Security Deposit Not Returned in Maine: What Can I Do?

1. Your landlord cannot keep any part of your deposit to pay for normal wear and tear. Normal wear and tear means the wearing down that happens from using the home as intended, without negligence, carelessness, accident or abuse.

   Maine Revised Statutes 14 M.R.S. § 6033(1) Maine Revised Statutes 14 M.R.S. § 6031(1)

   ✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026

2. If you have a written rental agreement, your landlord must return your full deposit within the time stated in the agreement. That time cannot be more than 30 days. If there is actual cause to keep part of it, your landlord must instead send a written list of the reasons within that time.

   Maine Revised Statutes 14 M.R.S. § 6033(2)(A)

   ✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026

3. For a tenancy at will (a rental with no written agreement), the deadline is 21 days. It counts from the day the rental ends or the home is handed back and accepted, whichever is later. Within that time, your landlord must return your full deposit or send a written list of the reasons for keeping part of it.

   Maine Revised Statutes 14 M.R.S. § 6033(2)(B) Maine Attorney General Tenant Rights: tenancy

   ✓ Sources checked October 3, 2026

4. If your landlord keeps part of your deposit, the written list of reasons must come with a payment of the rest of the deposit. The rest is the deposit minus the amount kept.

   Maine Revised Statutes 14 M.R.S. § 6033(2)

   ✓ Sources checked October 3, 2026

5. Your landlord may keep part of your deposit for some reasons. Examples are the cost of storing and disposing of property no one has claimed, and unpaid rent. Another example is unpaid charges for utilities (water, electric, gas) that you had to pay directly to the landlord.

   Maine Revised Statutes 14 M.R.S. § 6033(2)

   ✓ Sources checked October 3, 2026

6. Your landlord meets the deadline by mailing the written list and any payment to your last known address. Give your landlord your new address in writing when you move out.

   RenterLaw editorial Maine Revised Statutes 14 M.R.S. § 6033(2)

   ✓ Sources checked October 3, 2026

7. Your landlord may miss the deadline. Then your landlord loses the right to keep any part of the deposit.

   Maine Revised Statutes 14 M.R.S. § 6033(3)

   ✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026

8. If your landlord misses the deadline, you must give notice of your plan to sue at least 7 days before you file the court case. The 7 days count back from the day you file.

   Maine Legislature 14 M.R.S. § 6034(1)

   ✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026

9. Suppose your landlord does not return the entire deposit within the 7-day period after your notice. Then the law presumes (the landlord must prove otherwise) that the landlord is keeping it without a legal right. In a court case you bring, the landlord must prove that keeping the deposit, or any part of it, was done with a legal right.

   Maine Legislature 14 M.R.S. § 6034(1)

   ✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026

10. A landlord who keeps a deposit without a legal right must pay double the part that was kept without a legal right. The landlord must also pay reasonable attorney's fees and court costs. Example: if $300 was kept, double is $600. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays.

    RenterLaw editorial Maine Legislature 14 M.R.S. § 6034(2)

    ✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026

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