NYC Security Deposit Law: My Landlord Kept My Deposit. The 14-Day Rule That Probably Already Won Your Case

The most common tenant question in New York is also the one with the clearest statutory answer. If more than fourteen days have passed since you moved out and your landlord has neither returned your security deposit nor sent a written, itemized statement of deductions, GOL u00a7 7-108(1-a)(e) has already decided the dispute: the landlord forfeited the right to keep any of it. Not some of it, and not the part covering real damage. All of it. The mistakes tenants make from here are predictable. They call and argue instead of writing. They accept a vague text about cleaning costs as if it were the itemized statement the statute requires, when it is not: an itemized statement needs a specific basis for each deduction, and normal wear and tear can never be charged. They wait months, letting the landlord bank on being forgotten. The playbook that works is short. Confirm your move out date and count fourteen days. Gather what you have: the lease, move out photos, the deposit receipt or bank record, any messages. Then put the demand in writing with the statute attached, because a landlord who ignores a tenant rarely ignores counsel, and a willful violation adds punitive damages of up to twice the deposit under u00a7 7-108(1-a)(g). Since November 15, 2025, rent stabilized tenants have the same rights under GOL u00a7 7-107. The window to act is generous, but the leverage is strongest while the forfeiture is fresh.