# California — Security deposit return deadlines by US state — the statutory clock a landlord has to return a tenant's deposit, quoted from the state statute

For California, return deadline is 21 calendar days; deadline in days is 21; what starts the clock is after the tenant has vacated the premises; statute is Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(h)(1), recorded from its source on 2026-08-26.

- **State:** California _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Return deadline:** 21 calendar days _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Deadline in days:** 21 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **What starts the clock:** after the tenant has vacated the premises _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Statute:** Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(h)(1) _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> No later than 21 calendar days after the tenant has vacated the premises, but not earlier than the time that either the landlord or the tenant provides a notice to terminate the tenancy under Section 1946 or 1946.1, Section 1161 of the Code of Civil Procedure, or not earlier than 60 calendar days prior to the expiration of a fixed-term lease, the landlord shall furnish the tenant, a copy of an itemized statement indicating the basis for, and the amount of, any security received and the disposition of the security

## Source

- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=1950.5.&lawCode=CIV

Last verified: 2026-08-26. Review by: 2027-08-26.
Part of [Security deposit return deadlines by US state — the statutory clock a landlord has to return a tenant's deposit, quoted from the state statute](https://referencesource.org/security-deposit-return-deadlines-by-state/).