Security Deposit Not Returned in Maryland: What Can I Do?
Maryland law limits how your landlord can handle your security deposit when you move out. This page covers the return deadline and what your landlord can take out of your deposit. It also covers what to do if your landlord keeps your deposit or does not send a list of damage.
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Your landlord can keep part of your deposit only for unpaid rent, damage from breaking the lease, or damage beyond normal wear and tear. Normal wear and tear means damage from ordinary daily use, not carelessness or abuse. Your landlord can only keep back money for this damage if it was caused by you, your family, agents or employees, or guests. This applies to damage to the home itself, shared areas of the building, or the landlord's own appliances and furniture.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Your deposit is not a fee your landlord can keep just for breaking the lease. Your landlord can keep only the amount that matches the cost of your broken lease, or a legal fee allowed under a separate law. Your landlord cannot keep your whole deposit as a penalty if the actual cost was less.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Take photos of the home when you move out and write down the date you return your keys. This helps prove your move-out date and the home's condition if your landlord does not return your deposit on time. Keep a copy of your lease and any letters you send or receive about your deposit.
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Your landlord must return your security deposit within 45 days after your rental ends. Your landlord can keep only the amount the law allows for damage and must send you the rest.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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If your landlord keeps any part of your deposit, your landlord must mail you a written list of the damage. This list must include an itemized bill (a list that breaks down each cost) for the repairs. Your landlord must send this by first-class mail to your last known address within 45 days after your rental ends.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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If your landlord does not send the list of damage, your landlord loses the right to keep any part of your deposit for damage.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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If you are evicted for breaking your lease, or you leave before your lease ends without your landlord's agreement, special deposit rules apply. You must mail your landlord your new address within 45 days of being evicted or leaving. Your landlord then has 45 days after getting your letter to mail you a list of damage and return your deposit.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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If you were evicted for breaking your lease, or you left before your lease ended without your landlord's agreement, special deposit rules apply. After you mail your landlord written notice with your new address, your landlord must mail you a list of damage within 45 days. If your landlord skips that list, your landlord loses the right to keep any of your deposit for damage. If your landlord still does not return your deposit, you can sue for up to 3 times the amount kept, plus reasonable lawyer's fees. For example, if your landlord keeps $300, you could get up to $900 plus lawyer's fees. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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If your landlord fails to return part of your deposit within 45 days after your rental ends, without a reasonable basis, you can sue. You can get up to 3 times the amount your landlord wrongly kept, plus reasonable lawyer's fees. For example, if your landlord wrongly keeps $500, you could get up to $1,500, which is 3 times $500, plus lawyer's fees. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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You can sue your landlord over your deposit while you still live there, or within 2 years after your rental ends. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Your landlord cannot make you give up your security deposit rights, even if it is written in your lease.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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