Security Deposit Law
What Oklahoma 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
No statutory limit on the deposit amount.
Interest
No interest is owed to the tenant.
Return deadline
45 days after the tenancy ends, possession is delivered, and the tenant makes written demand.
Oklahoma's security deposit statute, 41 O.S. § 115, sets no maximum deposit. The rental agreement and the market control the amount; the statute regulates only how the deposit is held, returned, and what happens when it isn't.
The statute expressly directs return of the deposit balance "without interest." If the tenant never makes a written demand, the deposit reverts to the landlord after six months "in consideration of the costs and burden of maintaining the escrow account."
The 45-day clock runs from three conjunctive triggers: termination of tenancy, delivery of possession, and the tenant's written demand. Deductions for rent and damages must be itemized in a written statement delivered by return-receipt mail (signed for) or in person. If the tenant makes no written demand within six months of termination, the deposit reverts to the landlord. Note the statute phrases the 45-day duty conditionally — it applies "if the landlord proposes to retain any portion" of the deposit. The deadline was 30 days before November 1, 2015; Laws 2015, HB 1577 changed it to 45.
41 O.S. § 115(B) · 41 O.S. § 115(B) (superseded version, pre-Nov. 1, 2015)
Every deposit must be held in an escrow account for the tenant, maintained in Oklahoma at a federally insured financial institution. Misappropriating money from that account is a crime, not just a contract breach.
Deposit mishandling carries both a civil and a criminal track. Civilly, a landlord who fails to comply with § 115 must return the deposit and any prepaid rent to the tenant, and the statute preserves the tenant's other damages under the Act. Criminally, misappropriating funds from the escrow account is punishable by up to six months in county jail and a fine of up to twice the amount misappropriated.
Oklahoma's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies statewide, and this research identified no municipal security deposit ordinances layered on top of it (including in Oklahoma City or Tulsa). That is an absence-of-evidence finding — no checked source affirmatively confirms that every Oklahoma municipality lacks a deposit ordinance — so verify your city's code if in doubt.
Deposits must sit in an escrow account for the tenant at a federally insured financial institution located in Oklahoma. Taking money out of that account improperly is a misdemeanor with jail and fine exposure.
Unlike most states, Oklahoma's deadline is not triggered by move-out alone — it requires termination of tenancy, delivery of possession, AND a written demand from the tenant. The period was 30 days until Laws 2015, HB 1577 extended it to 45 days effective November 1, 2015.
If the tenant never makes a written demand within six months of termination, the deposit becomes the landlord's. Until that window closes, the money remains the tenant's and must stay in escrow.
Deductions for accrued rent and damages must be itemized in a written statement, delivered either by mail with return receipt requested (signed for) or personally if the tenant can reasonably be found.
When a landlord's interest ends (sale, assignment, death, bankruptcy, receivership), whoever holds the deposits must, within a reasonable time, either transfer them to the successor and notify tenants in writing of the transferee's name and address, or return them to the tenants. The transferee then steps into all the deposit obligations.
Unless the rental agreement says otherwise, a tenant may not deduct the security deposit from the last month's rent or use it in lieu of rent at any time. Put this in your lease reminders — but know the default already protects you.
This violates § 115(A) outright, and spending the money can be prosecuted as misappropriation — up to six months in county jail and a fine of up to twice the amount taken, on top of the tenant's civil recovery under § 115(E).
The deposit only reverts if the tenant makes no written demand within six months of termination. A tenant who demands inside that window is entitled to the balance within 45 days, and a landlord who already spent it faces § 115(E) recovery and potential misappropriation charges.
The statute requires delivery by return-receipt-requested mail (signed for) or in person. Skipping the required delivery method undermines your proof that deductions were properly itemized and exposes you to the tenant's recovery claim under § 115(E).
Section 115(C) requires the deposit holder to either transfer deposits to the successor and notify tenants in writing or return them. Fail to do either and the tenant can recover the deposit (and prepaid rent) under § 115(E).
45 days — but the clock only starts once three things have happened: the tenancy has terminated, the tenant has delivered possession, and the tenant has made a written demand for the deposit. If the tenant never makes a written demand within six months of termination, the deposit reverts to you. The deadline was 30 days before a 2015 amendment (HB 1577) extended it to 45.
No. 41 O.S. § 115 sets no cap on the deposit amount. As a practical matter most Oklahoma landlords charge one to two months' rent, but that's market convention, not law.
No. The statute directs you to return the deposit balance "without interest," and it justifies the six-month reversion rule by the cost of maintaining the escrow account. Any interest the escrow account earns is not owed to the tenant.
Yes. Every security or damage deposit must be kept in an escrow account for the tenant, maintained in Oklahoma at a federally insured financial institution. This is one of the strictest parts of Oklahoma's law: misappropriating escrow funds is a crime punishable by up to six months in county jail and a fine of up to twice the amount taken.
Two kinds of exposure. Civilly, a tenant can recover the deposit and any prepaid rent under § 115(E), plus any other damages available under the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act under § 115(G). Criminally, if the failure amounts to misappropriation of escrow funds, § 115(A) authorizes up to six months in jail and a fine up to twice the misappropriated amount.
Not unless your rental agreement allows it. 41 O.S. § 115(F) provides that, except as otherwise provided by the rental agreement, a tenant may not apply or deduct any portion of the deposit from the last month's rent or use it in lieu of rent at any time.
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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