When a lease ends, the money that causes the most arguments is rarely the last month of rent. It is the deposit. Ohio security deposit law, set out in Ohio Revised Code section 5321.16, answers the three questions tenants and landlords fight about most: how long the landlord has to return the money, what has to come with it, and what happens when the landlord keeps money without following the statute. The answers are unusually specific. The landlord gets 30 days, not a vague reasonable time. Any deduction has to be identified and itemized in writing. Interest is owed on part of larger deposits. And a landlord who fails to comply can end up owing the tenant the amount wrongfully withheld, an equal amount as damages, and reasonable attorney fees on top.
This guide walks through each part of section 5321.16 in the order a real move-out follows it, and finishes with a worked example using the same numbers and rules as the calculator linked below.
Ohio Security Deposit Law at a Glance
Section 5321.16 has three working parts, and most deposit disputes turn on which part the landlord missed.
- Interest — section 5321.16(A). If the deposit is more than the greater of $50 or one month’s rent, the landlord owes interest at 5% per year on the excess, computed and paid annually, if the tenant was in possession for at least six months.
- Return and itemization — section 5321.16(B). Within 30 days after the tenancy terminates and the tenant delivers possession, the landlord must apply the deposit to any rent owed or return it, together with a written, itemized list of any deductions and any amount still owed to the tenant.
- Wrongful withholding — section 5321.16(C). If the landlord fails to comply, the tenant may recover the money due, plus damages equal to the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney fees — provided the tenant gave a forwarding address in writing.
- Lawful deductions. Unpaid rent and damage beyond normal wear and tear can be deducted. The damages rule targets money withheld without following the statute, not legitimate, properly documented charges.
The statute does not set a vague “be reasonable” standard. It sets a deadline, a writing requirement, an interest rate, and a damages formula — which is why a list sent on day 35, or no list at all, can matter as much as the amount kept.
The Interest Rule: 5% on the Excess Deposit
Interest is the part of Ohio security deposit law tenants most often leave behind. Under section 5321.16(A), it is not owed on the whole deposit — only on the part above a threshold: the greater of $50 or one month’s rent.
That wording matters. On most market-rate rentals, one month’s rent is the larger figure, so the threshold is simply one month’s rent. If your deposit was exactly one month’s rent — a very common arrangement — there is no excess and no interest is owed. Interest only begins when the landlord holds more than the threshold: a deposit of one and a half or two months’ rent, for example.
Two more conditions apply: the rate is 5% per year on the excess, and the tenant must have been in possession for at least six months. A shorter tenancy earns no interest under this section, however large the deposit was. Where interest is owed, it is computed and paid annually.
On a $1,200-a-month rental with a $2,400 deposit, the threshold is $1,200, so the excess is $1,200 and 5% of it is $60 a year. That is modest money, but it is the tenant’s by statute, it accumulates over a long tenancy, and it is added to the amount due before damages are considered.
The 30-Day Rule: What Must Happen After You Move Out
The clock in section 5321.16(B) runs from two events together: the tenancy terminates, and the tenant delivers possession of the premises to the landlord. In everyday terms, that is usually the day the rental agreement ends and you hand back the keys. From that point, the landlord has 30 days.
Within those 30 days, the landlord must do the accounting in writing. Any part of the deposit applied to rent or other lawful charges must be identified and itemized in a written list, sent together with any amount still owed to the tenant. Day 30 is on time; day 31 is late. A check that arrives on time but with no itemized list has still missed part of the statute, because the itemization is not a courtesy — it is a condition in the same sentence as the return itself.
Treat the start date as something to prove, not assume. Keep evidence of when the tenancy ended and when you delivered possession, and keep dated copies of anything the landlord sent afterwards. In a later dispute, the damages argument often turns on whether those dates can be shown.
To check your own dates, amounts, and deadline in one place, use our free Ohio security deposit calculator. It applies the interest threshold, the 30-day deadline, and the damages formula from section 5321.16 to the figures you enter.
Your Forwarding Address: the Step That Protects the Damages Claim
Section 5321.16 also puts one job on the tenant, and skipping it is expensive: notify the landlord in writing of a forwarding address for the deposit accounting and any refund.
Under section 5321.16(C), a tenant who does not provide that address in writing cannot recover the extra damages or attorney fees. Read that carefully: it is narrower than some landlords claim. The deposit itself is still owed, and so is any interest on the excess. What is forfeited is only the add-on.
So, before you hand back the keys, give the landlord a forwarding address in writing and keep proof you sent it. An email or dated message you can screenshot is writing you can prove; a spoken address at a walk-through is much harder to establish later.
What a Landlord Can Lawfully Deduct
None of this means every deduction is wrongful. Ohio law allows a landlord to apply the deposit to amounts the tenant genuinely owes. The two standard examples, reflected in the tool’s own guidance, are unpaid rent and damage beyond normal wear and tear.
The wear-and-tear line is where judgment enters. A broken fixture is damage; faded paint from ordinary living is normal wear landlords are expected to absorb. Charges tied to real, documented harm beyond ordinary use can be lawful; vague charges with no itemization and no written list within 30 days are a different matter.
The statute therefore separates two questions tenants often merge. Question one is procedural: did the landlord return the money or send a proper itemized list within 30 days? Question two is substantive: were the charges themselves real and lawful? The damages rule in section 5321.16(C) is aimed at the first failure. If a landlord itemized on time and you dispute a charge, that is a separate argument, and a court decides what was actually wrongful.
Wrongful Withholding and Double Damages, Explained
When a landlord fails to comply, section 5321.16(C) gives the tenant a recovery with three components.
- The money due. This is the amount that should have come back to you: the withheld part of the deposit, plus any interest owed on the excess deposit.
- Damages equal to the amount wrongfully withheld. This is the part people call double damages. The withheld amount is, in effect, counted a second time as damages. A $600 wrongful withholding therefore supports $600 in damages on top of the $600 itself.
- Reasonable attorney fees. A court may award these in addition. They are not estimated by the calculator and cannot be predicted here, but their existence matters: it is part of why even a modest deposit claim can be worth discussing with a lawyer or a legal aid office.
Two limits keep this honest. First, without a written forwarding address the damages and fees fall away, even if the landlord missed the deadline. Second, a court — not a calculator — decides what was actually wrongfully withheld. If part of what was kept covered genuine rent or damage, the wrongful amount, and therefore the damages, can be smaller.
Worked Example: a $2,400 Deposit, a Late Return, and No List
Here is the worked example built into the calculator, computed step by step with the rules above. Say your rent was $1,200 a month and you paid a $2,400 security deposit. You moved in on January 1, 2024 and moved out on January 1, 2026, and you gave your landlord a forwarding address in writing. The landlord eventually returned $1,800 on February 15, 2026 — keeping $600 — and never sent an itemized list.
Step 1: Interest
The interest threshold is the greater of $50 or one month’s rent, so $1,200. The excess deposit is $2,400 minus $1,200, which is $1,200. The tenancy lasted two years, well over the six-month minimum, so interest runs at 5% per year on that $1,200 excess for the length of the tenancy. On the calculator’s day-count basis, that interest comes to $120.16.
Step 2: The deadline
The tenancy ended and possession was delivered on January 1, 2026. Thirty days later is January 31, 2026 — that was the return deadline. The landlord’s February 15 return was 15 days late. And because no itemized list was ever sent, the return missed the statute in a second, independent way.
Step 3: Money due, damages, and total
The $600 kept is therefore potentially wrongfully withheld. The money due is the $600 withheld plus the $120.16 interest, which is $720.16. Damages under section 5321.16(C) add an amount equal to the amount wrongfully withheld: another $600. The potential total recovery is $720.16 plus $600, which is $1,320.16, plus any reasonable attorney fees a court awards.
Change one fact and the result moves. If that $600 had been supported by a written, itemized list sent by January 31, and the charges were genuine, there would be no compliance failure and no damages. If you had never given a forwarding address in writing, the $600 and the $120.16 interest would still be owed, but the $600 damages and any attorney fees would be off the table. Procedure, not just the amount kept, drives Ohio deposit outcomes.
What to Do, Step by Step, When the 30 Days Pass
- Confirm the clock. Write down the date the tenancy ended and you delivered possession, and count 30 days forward. Note whether anything — money, a list, or both — arrived by that date.
- Fix the forwarding address if you have not already. If you never gave one in writing, give one now and keep proof of sending it. It may be too late to restore damages on the facts the statute describes, but the deposit and interest remain owed, and a clear written address removes any excuse for further delay.
- Assemble the record. Keep the lease, deposit receipts, move-in and move-out photographs, messages, and any list or check you received.
- Compute your figures first. Work out the threshold, excess, interest, amount kept, and damages, so any letter or filing states numbers rather than complaints.
- Get advice. Deposit claims are a common legal aid matter, and damages plus attorney fees under section 5321.16(C) are why a claim that looks small on the deposit alone can still be worth pursuing.
The full text controls every one of these points, so read Ohio Revised Code section 5321.16 before relying on a summary — including this one — in a live dispute.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Ohio?
Within 30 days after the rental agreement terminates and the tenant delivers possession — usually the day the keys are handed back. By that deadline, under section 5321.16(B), the landlord must return the amount owed or send a written, itemized list of deductions together with any amount still owed to the tenant. Day 30 is on time; day 31 is late.
How much interest is owed on an Ohio security deposit?
Five percent per year, but only on the part of the deposit above the greater of $50 or one month’s rent, and only if the tenancy lasted at least six months. On a $2,400 deposit with $1,200 rent, the excess is $1,200, so interest runs at about $60 a year. The interest is computed and paid annually under section 5321.16(A).
My landlord kept part of the deposit and never sent a list. What can I recover?
Failing to send the itemized list within 30 days is a compliance failure, so the amount withheld is potentially wrongfully withheld. Subject to a court deciding what was actually wrongful, you may recover the money due — withheld amount plus interest — damages equal to that amount, and reasonable attorney fees. In the worked example, a $600 un-itemized withholding becomes a potential $1,320.16 recovery.
Can a landlord deduct for normal wear and tear?
Deductions are lawful for unpaid rent and for damage beyond normal wear and tear — a broken fixture, not faded paint. The damages rule is aimed at money withheld without following the statute’s procedure, not at legitimate charges. If you dispute whether a particular charge was real, that is a separate argument, and a court decides it on the facts.
I never gave a forwarding address. Can I still get double damages?
No. Section 5321.16(C) conditions the damages and attorney fees on the tenant having provided a forwarding address in writing, and without one those components are forfeited. The deposit itself, plus any 5% interest owed on the excess, is still yours either way. If you have not moved yet, putting that address in writing is the cheapest step you can take to protect the claim.
The Bottom Line
Ohio security deposit law is a deadline, a writing requirement, an interest rule, and a damages formula. A landlord holding more than the greater of $50 or one month’s rent owes 5% annual interest on the excess after a six-month tenancy. At move-out, the landlord has 30 days to return the money with a written, itemized list. A landlord who fails to comply can owe the amount withheld, the same amount again as damages, and reasonable attorney fees — if the tenant gave a forwarding address in writing. Protect the dates, the address, and the paperwork.
This article is general information about Ohio security deposit law and is not legal advice. A court decides what was wrongfully withheld in any real dispute. Check Ohio Revised Code section 5321.16 and consult an Ohio landlord-tenant attorney or your local legal aid office before acting on a specific claim.
