Getting the Deposit Back
K.S.A. 58-2550 — one month's rent at most, the balance within 14 days of the deductions and never past 30, or half again as much
A landlord who keeps part of the deposit for damage or other allowed charges returns the balance within 14 days after working out those charges, and in no event more than 30 days after the tenancy ends, the tenant moves out and the tenant asks for it. The charges are itemized in a written notice to the tenant.
Who handles this in Kansas: Kansas Legal Services, apply for help and Kansas Legal Services; and legal aid programs, lawyer referral and the state offices, listed in the Kansas directory.
- For an unfurnished unit, the deposit may not be more than one month's rent.
- With the landlord's furniture, it may be up to one and a half months' rent.
- Where pets are allowed, an added pet deposit may be up to half of one month's rent.
- A tenant who has not asked for the deposit within 30 days after the tenancy ends has it mailed to their last known address.
Wrongfully kept. A landlord who does not follow those rules owes the part of the deposit due, plus damages of one and a half times the amount wrongfully withheld. A tenant who uses the deposit as the last month's rent, where the lease does not allow it, forfeits the deposit and still owes the rent.
Within five days of moving in, the landlord and the tenant inventory the premises together, write down the condition of the unit and anything supplied with it, and both sign it. The tenant gets a copy.
Sources for this section (2)
- K.S.A. 58-2550 — Security deposits; amounts; retention; return; damages for noncompliance
- K.S.A. 58-2548 — Inventory of premises by landlord and tenant, when; copies
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Kansas attorney.