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Tools · Security Deposit

Pennsylvania Security Deposit Calculator (2026)

Enter your rent and move-out date to see the most a Pennsylvania landlord can charge and the exact date your deposit is due back — up to 2 months of rent, returned 30 days after the lease ends or the tenant surrenders the unit, whichever is first.

Cited to 68 P.S. §§250.511a, 250.511b, 250.512Source: Pennsylvania General Assembly.

Pennsylvania security deposit calculator

Security deposit · Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania rule applied to your numbers
Maximum deposit
$4,000
Up to 2 months' rent under Pennsylvania law. First year: up to 2 months' rent. Year two onward: no more than 1 month's rent. After the fifth year of the tenancy, the deposit may not be raised even if rent goes up. A waiver of these limits is void.
Return deadline
30 days
30 days after the lease ends or the tenant surrenders the unit, whichever is first. Enter your move-out date for the exact deadline.

These are the Pennsylvania figures applied to what you entered — a plain summary of the rule and the dates, not a determination that anyone did or did not comply.

If a deposit is wrongly kept
Pennsylvania splits the penalty into two separate tracks. Forfeiture (§250.512(b)): a landlord who fails to give a written list of damages within 30 days forfeits the right to withhold any of the deposit and to sue for damages. Double damages (§250.512(c)): a landlord who fails to return the money owed within 30 days is liable for twice the amount wrongfully withheld — and to avoid it the landlord carries the burden of proving actual damages. As Adamsky v. Picknick, 412 Pa. Super. 544 (1992), holds, sending a list on time does not save a landlord who cannot prove the damages behind the deductions.
Interest on the deposit
Only after the second anniversary of the deposit (from month 25 on). The landlord may keep 1% per year as an administrative fee; the rest of the interest is paid to the tenant annually.
PlainStatute
Security deposit — Pennsylvania
Maximum deposit
$4,000 · 2 months rent
Monthly rent
$2,000
Move-out date
Not entered
Return deadline (30 days)
30 days
Source: 68 P.S. §§250.511a, 250.511b, 250.512
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/1951/0/0020..HTM
Printed from plainstatute.com
Plain-language summary, not legal advice.

Informational only, not legal advice. Security-deposit rules carry exceptions (lease type, small landlords, city ordinances) this summary cannot weigh. See the full statute and exceptions on the Pennsylvania security deposit reference, cited to 68 P.S. §§250.511a, 250.511b, 250.512.

How Pennsylvania security deposits work

Pennsylvania's cap actually shrinks over time. In year one a landlord can hold two months' rent, but from the second year on the limit drops to a single month — and once you pass the five-year mark, the deposit can't be raised at all. The penalties run on two separate tracks: miss the 30-day written-list deadline and the landlord forfeits the right to keep anything (§250.512(b)); fail to refund what you're owed within 30 days and the landlord owes double the wrongfully withheld amount (§250.512(c)). Crucially, the landlord — not the tenant — carries the burden of proving actual damages, so a timely list won't rescue deductions the landlord can't back up (Adamsky v. Picknick).

This calculator shows the Pennsylvania figures applied to your own rent and dates. It is informational only and not legal advice — exceptions this summary cannot weigh may apply. For the full rules, penalties, and citations, see the Pennsylvania security deposit reference.

Security deposit calculators for other states

Same tool, each with its own cap and return deadline.

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