New here? The free estimate turns any of it into a figure for your own flat, in your own browser, with no account. Informational, never legal advice — what counts as wear and what a landlord may lawfully deduct are set by your state's statute and your lease.
§ VIII — Notes
Notes on the money at
the end of a lease.
Straight writing on the four things that decide whether a deposit comes back: where the line between wear and damage actually falls, the order to do things in, the deadline your landlord is running against, and the depreciation rule almost no tenant raises.
- Normal wear and tear against damageThe one line the whole dispute turns on, drawn across walls, carpet, floors and cleaning — and the traps where ordinary wear arrives on the bill dressed as damage.2026
- How to get your deposit backFive steps in order, from the photographs you take before the keys go back to the small-claims filing that is a backstop rather than a plan.2026
- How long a landlord has to return itTypically fourteen to forty-five days, set state by state — and the missed deadline is often a cleaner argument than the charges themselves.2026
- The depreciation ruleA landlord can charge for the life a carpet had left, not a brand-new floor. The arithmetic, worked — and why it applies to paint and appliances too.2026