Walk It Through: The New Address In Writing
A Pennsylvania deposit, from the two month cap to double the difference.
A first lease, and the landlord asks for a deposit larger than two months' rent.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One deposit in one rental. The escrow account and interest for deposits held more than two years, a deposit kept for unpaid rent, and how a court weighs actual damages are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Security depositMoney a landlord holds against damage or unpaid rent: no more than two months' rent in the first year of a lease, and one month's rent in the second and later years or a renewal.
- Written list of damagesThe list a landlord gives within 30 days after the lease ends, or after surrender and acceptance, of damages the tenant is said to owe, with payment of the rest of the deposit.