Residential owners can charge residents, other than certain military service members, a maximum security deposit equal to two month’s rent for unfurnished units and three month’s rent for furnished units.
Effective January 1, 2020, for military service members, the security deposit is limited to one months’ rent, in the case of unfurnished residential property, or two months’ rent, in the case of furnished residential property. This limited security deposit, however, does not apply to a situation in which the property is rented to a military service member and other unrelated roommates (a service member’s spouse, parent, domestic partner, or dependent is not considered an unrelated roommate, and the lower security deposit would apply). A rental property owner can also demand or receive security from a service member in an amount up to the legal limit of 2 months’ rent (or three months’ rent for a furnished units) if the service member has a history of poor credit or of causing damage to the rental property or its furnishings. Military service members are either of the following: (1) a member of an active or reserve component of the Armed Forces who is ordered into active duty or (2) a member of the militia (including a member of the National Guard, State Military Reserve or Naval Militia) called or ordered into active state or federal service.
Even if an owner designates some of the security deposit as “last month’s rent,” “cleaning deposit,” or “pet deposit,” the limits described above still apply.