Walk It Through: The Deposit at Move Out
A nonrefundable fee in the lease, a last cleaning, a new address, and a deposit that never comes back.
Signing a lease, a tenant pays a deposit. The lease says part of it is a nonrefundable cleaning fee.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
A deposit with no damage beyond wear and tear. Damage that extends the landlord's time, and a separate utilities deposit, have their own rules on the pages.
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.