Wherewithal

District of Columbia security deposit return obligations for landlords

What the statute requires of you in District of Columbia: return deadlines, clock triggers, itemization / notice duties, deposit caps, and penalties for non-compliance — drawn from Wherewithal’s statute research corpus. A landlord who complies correctly does not create a statutory penalty claim.

Confidence: PARTIAL

PARTIAL — primary source pulled for main elements; secondary detail still thin

Deadline to return / account	45 days return (+ interest); 30d notice of intent to withhold (regs)
When the clock starts	end of tenancy / tenant vacates
Penalty for non-compliance	up to 3× (bad faith) per housing regs
Deposit cap (maximum you may collect)	1 mo
Escrow / interest requirements	yes
Citation	DC Code § 42-3502.17; 14 DCMR 308 et seq.

Source: DC Code § 42-3502.17; 14 DCMR 308 et seq.

Compliance flags / traps

⚠ detailed timing lives partly in DCMR, not only Code

Residual review notes

DC timing: Code §42-3502.17 defers detail to 14 DCMR; 45-day return is standard practice but not fully inline in Code alone.

Corpus version: d1ce4e7b9cb6c823 (hash of human fields; use as last-updated fingerprint)

Deadline calculator

Compliance tool only — estimates the statutory return / accounting window from Wherewithal’s corpus fields. Not legal advice. No case is created.

This state’s corpus encodes a primary numeric window of 45 days (alternate track: 30 days). Enter the move-out / possession-delivery date the statute keys on.

Move-out / termination date (when possession is delivered)

Tenant side: District of Columbia security deposit return rules

Same statute corpus, framed for tenants organizing a deposit-return claim.

Nearby states (landlord side)

Wherewithal is an organizational tool only. Not legal advice. Consider consulting a licensed attorney. This page is compliance information for landlords summarizing statutory duties — not legal advice.

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