How long a landlord has to return your deposit, and what you can claim if they miss it
This page covers residential security deposits in Arizona, where a landlord has kept some or all of a deposit after a tenancy ends.
It does not cover:
Lease terms and local ordinances can change what applies. Where a city has its own deposit rules, those may differ from the state statute below.
Measured from termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession, and your demand — counted in business days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays).
Itemized list of all deductions + the amount due, within 14 business days after termination, delivery of possession, and demand by the tenant.
A.R.S. § 33-1321(D) ↗A landlord who withholds in bad faith may be liable for 2x the portion wrongfully withheld.
Arizona awards damages equal to twice the amount wrongfully withheld when the landlord fails to comply with the itemization/return duty in subsection (D). The basis is the amount wrongfully withheld, NOT the full deposit. Unlike California/New York's full-deposit basis, this is a wrongfully-withheld basis.
A.R.S. § 33-1321(E) ↗No statutory penalty beyond returning the deposit.
No separate flat penalty or automatic attorney-fee provision under this section. Subsection (F) preserves other remedies under the chapter, but § 33-1321 itself provides only the 2x wrongfully-withheld recovery.
A.R.S. § 33-1321(F) ↗The clock does not start on the day you decided to leave. In Arizona it starts termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession, and your demand — counted in business days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays) — for most leases that is the date you hand back the keys, not the date your notice period began.
““Cleaning and damage $400.””
Arizona requires an itemized list of all deductions within 14 business days (excluding weekends and holidays) after termination, delivery of possession, and my demand. A blanket figure is not an itemization. Provide the specific deductions and the amount due.
A.R.S. § 33-1321(D)
““I did not have to return anything — you never asked.””
The clock starts on my demand, which I made. On failure to comply with the itemization/return duty, Arizona allows recovery of twice the amount wrongfully withheld. Provide the itemized list and the amount due now.
A.R.S. § 33-1321(D), (E)
““You waited too long to dispute it.””
The 60-day waiver only runs from the date the itemized list was actually mailed to me. If no itemized list was mailed, the waiver never started, and the 2x wrongfully-withheld remedy remains available.
A.R.S. § 33-1321(D), (E)
Every figure on this page comes from the official text, not from a summary. The table below lists each provision used and the date it was last checked against the source.
| Statute | Last verified | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A.R.S. § 33-1321(D) | 2026-10-15 | official text ↗ |
| A.R.S. § 33-1321(E) | 2026-10-15 | official text ↗ |
| A.R.S. § 33-1321(F) | 2026-10-15 | official text ↗ |
| A.R.S. § 33-1321(D), (E) | 2026-10-15 | official text ↗ |
| A.R.S. § 12-548 | 2026-10-15 | official text ↗ |
Primary reference: A.R.S. § 33-1321. Where the official text and a secondary summary disagree, this page follows the official text and says so. Amendments are recorded on the site changelog.
A self-help letter is the right starting point for a single deposit you can document. Get legal help if:
Local legal aid organisations and tenant unions offer free help for qualifying cases. They are independent of this site — we list them because they are the right place to go, not because they link here.
Arizona Security Deposit Rules
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14 days, counted from termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession, and your demand — counted in business days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays). A.R.S. § 33-1321(D).
A landlord who withholds in bad faith may be liable for 2x the portion wrongfully withheld. A.R.S. § 33-1321(E)
It runs from termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession, and your demand — counted in business days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays) — the date you vacated and returned the keys, not the date your notice period began.
No — The small claims division has jurisdiction in civil actions up to $5,000 (exclusive of interest and costs). Attorney representation is generally not permitted in Arizona small claims.