New York security deposit law
Your landlord is on a clock, and most tenants never find out it exists. Here is what the statute actually says - quoted, with a link so you can read it yourself.
14 days after you vacate, your landlord must provide an itemized statement of any deductions and return the rest of the deposit.
- Itemization
- Required. This is the shortest deadline of any large state, and the consequence for missing it is the harshest.
- If they get it wrong
- A landlord who misses the 14-day deadline forfeits any right to retain any portion of the deposit. Willful violations can carry punitive damages up to twice the deposit.
- Statute
- N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108
The part most people miss
New York does not merely penalise a late landlord - it removes their right to keep anything at all. If day 15 arrives with no itemized statement, the entire deposit is owed regardless of the condition you left the place in.
Within fourteen days after the tenant has vacated the premises, the landlord shall provide the tenant with an itemized statement indicating the basis for the amount of the deposit retained, if any, and shall return any remaining portion of the deposit to the tenant.
N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(e)
Where that leaves you
The date you handed back possession, plus the 14-day window above, is the number that matters. If that date has passed and nothing arrived, that fact carries weight under New York law - the statute is quoted above, and the conditions attached to it (if any) are noted on this page too.
If you are still living there, or about to move out, the most useful thing you can do takes fifteen minutes. Nearly every dispute reduces to a single question - was that damage there before you were - and dated photographs are the strongest evidence you can bring to that question.
Check your timeline for New York
Other states
Last reviewed: 24 Aug 2026 · How this was sourced: Statute text read at newyork.public.law (§ 7-108), 19 Aug 2026. Independently re-verified 23 Aug 2026 directly at nysenate.gov: full pinpoint citation is § 7-108(1-a)(e), not just (e); quoted text unchanged. Also found a Nov 2025 amendment (S952B, Ch. 436 of 2025) extending the same 14-day rule to rent-stabilized units under the separate § 7-107. CORRECTED 24 Aug 2026: an external review found the opening clause of § 7-108(1-a) - the same subdivision containing the 14-day rule - excludes a named list of housing types entirely (rent/rehab-law units, continuing care, assisted living, adult care, senior communities, some nonprofit retirement communities). Confirmed against nysenate.gov directly before adding the note; a prior version of this page made a blanket claim that didn't account for these exclusions.