DepositClaim

Get your security deposit back.

If your landlord kept your security deposit past your state’s legal deadline, DepositClaim computes the leverage you actually have — the deadline they missed and the penalty exposure they may face — then hands you a firm, statute-cited demand letter and a per-state small-claims escalation roadmap. You send it yourself and keep 100% of whatever you recover. Flat $39, no contingency cut.

See a real sample kit →Read the FAQ →

Check your leverage — free

Pick your state, enter the deposit and how long it’s been, and we’ll show you the real deadline your landlord missed and the penalty exposure they may face under your state’s statute — no email, no payment.

DepositClaim is an automated self-help document-preparation tool — not a law firm, not legal advice. For advice about your specific situation, consult a licensed attorney.

How it works

1. Check your leverage

Pick your state and enter the facts. We apply that state’s actual return-deadline and bad-faith-penalty statute — for free.

2. Answer a few questions

What the landlord did, whether you gave a forwarding address, and whether you left the unit clean. Then pay $39 — no subscription.

3. Send your kit

You get a statute-cited demand letter plus a small-claims escalation roadmap, as a hosted page and a PDF. You mail it as yourself.

What’s in the $39 kit

A statute-cited demand letter

A firm, professional letter in your own voice — citing your state’s deposit statute, the deadline your landlord missed, and the penalty exposure they may face if a court finds bad faith. You review, edit, and send it. Copyable text plus a download-ready PDF.

A small-claims escalation roadmap

Step-by-step for your state: how to send the demand by certified mail, what records to keep, the response window you’re setting, and — if the landlord still doesn’t pay — how small claims works there, including that you can ask the court for the penalty and fees.

Sample kit

A real kit for a California renter

Generated for a renter whose landlord went silent 42 days after move-out, withholding a $1,800 deposit. Their landlord is 21 days past California’s 21-day deadline; under Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5 a landlord who acts in bad faith may face up to twice the deposit in statutory damages if a court finds the landlord kept it in bad faith (up to $3,600 here).

[Landlord Name]
[Landlord Address]

Re: Formal Demand for Return of Security Deposit — $1,800

Dear [Landlord Name],

Read the full sample kit Check your own leverage

Why it’s shaped this way

Grounded in your state’s real statute.Every deadline, citation, and penalty comes from a verified dataset of state deposit law. We never invent a citation or a deadline, and we only ship kits for states whose law we’ve verified.
You keep 100%.DepositClaim doesn’t negotiate for you and takes no cut of what you recover. You send the letter as yourself — no contingency fee, unlike percentage-of-recovery advocates.
Honest about what you must prove. The penalty is always framed as something a court may award if it finds bad faith — never a guaranteed payout. You still have to make that case; the kit tells you how.
You’re always the author and sender. DepositClaim never contacts your landlord, never files anything, and never appears in court. It prepares the documents; you decide what to do with them.

Your data

We use the facts you enter only to compute your leverage and draft your demand letter. See our privacy policy.

Support

Reply to the delivery email and we’ll respond — or hit the feedback button on any page.

DepositClaim is an automated self-help document-preparation tool. It is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. You are always the author and sender of any demand letter, and DepositClaim never promises an outcome — a landlord’s penalty exposure is something a court may award if it finds bad faith, which you would still need to establish.