISIONS" document. Normal wear and tear, or any loss the tenant can't reasonably be held responsible for, can never be deducted. |
| Maximum deposit amount | None under the statute or administrative code (a narrow, unrelated exception caps deposits at 2 months' rent or $750, whichever is less, for mobile/manufactured home LOT rentals under a separate chapter, ATCP 125 — out of this topic's scope) |
| Interest on the deposit? | No state-mandated interest |
| Penalty for a late/bad-faith withholding | No fixed statutory multiplier written into § 704.28 itself. Instead, because ATCP 134.06 is a DATCP order under the state's unfair-trade-practices law, a tenant who suffers a pecuniary loss from a violation can sue under Wis. Stat. § 100.20(5) and recover twice the loss plus reasonable attorney's fees (mandatory once the claim succeeds); courts have also allowed a landlord's failure to send any withholding statement to result in doubling the ENTIRE deposit, not just a disputed portion. A landlord who never sends the required statement can even face separate criminal prosecution as an unfair trade practice. |
| Separate account or bond required? | No — neither the statute nor the administrative code requires a segregated or trust account for a residential security deposit |
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Requirements one by one
Governing law
Wisconsin's core return-and-deduction rule is Wis. Stat. § 704.28, which
closely tracks a companion administrative rule, Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.06,
issued by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
(DATCP). The two overlap substantially — a 2012 statutory change folded most
of ATCP 134.06's substance directly into § 704.28 — but ATCP 134.06 still adds
its own itemized-statement duty, separately enforceable as an unfair trade
practice.
Deadline to return the deposit
The deadline is 21 days, but which date starts the clock depends on how the
tenancy ended: "the date on which the rental agreement terminates" if you
move out on that date; that same termination date (or, if the landlord
re-rents the unit first, the date the new tenant's tenancy begins) if you
move out or are evicted before the lease term is up; or "the date on which
the landlord learns that the tenant has vacated the premises" if you move out
or are evicted after the term already ended (§ 704.28(4)).
Itemized statement required?
Yes, if the landlord withholds anything. ATCP 134.06(4)(a) requires the
landlord to "deliver or mail to the tenant a written statement accounting for
all amounts withheld," describing "each item of physical damages or other
claim" and the amount withheld for each, within that same 21-day window. The
rule also bars a landlord from "intentionally misrepresent[ing] or
falsify[ing] any claim against a security deposit." One practical protection
runs the other way, too: a landlord who otherwise complied isn't in violation
"solely because the postal service has been unable to complete mail delivery"
to the address the tenant gave (ATCP 134.06(5)).
What can be deducted
Tenant damage, waste, or neglect beyond ordinary wear and tear; unpaid rent;
utility charges the tenant owed under the lease that the landlord becomes
liable for; unpaid municipal permit fees the landlord becomes liable for; and
nothing else, unless the lease includes a separate signed document titled
"NONSTANDARD RENTAL PROVISIONS" specifically authorizing an additional
category (§ 704.28(1)). Normal wear and tear is expressly off-limits: the
statute doesn't authorize withholding "for normal wear and tear, or for other
damages or losses for which the tenant cannot reasonably be held responsible"
(§ 704.28(3)).
Maximum deposit amount
There's no cap in the statute or the administrative code for an ordinary
residential tenancy. (A narrow, unrelated rule caps deposits at two months'
rent or $750, whichever is less, specifically for a mobile or manufactured
home LOT rental under a different chapter, ATCP 125 — that's a distinct
housing arrangement outside this survey's scope.)
Interest on the deposit?
No. Neither § 704.28 nor ATCP 134.06 requires a landlord to pay interest on a
held deposit.
Penalty for a late/bad-faith withholding
There's no multiplier written into § 704.28 itself — the real teeth come from
a different statute entirely. Because DATCP issued ATCP 134 as an order under
Wisconsin's general unfair-trade-practices law, a tenant who suffers a
pecuniary loss from a violation can sue under that law and "shall recover
twice the amount of such pecuniary loss, together with costs, including a
reasonable attorney fee" (§ 100.20(5)) — courts have treated the attorney's
fee award as mandatory once the claim succeeds. Wisconsin courts have also
held that if a landlord never sends any accounting at all, the doubling
applies to the entire deposit, not just a disputed slice; if the landlord did
send a timely accounting, the double-damages award gets offset by the
landlord's own proven actual damages. Separately — and this is unusual — a
landlord who fails to send the required withholding statement can face
criminal prosecution as an unfair trade practice, with a fine or jail time,
on top of the tenant's civil claim.
Separate account or bond required?
No. Neither the statute nor the administrative code requires a Wisconsin
landlord to hold a residential security deposit in a segregated or
interest-bearing account.
What trips people up
Wisconsin's double-damages remedy doesn't live in the security-deposit
statute — it lives in the state's unfair-trade-practices law. If you're
looking for a "3x" or "2x" line inside § 704.28 itself, you won't find one;
the multiplier comes from § 100.20(5), triggered because the deposit rules
were adopted as a DATCP order.
A landlord who ignores the withholding-statement duty risks more than a
lawsuit. Wisconsin courts have upheld criminal charges against a landlord
for failing to send the required statement — civil liability isn't the only
consequence here.
There's no dollar or month-multiple cap to check a deposit against.
Unlike many states, Wisconsin doesn't limit how much a landlord can charge as
a security deposit for an ordinary rental unit.
Common questions
My landlord never sent me anything after I moved out — what am I owed?
If the withholding was wrongful and no accounting was ever sent, you can
generally recover double the deposit amount under § 100.20(5), plus your
attorney's fees.
Does the 21-day clock start when I hand over my keys? It depends on the
scenario — generally the lease's termination date, though it can shift to a
re-renting date or to whenever the landlord learns you've left, depending on
whether you moved out early, on time, or after the lease already ended.
Can my landlord charge me for repainting between tenants? Not if it's
routine repainting unrelated to damage you caused — that falls under the
normal-wear-and-tear exclusion, which the statute treats as the landlord's
cost of doing business, not a chargeable item.
Statutes and sources
- Wis. Stat. § 704.28(1) — permitted deduction categories.
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/704/28?view=section (accessed 2026-07-06) - Wis. Stat. § 704.28(3) — normal wear and tear excluded.
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/704/28?view=section (accessed 2026-07-06) - Wis. Stat. § 704.28(4) — 21-day return deadline and its triggering events.
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/704/28?view=section (accessed 2026-07-06) - Wis. Stat. § 704.28(5) — applies to residential tenancies only.
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/704/28?view=section (accessed 2026-07-06) - Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.06(4)(a)-(b) — written withholding-statement requirement.
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/administrativecode/ATCP%20134.06(4) (accessed 2026-07-06) - Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.06(5) — undeliverable-mail safe harbor for the landlord.
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/administrativecode/ATCP%20134.06(4) (accessed 2026-07-06) - Wis. Stat. § 100.20(5) — double-damages-plus-attorney's-fees remedy.
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/100/20?view=section (accessed 2026-07-06)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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