Alaska's deposit cap looks simple — two months' rent — but AS 34.03.070(a) hides two structural quirks that trip up landlords who read only the headline number.
Quirk one: the cap combines deposit AND prepaid rent
The statute says a landlord "may not demand or receive prepaid rent or a security deposit, however denominated, in an amount or value in excess of two months' periodic rent" (§ 34.03.070(a)).
That's a combined ceiling on prepaid rent plus deposit together. On a $1,500 unit, the cap is $3,000 — so prepaid last month's rent plus a two-month deposit ($4,500) exceeds it. The "however denominated" language exists precisely so relabeling a charge doesn't escape the math.
Quirk two: the cap doesn't exist above $2,000/month
The same subsection ends: "This section does not apply to rental units where the rent exceeds $2,000 a month."
That threshold is a flat statutory dollar figure — it isn't indexed to inflation, and our check of the 2023–2026 legislative sessions found no enacted change to it. Any unit renting above $2,000 a month simply has no statutory deposit cap at all.
The pet deposit is separate — and service animals are exempt
A landlord may take an additional pet deposit of up to one month's rent from a tenant with a pet that is not a service animal (§ 34.03.070(h)). It must be accounted for separately and "may be applied only to the amount of damages that are directly related to the pet." No pet deposit may be demanded for a service animal.
Has any of this changed recently?
We checked both the 33rd (2023–2024) and 34th (2025–2026) Legislatures on the official BASIS bill system. The only cap bill — SB 169, which would have cut the cap to half a month's rent — was withdrawn by its sponsor in January 2024 and never became law. One caution for anyone researching this themselves: AI search summaries confidently cited a "2025 amendment" to this statute via an SB 56 that turns out to be the state operating-budget bill. The current text is as described above.
Check your exact numbers with our Alaska Security Deposit Limit Calculator.