New York requires landlords to return the security deposit within 14 days. This page lists the deadline, the statutory penalty multiplier, the deductions a landlord may lawfully make, and the official statute text — every figure below links to the primary source.
Free. No account, no upload. Figures shown with statute citations.
Measured from the day you vacated the premises.
“Return the balance” and “provide an itemized statement” are two separate obligations, and both must be completed within 14 days. Failing either one automatically forfeits every deduction right.
N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(e) ↗The figures below are what a statute authorises. Whether you can actually collect them depends on the facts — a multiplier that requires a court finding is not automatic.
2x the full deposit, only if a court finds willful.
Punitive damages of up to twice the deposit require a finding that the landlord “willfully” violated § 7-108 — meaning they knew the rule and broke it anyway. Mere late payment or a good-faith mistake is not enough. Willfulness is a factual determination, and credibility is one of the factors courts weigh. Common examples of facts supporting willfulness: deducting with no basis in the record, refusing to return the money without justification, ignoring repeated documented requests.
N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(g) ↗attorney's fees if a court so orders.
Section 7-108 itself does not authorize attorney fees. Fees in New York security deposit cases may be available under N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-109 when a tenant recovers the deposit, or under the 2019 HSTPA amendments extending fee protection to tenants. Availability and amount are decided by the court and depend on the outcome, so treat this as possible rather than certain.
N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-109 ↗§ 7-108(1-a)(f): in any deposit lawsuit, the burden of proving the reasonableness of a deduction sits with the landlord. You only need to state that you did not cause the damage. This is the most tenant-favorable burden allocation among these five states.
N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(f) ↗The 14-day deadline imposes two obligations — return and itemize — and failing either automatically forfeits every deduction right, with no court finding of bad faith required. Compare California, where being late only creates a presumption of bad faith and the 2x remains at the court’s discretion. The same mistake costs you everything in one state and a lawsuit in another. Which state you are in determines how much you can get back.
N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(e) ↗After signing the lease but BEFORE you move in, the landlord must offer you the opportunity to inspect the unit. If you request it, you and the landlord sign a written agreement recording the condition and every existing defect. Upon vacating, the landlord may not retain any part of the deposit for any condition, defect, or damage noted in that agreement. This is the only rule among these five states that can defeat a deduction without any argument about timelines — if you signed a condition report at move-in, every item on it is off the table. Note it is admissible as evidence of condition only in proceedings about the deposit, so keep it.
N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(c) ↗Unless you terminate with less than two weeks’ notice, the landlord must notify you in writing of your right to request an inspection before vacating and to be present at it. If you request one, it must occur no earlier than two weeks and no later than one week before the tenancy ends, with at least 48 hours’ written notice. Afterward the landlord must give you an itemized statement of the repairs or cleaning it proposes to charge for, and you get the chance to cure those conditions before move-out. That statement is only admissible in deposit proceedings. If the landlord never offered you this inspection, in New York City that is itself additional evidence of bad faith.
N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(d) ↗The twice-the-deposit punitive damages are only available if the court finds the landlord “willfully” violated the section — that is, they knew the 14-day rule and broke it anyway. Honest mistake or good-faith lateness does not qualify. Courts treat willfulness as a factual question and weigh credibility heavily. This is worth knowing before you over-claim: the forfeiture in (1-a)(e) does not require willfulness at all, so the forfeiture is your reliable claim and the 2x is the bonus.
N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(g) ↗Since the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, no residential security deposit or advance may exceed one month’s rent. The cap covers deposits and advances together — a landlord cannot charge a full month’s deposit plus a separate last month’s rent and exceed the cap. Amounts collected in violation are recoverable, and the excess triggers statutory damages. Rent-stabilized units follow § 7-107 instead.
N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(a) ↗The deposit must be held in a trust account and not commingled; buildings with 6+ units must pay interest, and the landlord may retain a 1% administrative fee. Violations can be reported to the New York Attorney General.
N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-103 ↗““You caused $2,000 in real damage, so I’m entitled to keep it.””
§ 7-108(1-a)(e) provides that a landlord who fails to complete both “return + itemization” within 14 days forfeits the right to withhold any part of the deposit — no court finding of bad faith required. Even if the damage claim is entirely valid, the moment the itemization arrived on day 15 the deduction right was already gone.
N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(e)
““I thought the lease end date was the vacating date, so I wasn’t late.””
The statute measures from “vacated the premises,” not the lease end date. Provide evidence of the date you actually returned the keys.
N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)
““I gave you the itemization, I just didn’t return the balance.””
“Return the balance” and “provide an itemized statement” are two independent obligations that must both be completed within 14 days. Doing only one still forfeits every deduction right.
N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(e)
The New York City small claims cap is $10,000. The NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and the Attorney General generally do not get involved in factual deduction disputes (such as “I really did not damage the wall”) — they handle procedural violations only.
Public sources conflict on the points below. We state the disagreement rather than hiding it.
Whether rent-stabilized tenants are covered by § 7-108
“Several protections extend to rent-stabilized tenants” — Language tied to the November 2025 § 7-107 amendments
“§ 7-107 protections are weaker” — Legislative history
This tool uses Flagged as “may differ — verify separately”. Sources disagree on whether rent-stabilized tenants fall under § 7-108. Rather than give a definitive answer, we flag it for verification so you are not misled.
14 days, counted from the day you vacated the premises. N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(e).
2x the full deposit, only if a court finds willful. N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(g).
No — The New York City small claims cap is $10,000. The NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and the Attorney General generally do not get involved in factual deduction disputes (such as “I really did not damage the wall”) — they handle procedural violations only.
The statute does not permit deductions for: normal wear and tear; deductions not provided on time (all deduction rights forfeited); unsubstantiated damage claims.