Security Deposit Law
What Rhode Island 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
One month's rent, plus an optional furniture deposit (up to one more month) for qualifying furnished units.
Interest
No. Rhode Island does not require landlords to pay interest on security deposits.
Return deadline
20 days, with an itemized written notice of any deductions.
A landlord may not demand or receive a security deposit, however denominated, in excess of one month's periodic rent. If the unit is furnished and the landlord's furniture has a replacement value of $5,000 or more when the lease is signed, the landlord may also charge a separate furniture security deposit of up to one month's periodic rent.
Section 34-18-19 contains no interest requirement. Bills introduced in the 2024 session (H 7746 and S 2919) would have required landlords of six or more units to hold deposits in interest-bearing accounts, but the current official codification contains none of that language.
The landlord must deliver the itemized written notice together with the amount due 'within twenty (20) days after the later of either termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession, or the tenant's providing the landlord with a forwarding address for the purpose of receiving the security deposit.' Permitted deductions are unpaid accrued rent, reasonable cleaning expenses, reasonable trash disposal expenses, and physical damage beyond ordinary wear and tear.
Rhode Island statute does not require security deposits to be held in a separate or escrow account. 2024 bills proposing federally insured interest-bearing accounts for landlords of six or more units (H 7746, S 2919) do not appear in the current official codification.
If the landlord fails to comply with the return requirements of subsection (b), the tenant may recover the amount due 'together with damages in an amount equal to twice the amount wrongfully withheld, and reasonable attorney fees.' The section also does not preclude other damages available under the chapter.
No Rhode Island municipality is known to impose its own residential security deposit ordinance; § 34-18-19 governs statewide and subsection (h) bars lease waivers.
The one-month limit covers any payment that functions as a security deposit regardless of what the lease calls it. Charging extra move-in amounts that serve as security risks violating the cap.
Within 20 days of the latest of tenancy termination, delivery of possession, or receipt of the tenant's forwarding address, the landlord must deliver an itemized written notice of deductions together with the balance due.
Only unpaid accrued rent, reasonable cleaning expenses, reasonable trash disposal expenses, and physical damage to the premises beyond ordinary wear and tear (tied to tenant noncompliance with § 34-18-24) may be deducted, and each must be itemized in the written notice.
If the landlord's furniture is worth $5,000 or more (replacement value at lease execution), a separate furniture security deposit of up to one month's periodic rent may be charged, with its own 20-day return rule on move-out.
No rental agreement may contain any waiver of § 34-18-19, and a buyer of the property is bound by the section at the time the tenancy ends.
The cap applies to deposits 'however denominated,' so the excess violates § 34-18-19(a) and creates double-damages exposure when the deposit is reconciled at move-out.
The tenant may recover the amount due plus damages equal to twice the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney fees.
Only damage 'other than ordinary wear and tear' is deductible; improper deductions are wrongful withholding subject to double damages.
The furniture-deposit exception only applies at a $5,000-or-greater replacement value, so the extra deposit exceeds the one-month cap in § 34-18-19(a).
No more than one month's periodic rent, no matter what the deposit is called. The one exception: a furnished unit where the landlord's furniture has a replacement value of $5,000 or more at lease signing may carry a separate furniture security deposit of up to one additional month's rent.
20 days after the latest of: termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession, or the tenant providing a forwarding address for receiving the deposit. The refund must come with an itemized written notice of any deductions.
No. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-18-19 has no interest requirement. Bills proposing interest-bearing accounts for larger landlords were introduced in 2024 but were not enacted.
No. The statute does not require deposits to be held in a separate or escrow account, though keeping them separate is a good practice for accounting and dispute defense.
Four things only: unpaid accrued rent, reasonable cleaning expenses, reasonable trash disposal expenses, and physical damage to the premises beyond ordinary wear and tear. Every deduction must be itemized in a written notice delivered to the tenant.
The tenant can sue to recover the amount due plus damages equal to twice the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney fees.
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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