Virginia Security Deposit Deadline: 45 Days From the Later of Two Dates

What has to be done within 45 days

The landlord has 45 days after the later of two dates, the termination date of the tenancy and the date the tenant vacates the dwelling unit, to itemize the deposit and any deductions, damages and charges in a written notice given to the tenant, together with any amount due to the tenant.

The security deposit and any deductions, damages, and charges shall be itemized by the landlord in a written notice given to the tenant, together with any amount due to the tenant, within 45 days after the termination date of the tenancy or the date the tenant vacates the dwelling unit, whichever occurs last. Va. Code § 55.1-1226(A)

The duty is the notice, given together with any money due, so a cheque on its own does not meet it, and nothing in the section excuses the notice, including when the whole deposit is returned. The verb is “given”, and the Act defines it: a person gives a notice “by taking steps reasonably calculated to inform another person, whether or not the other person actually comes to know of it”. Ending the tenancy early does not excuse the notice either: the landlord “shall give written notice of security deposit disposition within the 45-day period” and may retain the balance to apply against what the tenant owes the landlord under the Act or the lease. The return letter guide has sample notices to copy.

A second duty with the same deadline

Separately from the notice, the landlord must apply the deposit, under the section’s rules, within the same 45 days.

The landlord shall apply the security deposit in accordance with this section within the 45-day time period required by subsection A. Va. Code § 55.1-1226(C)

This is a second duty, not a restatement of the first: the notice says what was applied, and this sentence says the applying itself must be done by day 45. On our reading, two allowances in the section qualify it. After an early termination, or a termination without proper notice, subsection A lets the landlord retain the balance to apply against what the tenant owes the landlord under the Act or the lease; and subsection C lets a reasonable portion be withheld for a third-party utility balance until the bill is paid (below). Where the tenant gave no forwarding address, subsection B lets the landlord keep holding the money in escrow; it does not move the 45 days. The sentence before this one says the deposit does not entitle the tenant, when the tenancy ends, to “an immediate credit against the tenant’s delinquent rent account in the amount of the security deposit”.

Counting the 45 days

The day of the later event is not counted, and the days are calendar days.

When an act of the General Assembly or rule of court requires that an act be performed within a prescribed amount of time after any event or judgment, the day on which the event or judgment occurred shall not be counted against the time allowed. Va. Code § 1-210(A)

“Business day” and “calendar” do not appear in the deposit section, and the Act says “business days” where it means them (for example §§ 55.1-1204(D), 55.1-1205 and 55.1-1234.1), so the 45 are counted as calendar days. A tenancy that ends on March 1, 2026, with the tenant already gone, has day 1 on the day after and day 45 on April 15, 2026.

When the 45 days start: the later of two dates

The sentence quoted above counts from “the termination date of the tenancy or the date the tenant vacates the dwelling unit, whichever occurs last”, so the clock waits for whichever happens last. A tenant who moves out three weeks before the lease ends has not started it (unless the tenancy itself ended that day, as it does where you and the tenant agree in writing to end it early, § 55.1-1253(A)), and a tenant who stays past the end date does not start it on the end date:

• Early move-out. The tenant vacates on May 8, 2026; the tenancy terminates on May 31, 2026. The clock starts on the later date, May 31, 2026, the termination date, and day 45 is July 15, 2026.
• Holdover. The tenancy terminates on May 31, 2026, but the tenant stays until June 12, 2026. The clock starts on June 12, 2026, the date the tenant vacated, and day 45 is July 27, 2026.

The termination date is not always the lease-end date. The notice rules for periodic tenancies (§ 55.1-1253), early termination by servicemembers (§ 55.1-1235) and by victims of family abuse, sexual abuse, stalking or trafficking (§ 55.1-1236), termination for noncompliance (§§ 55.1-1234, 55.1-1245), abandonment (§ 55.1-1249) and the death of a sole tenant under a written lease (§ 55.1-1256) each fix it in their own way. The tool asks for the date; it does not compute it. If you are not sure which date the tenancy terminated on, counting from the earliest date it could be gives a day 45 that is never later than the real one.

“Vacates”, not “delivery of possession”. The 45-day clock runs from the date the tenant vacates. “Delivery of possession” starts a different clock in the same section, the 72-hour move-out inspection (below), and it is not one of the two dates that start the 45 days.

The contractor extension: 15 more days for one itemization

The only extra time the section gives for itemizing is narrow. Where damage to the premises exceeds the deposit and needs a third-party contractor, a landlord who gives the tenant written notice of that within the 45 days gets an additional 15 days to provide an itemization of the damages and the cost of repair.

In the event that damages to the premises exceed the amount of the security deposit and require the services of a third-party contractor, the landlord shall give written notice to the tenant advising him of that fact within the 45-day period required by subsection A. If notice is given as prescribed in this subsection, the landlord shall have an additional 15-day period to provide an itemization of the damages and the cost of repair. Va. Code § 55.1-1226(E)

All three conditions are needed:

1. the damages to the premises exceed the amount of the security deposit;
2. they require the services of a third-party contractor; and
3. the written notice saying so is given to the tenant within the 45 days.

What is extended is “an itemization of the damages and the cost of repair”, nothing else. The written notice itself, and any amount due, are still due by day 45, and so is the applying of the deposit. That is why the extension is not a 60-day deadline: the additional days attach to one document, on three conditions, and the notice that earns them must already have been given inside the 45 days. The return letter guide has a sample notice that gives the contractor notice.

When the 15 days start. The text does not say. Our reading is that they follow day 45, which is how the tool counts them. For a tenancy that ended, with the tenant gone, on March 1, 2026, day 45 is April 15, 2026, and on that reading the itemization of the damages and the cost of repair is due by April 30, 2026. Another reading counts the 15 days from the day the contractor notice is given. A landlord who gives that notice before day 45 and provides the itemization within 15 days of it is inside both readings.

For one year the number was 30. A 2023 act changed this one number in the section and nothing else, and expired on its own terms: from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024 the additional period was 30 days, and it has been 15 again since July 1, 2024. A guide written in that year may still say 30.

If day 45 falls on a weekend or a legal holiday

Aim for day 45. Virginia’s general time statute may allow the next business day when the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, but whether it reaches a private notice like this one is an open question, and we found no decision applying it to a deposit notice.

When an act of the General Assembly or local governing body, order of the court, or administrative regulation or order requires, either by specification of a date or by a prescribed period of time, that an act be performed or an action be filed on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday or on any day or part of a day on which the state or local government office where the act to be performed or the action to be filed is closed, the act may be performed or the action may be filed on the next business day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or day on which the state or local government office is closed. Va. Code § 1-210(E)

This is our reading, and an open one. The words “a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday” are not tied to a government office on their face, so this subsection may reach a private notice like the deposit notice. But its cure is “the next business day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or day on which the state or local government office is closed”, which reads as if an office is always in the picture. We found no decision either way. So the tool shows day 45 as your deadline and mentions this subsection when day 45 falls on a Saturday or Sunday. Do not treat the extra day as safe; plan to give the notice by day 45.

Example. If the tenancy ended and the tenant vacated on July 1, 2026, day 45 is August 15, 2026, a Saturday. That is the date the tool shows, and the date to aim for.

Legal holidays. Subsection F of the same statute makes any day on which the Governor authorizes the closing of state government a legal holiday too. The tool does not compute holidays: it flags a Saturday or Sunday day 45 and still shows day 45. Subsections B and C, which also move deadlines, are limited to judicial proceedings and to the time for bringing a legal action.

If the tenant left no forwarding address

Virginia does not make the tenant give a forwarding address, and the 45 days do not wait for one. If none is given, the landlord must still make the disposition within the 45 days but may continue to hold the money in escrow.

The landlord shall make the security deposit disposition within the 45-day time period required by subsection A, but if no forwarding address is provided to the landlord, the landlord may continue to hold such security deposit in escrow. Va. Code § 55.1-1226(B)

So the written notice is still due by day 45. A notice to the tenant is served at the tenant’s last known place of residence, which may be the rental unit itself.

In the case of the tenant, notice is served at the tenant's last known place of residence, which may be the dwelling unit. Va. Code § 55.1-1202(B)

Only the handing over of the money may wait. The deposit section does not say what kind of account “escrow” means here. Once a year has passed from the end of the 45 days, a landlord still holding the money because the tenant gave no forwarding address may remit it to the State Treasurer as unclaimed property, on the administrator’s form.

If a tenant fails to provide a forwarding address to the landlord to enable the landlord to make a refund of the security deposit, upon the expiration of one year from the date of the end of the 45-day time period, the landlord may remit such sum to the State Treasurer as unclaimed property on a form prescribed by the administrator that includes the name; social security number, if known; and last known address of each tenant on the rental agreement. Va. Code § 55.1-1226(B)

For a tenancy that ended, with the tenant gone, on March 1, 2026, the notice is due by day 45, April 15, 2026, wherever the money is, and for a landlord holding a balance for want of an address the year runs to April 15, 2027. “May”, not “must”: the statute permits the remittance; it does not require it at that point. The form must include the name, the social security number if known, and the last known address of each tenant on the lease.

Virginia’s general unclaimed property law separately presumes property abandoned when it has gone unclaimed for more than five years after it became payable (§ 55.1-2501); we have not read how that law’s reporting rules apply to a deposit held under this subsection.

What a late or missing notice costs

The statute. The remedy in the deposit section needs a willful failure. If the landlord willfully fails to comply with the section, the court must order the whole deposit returned to the tenant, with actual damages and reasonable attorney fees. If the tenant owes rent, the statute directs an amount equal to the deposit credited against the rent due; it does not say whether actual damages and attorney fees are still awarded then.

If the landlord willfully fails to comply with this section, the court shall order the return of the security deposit to the tenant, together with actual damages and reasonable attorney fees, unless the tenant owes rent to the landlord, in which case the court shall order an amount equal to the security deposit credited against the rent due to the landlord. Va. Code § 55.1-1226(E)

The trigger is a willful failure to comply with “this section”, which reaches every duty in it (the cap, the notices during the tenancy, the records, the inspection notice), not only day 45. So a late notice is not by itself a forfeiture, and a willful failure costs the whole deposit and more. “Willfully” is not defined in the Act. Willfulness is the gate for this order, not for every claim (below).

No multiplier, and where “double” is not. The section has no multiplier: its order is for the deposit itself, all of it, or an amount equal to it credited against rent the tenant owes, never a multiple of it. The only “twice the amount of the security deposit” we found in Virginia law is in the Alexandria city charter: it lets that city pass a deposit ordinance, and the same charter section says a landlord found to have willfully failed to comply with such an ordinance is liable for twice the deposit. That is still a power, not a rule in force: we found no ordinance in Alexandria’s code that uses it, the Act says it supersedes local landlord-tenant ordinances, and whether the charter power survives the Act is a question for a lawyer. (Charter of the City of Alexandria § 2.04:1)

Damages and fees without a willful failure, possibly. Separately, another section of the Act, on a tenant ending the lease for the landlord’s noncompliance, also lets a tenant recover damages for a landlord’s noncompliance with the rental agreement or the Act, and reasonable attorney fees unless the landlord proves its actions were reasonable under the circumstances; that text has no willfulness requirement.

In addition, the tenant may recover damages and obtain injunctive relief for noncompliance by the landlord with the provisions of the rental agreement or of this chapter. The tenant shall be entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees unless the landlord proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the landlord's actions were reasonable under the circumstances. Va. Code § 55.1-1234

These two sentences sit in the section on a tenant ending the lease for the landlord’s noncompliance, but their words reach noncompliance “with the provisions of the rental agreement or of this chapter”, and the landlord, not the tenant, carries the burden on attorney fees. So, on our reading, a late or incomplete deposit notice that was not willful may still be claimed as noncompliance under this section, with damages and attorney fees. Against that reading, the section opens “Except as provided in this chapter”, and the deposit section provides its own remedy. We found no decision on whether it applies to a deposit violation.

Other damages, either way. The section’s remedy does not stop the landlord or the tenant from recovering other damages the Act entitles them to.

This section shall not preclude the landlord or tenant from recovering other damages to which he may be entitled under this chapter. Va. Code § 55.1-1226(E)

For a landlord, that covers a claim for damage beyond the deposit, or for rent (for example under § 55.1-1251). The section says it does not preclude other damages the Act allows, so on our reading such a claim survives even where the deposit must be returned; one Roanoke City circuit court judge read it that way in 2015 (Reed v. Smith), and we found no appellate decision on it. For a tenant, it keeps the Act’s other remedies open, including a general one: anyone adversely affected by an act or omission the Act prohibits may sue the person responsible in circuit court for an injunction and damages (Va. Code § 55.1-1259(A)). That subsection does not mention attorney fees and does not require willfulness.

The one opinion we found. The only published opinion we found that applies “willfully” to a deposit is one Roanoke City circuit court judge’s, in 2015.

The Court overrules Tenant’s Motion To Strike for two reasons: (1) under the facts in this case, Landlord’s noncompliance with the VRLTA was not willful; and (2) willfulness notwithstanding, noncompliance with this provision neither relieves a tenant of the obligation to pay rent owed, nor precludes a landlord or tenant from recovering other damages to which they may be entitled under the VRLTA or the lease agreement. Reed v. Smith, 90 Va. Cir. 220 (Roanoke City Cir. Ct. 2015)

This is a trial court: the Circuit Court of the City of Roanoke, hearing an appeal from the general district court anew. A circuit court opinion binds no other court. It applied the predecessor section, whose remedy sentence was in substance the same. The facts: the tenant left about a month early, telling the landlord by text, and did not give a forwarding address when asked; the landlord gave no disposition notice and no itemization and sued within days of the tenant leaving. The judge called that “probably negligent” but not willful “under these facts”, and held that even a willful failure would not have stopped the landlord recovering the costs the lease entitled the landlord to; the opinion does not define willfulness. On the rent offset, the judge said only that he “would” be obliged to apply the $750 deposit to the $750 of unpaid rent; the award lists the full rent and shows no credit for the deposit, and the opinion does not say what became of it. It decides nothing about what willful means in any other case.

Give the notice, with any amount due, by day 45. Whether a late one was willful turns on a word the Act does not define, and one trial judge’s opinion on its own facts is the only guidance we found; and, on our reading, a late notice that was not willful may still be claimed under Va. Code § 55.1-1234, where we found no decision either way.

Three other clocks in the same section

Deductions during the tenancy: 30 days

A landlord who makes a deduction from the deposit during the tenancy must tell the tenant in writing within 30 days of deciding on it, with the reasons itemized in the same manner as the records subsection. No notice is required for a deduction made less than 30 days before the rental agreement ends. A willful failure to give these notices is a failure to comply with the deposit section, which carries the remedy described above. (Va. Code § 55.1-1226(E))

A utility balance withheld: 10 days after it is paid

With prior written notice advising the tenant of the tenant’s rights and obligations under the section, given in one of the three ways it sets out, a landlord may withhold a reasonable portion of the deposit to cover the balance on a water, sewer or other utility account the tenant owes a third-party provider under the lease. Once it is paid, the landlord must give the tenant written confirmation, with any balance due, within 10 days; if the tenant’s written confirmation of payment comes after day 45, any remaining balance is due within 10 days of receiving it. “Reasonable portion” is not defined, and we do not put a number on it. The rule covers only an account owed to a third-party provider. (Va. Code § 55.1-1226(C))

The move-out inspection: 72 hours from delivery of possession

When the landlord asks the tenant to vacate, or within five days after receiving the tenant’s notice of intent to vacate, the landlord must tell the tenant in writing of the right to be present at the move-out inspection. If the tenant asks in writing to attend, the inspection must be made within 72 hours of delivery of possession, which is a different event from the two dates that start the 45 days. The sentence does not say whether the 72 hours also bind an inspection the tenant did not ask to attend. Inspecting within 72 hours either way meets it on either reading; that is a precaution we suggest, not a rule we found. (Va. Code § 55.1-1226(G)) The deductions guide covers the inspection, the move-in report and what each one is for.

Work out your own dates

The free Virginia deposit tool takes both of your dates, shows day 45, adds the contractor date (labelled as our reading) only where all three conditions are met and the one-year date only where there is no forwarding address, and generates a statute-cited written notice, all in your browser with nothing stored.

Virginia security deposit deadline: common questions

When does the 45-day clock start for a Virginia security deposit?

On the later of two dates: the termination date of the tenancy and the date the tenant vacates the dwelling unit. The statute says "whichever occurs last", so a tenant who moves out three weeks before the lease ends has not started the clock by leaving (unless the tenancy itself ended that day, as it does where landlord and tenant agree in writing to end it early), and a tenant who stays past the end date does not start it on the end date. The termination date is not always the lease-end date: the rules for periodic tenancies, early termination, termination for noncompliance, abandonment and the death of a sole tenant each fix it in their own way. Day 1 is the day after the later date. "Delivery of possession" starts a different clock, the 72-hour move-out inspection, not the 45 days. (Va. Code § 55.1-1226(A), (G); § 1-210(A))

Is the deadline for a Virginia security deposit 45 days or 60 days?

Forty-five. The only extra time the section gives for itemizing is narrow: where the damages to the premises exceed the deposit and require the services of a third-party contractor, a landlord who gives the tenant written notice of that within the 45 days gets an additional 15 days to provide an itemization of the damages and the cost of repair. All three conditions are needed, and only that itemization is extended: the written notice, and any amount due, are still due by day 45, so the extension never makes a 60-day deadline for the notice or the money. The statute does not say when the additional 15 days start; our reading is that they follow day 45. From July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024 the additional period was 30 days, under a 2023 act that expired on its own terms, so a guide written in that year may still say 30. (Va. Code § 55.1-1226(E))

Does a Virginia landlord lose the deposit for missing day 45?

A late notice is not by itself a forfeiture, but a willful failure costs the whole deposit and more. If the landlord willfully fails to comply with any part of the deposit section (the cap, the notices during the tenancy, the records, the inspection notice, as well as day 45), the court must order the whole deposit returned to the tenant, with actual damages and reasonable attorney fees. If the tenant owes rent, the statute directs an amount equal to the deposit credited against the rent due; it does not say whether actual damages and attorney fees are still awarded then. "Willfully" is not defined. The only published opinion we found that applies it to a deposit is one Roanoke City circuit court judge’s, in 2015 (Reed v. Smith): on its facts, a landlord who gave no notice or itemization after the tenant would not give a forwarding address, and who sued within days of the tenant leaving, was found at most negligent, not willful. A circuit court opinion binds no other court. Willfulness is the gate for the whole-deposit order, not for every claim. Separately, another section of the Act, on a tenant ending the lease for the landlord’s noncompliance, also lets a tenant recover damages for a landlord’s noncompliance with the rental agreement or the Act, and reasonable attorney fees unless the landlord proves its actions were reasonable under the circumstances; that text has no willfulness requirement. We found no decision on whether it applies to a deposit violation. The deposit section also does not stop either side from recovering other damages the Act allows. (Va. Code §§ 55.1-1226(E), 55.1-1234)

Does the 45-day clock wait for the tenant’s forwarding address in Virginia?

Give the notice anyway; only the money may wait. Virginia does not make the tenant give a forwarding address, and the 45 days do not wait for one: the written notice is still due by day 45, served at the tenant’s last known place of residence, which may be the rental unit itself. Without a forwarding address the landlord may continue to hold the deposit in escrow, and once a year has passed from the end of the 45 days the landlord may remit it to the State Treasurer as unclaimed property, on the administrator’s form, which includes each tenant’s name, social security number if known, and last known address. "May", not "must": the statute permits the remittance; it does not require it. (Va. Code §§ 55.1-1226(B), 55.1-1202(B))

Is a Virginia tenant entitled to double the deposit for a late return?

Not under the deposit section, which has no multiplier. Its remedy, for a willful failure to comply, is the return of the whole deposit with actual damages and reasonable attorney fees. If the tenant owes rent, the statute directs an amount equal to the deposit credited against the rent due; it does not say whether actual damages and attorney fees are still awarded then. The only "twice the amount of the security deposit" we found in Virginia law is in the Alexandria city charter: it lets the city pass a deposit ordinance, and the same charter section says a landlord found to have willfully failed to comply with such an ordinance is liable for twice the deposit. That is still a power, not a rule in force: we found no Alexandria ordinance that uses it, the Act says it supersedes local landlord-tenant ordinances, and whether the power survives the Act is a lawyer’s question. Separately, another section of the Act, on a tenant ending the lease for the landlord’s noncompliance, also lets a tenant recover damages for a landlord’s noncompliance with the rental agreement or the Act, and reasonable attorney fees unless the landlord proves its actions were reasonable under the circumstances; that text has no willfulness requirement, and no multiplier either. We found no decision on whether it applies to a deposit violation. And anyone adversely affected by an act or omission the Act prohibits may sue in circuit court for an injunction and damages. (Va. Code §§ 55.1-1226(E), 55.1-1234, 55.1-1259(A); Charter of the City of Alexandria § 2.04:1)

Sources

• Va. Code § 55.1-1226: the 45-day notice and its trigger (A), no forwarding address (B), applying the deposit (C), the contractor extension and the remedy (E), the move-out inspection (G)
• Va. Code § 1-210: how time is counted (A), and the open weekend question (E), (F)
• Va. Code § 55.1-1202(B): where a notice to the tenant is served
• Va. Code § 55.1-1234: a tenant’s damages and attorney fees for a landlord’s noncompliance, with no willfulness requirement in the text
• Va. Code § 55.1-1259(A): the Act’s general action for an injunction and damages
• Va. Code § 55.1-2501: the general unclaimed property presumption
• 2023 Va. Acts chs. 433, 434 (expired June 30, 2024): the one-year 30-day contractor period
• Reed v. Smith, 90 Va. Cir. 220 (Roanoke City Cir. Ct. 2015): one trial judge’s reading of “willfully”
• Charter of the City of Alexandria § 2.04:1: a power to pass an ordinance, not a rule in force
• The Virginia security deposit tool and full cited rules
• The same rules as machine-readable JSON

About this page

Every passage quoted above comes from the same rules the Virginia tool runs on, each read against its own source rather than against a summary: the Code of Virginia as published by the Virginia General Assembly, and the opinion of the Circuit Court of the City of Roanoke. Every date is computed by the tool’s own engine. Where a sentence gives our reading rather than the text, it says so. How we verify the law explains the process. This is general information that cites the law, not legal advice, and Orygn LLC is not a law firm. For advice about your situation, talk to a licensed Virginia attorney.