Security Deposit Law
What Alaska landlords must do with security deposits — the cap, interest, return deadline, account rules, and penalties — with citations to the statute itself.
Verified as of June 11, 2026
This page is general information, not legal advice. Statutes change — verify with the cited sources or an attorney.
Deposit cap
Two months' rent (deposit plus prepaid rent combined), unless monthly rent exceeds $2,000. An extra pet deposit of up to one month's rent is allowed.
Interest
No. Alaska requires a trust account but does not require paying interest to the tenant.
Return deadline
14 days if the tenant gave proper notice and nothing is deducted for damage; 30 days if damage costs are deducted or the tenant gave no proper notice.
Alaska caps prepaid rent and security deposits, 'however denominated,' at two months' periodic rent, but the cap does not apply at all to units renting for more than $2,000 a month. On top of the cap, a landlord may collect an additional pet deposit of up to one month's rent from a tenant with a pet that is not a service animal.
AS 34.03.070(c) requires deposits to be held in a trust account but says nothing about interest, so no interest is owed to the tenant under state law. A 2007-era bill (SB 56, 25th Legislature) would have required an interest-bearing account; it was never enacted.
If the landlord or tenant gave termination notice complying with AS 34.03.290, the landlord must mail the itemized written notice and refund within 14 days after the tenancy terminates and the tenant delivers possession — extended to 30 days if costs are deducted for damages from the tenant's noncompliance with AS 34.03.120. If the tenant did not give complying notice, the landlord has 30 days after termination, delivery of possession, or discovering abandonment. The notice is mailed to the tenant's last known address; if that is unknown but the landlord knows how to reach the tenant, a reasonable delivery effort is required.
Deposits and prepaid rent must be promptly deposited, wherever practicable, in a trust account at a bank, savings and loan association, or licensed escrow agent, and may never be commingled with the landlord's other funds. Multiple tenants' deposits may share one trust account, but the landlord must account for each tenant separately and may not use one tenant's money to refund, pay rent for, or cover damages of another tenant.
If the landlord wilfully fails to comply with the itemization-and-refund requirement in subsection (b), the tenant may recover an amount not to exceed twice the actual amount withheld. The section also preserves both parties' rights to other damages under the chapter.
No municipal security-deposit ordinances were identified in Alaska, including Anchorage; AS 34.03 (Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act) applies statewide. None of the well-known local-overlay cities (Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, Denver, Baltimore) are in Alaska.
The cap applies to 'prepaid rent or a security deposit, however denominated,' so first-and-last-month-rent structures count against the two-month limit. The cap disappears entirely for units renting above $2,000 a month.
Deposits go in a trust account at a bank, savings and loan, or licensed escrow agent, never commingled with the landlord's own funds. One tenant's deposit can never be used to refund or cover obligations of another tenant.
Proper tenant notice plus no damage deductions means a 14-day mailing deadline; damage deductions or a tenant who left without complying notice means 30 days. The clock runs from termination and delivery of possession (or discovery of abandonment).
Deductible 'damages' mean deterioration of the premises or contents, but expressly exclude normal wear and tear and deterioration caused by the landlord's own failures. 'Normal wear and tear' is defined as deterioration from intended use without negligence, carelessness, accident, misuse, or abuse.
The optional extra pet deposit (max one month's rent, not allowed for service animals) must be accounted for separately from the regular deposit and may be applied only to damages directly related to the tenant's pet.
Direct violation of AS 34.03.070(c)'s no-commingling rule, which undercuts your position in any deposit dispute and supports a wilful-noncompliance finding under subsection (d).
Those are excluded from 'damages' by statute; the tenant can pursue the wrongfully withheld amount and, for wilful violations, up to twice the amount withheld.
When the tenant gave notice complying with AS 34.03.290 and you deduct nothing for damages, the deadline is 14 days; mailing on day 20 is late and risks the double-recovery penalty.
The pet deposit 'may be applied only to the amount of damages that are directly related to the pet of the tenant,' so cross-applying it is wrongful withholding.
Prepaid rent and deposit combined exceed two months' periodic rent, violating the subsection (a) cap ('prepaid rent or a security deposit, however denominated').
Up to two months' rent, counting prepaid rent and the deposit together — unless the unit rents for more than $2,000 a month, in which case the cap doesn't apply. You may also collect a separate pet deposit of up to one month's rent for a pet that is not a service animal (AS 34.03.070(a), (h)).
14 days after termination and move-out if the tenant gave proper notice and you deduct nothing for damage; 30 days if you deduct damage costs, the tenant left without proper notice, or you discover the unit abandoned. The refund and itemized notice must be mailed to the tenant's last known address.
Yes. Deposits and prepaid rent must go, wherever practicable, into a trust account at a bank, savings and loan, or licensed escrow agent, with separate accounting per tenant. You may never commingle deposit money with your other funds (AS 34.03.070(c)).
A landlord who wilfully fails to provide the required itemization and refund can be ordered to pay the tenant up to twice the actual amount wrongfully withheld (AS 34.03.070(d)), on top of any other damages available under the chapter.
No. The statute limits deductions to accrued rent and 'damages,' and expressly excludes deterioration from normal wear and tear or from the landlord's own failure to maintain the unit (AS 34.03.070(b), (i)(1)).
No. AS 34.03.070 requires a trust account but contains no requirement to pay interest to the tenant.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Statutes change — verify with the cited sources or an attorney.
Statute facts on this page were verified against the cited official sources on June 11, 2026.
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