| Quick Facts | Answer |
| Maximum / Limit | 1 or 2 Months’ Rent |
| Receipt Requirement | Cash Payments Only |
| Inventory Requirement | None |
| Interest Requirement | Yes |
To learn about laws on security deposit returns in Connecticut, click here.
Some cities and counties may have regulations which are more restrictive than those presented here. Always check local laws.
Maximum Security Deposit Allowed in Connecticut
Connecticut law limits the maximum security deposit to two months’ rent by default. The maximum security deposit is one month’s rent if the tenant is 62 years old or older.
If a tenant turns 62 years old during a lease term, the landlord must return a portion of the security deposit so it does not exceed one month’s rent if requested by the tenant.
Exception: Landlords can collect an additional deposit for a key or special equipment that exceeds these limits.
Can Landlords Charge an Additional Pet Deposit in Connecticut?
In Connecticut, landlords can charge a pet deposit, except for service dogs and emotional support animals. However, the total security deposit, including any amount collected for a pet, cannot exceed two months’ rent (or one month for tenants 62 or over). Landlords cannot exceed the limit by labeling deposits under another name like “pet deposit” or “damage deposit.”
This law does not prevent landlords from adding a monthly pet premium, sometimes also called pet rent.
How Much Rent Can a Landlord Collect Upfront in Connecticut?
Landlords in Connecticut can collect the first month’s rent in advance. However, landlords can only collect two additional months’ rent in advance, whether called a “security deposit” or “last month’s rent,” unless the tenant is 62 or older.
“Last month’s rent” is considered a security deposit by the law and must be treated according to the same rules.
Security Deposit Collections in Connecticut
When collecting a security deposit, landlords in Connecticut must provide a written disclosure to the tenant including the amount of the deposit and the name and address of the depository where the security deposit will be held in escrow.
Do Landlords Have To Provide a Receipt for the Security Deposit in Connecticut?
Landlords in Connecticut are required to provide a receipt for security deposits paid in cash. The receipt must state:
- The date and amount received
- The purpose of the payment
What Obligations Do Landlords Have To Establish the Condition at Move-in in Connecticut?
Connecticut law does not require landlords to document or establish the property’s condition at move-in. While other states legally require a written inventory of damages to be completed when collecting a security deposit, Connecticut does not.
Security Deposit Holdings in Connecticut
Landlords in Connecticut must promptly deposit and hold security deposits in an escrow account in a financial institution within the state. Security deposits cannot be commingled with a landlord’s own funds.
Landlords must provide tenants with written notice within 30 days after receipt of the security deposit (or transfer to a different account) including:
- The amount held for the tenant
- The name and address of the financial institution
The landlord is not allowed to withdraw funds from the escrow account except to:
- Return the security deposit (or part of it) to the tenant
- Give the tenant interest
- Transfer the security deposit to a new owner
- Take interest not owed to a tenant
- Pay for costs chargeable to the security deposit
- Transfer the security deposit into a different escrow account
Are Tenants Entitled to Interest on Their Security Deposit in Connecticut?
Landlords in Connecticut do owe interest on security deposits, except for dorms and mobile homes. The minimum interest rate is 0.55% for 2024. However, tenants are not entitled to interest for any month in which they paid rent more than 10 days late unless the landlord charges a late rent fee.
In Connecticut, last month’s rent collected in advance is considered a security deposit and thus, tenants are entitled to interest.
On every anniversary date of a lease term, landlords must either pay accrued interest directly or credit the tenant’s next rent payment (whichever option the landlord prefers). If landlords return all or a portion of the security deposit during a tenancy, they must also return the accrued interest within 30 days.
How Are Security Deposits Accounted for in Connecticut?
Security deposits are not considered taxable income when they are collected.
What Happens to a Security Deposit When the Property is Sold in Connecticut?
When a property is sold in Connecticut, the seller must transfer the security deposit with interest to the new owner, who must handle it according to the same rules.
The new owner must send written notice to the tenant within 30 days of receiving the security deposit including:
- The amount held for the tenant
- The name and address of the financial institution
Sources
- 1 Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21(b)
-
(1) In the case of a tenant under sixty-two years of age, a landlord shall not demand a security deposit in an amount that exceeds two months’ rent.
(2) In the case of a tenant sixty-two years of age or older, a landlord shall not demand a security deposit in an amount that exceeds one month’s rent. Any landlord who has received a security deposit in an amount that exceeds one month’s rent from a tenant who becomes sixty-two years of age after paying such security deposit shall return the portion of such security deposit that exceeds one month’s rent to the tenant upon the tenant’s request.
Source Link - 2 Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21(a)(11)
-
“Security deposit” means any advance rental payment, or any installment payment collected pursuant to section 47a-22a, except an advance payment for the first month’s rent or a deposit for a key or any special equipment.
Source Link
- 3 Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21(h)(4)(A)
-
The landlord shall provide each tenant with a written notice stating the amount held for the benefit of the tenant and the name and address of the financial institution at which the tenant’s security deposit is being held not later than thirty days after the landlord receives a security deposit from the tenant or the tenant’s previous landlord or transfers the security deposit to another financial institution or escrow account.
Source Link
- 4 Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-3a(c)
-
Upon receipt of a payment in cash from or on behalf of an occupant, a landlord shall provide the person making the payment with a receipt stating the date of the payment, the amount received and the purpose for which the payment was made.
Source Link
- 5 Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21(i)
-
On and after July 1, 1993, each landlord other than a landlord of a residential unit in any building owned or controlled by any educational institution and used by such institution for the purpose of housing students of such institution and their families, and each landlord or owner of a mobile manufactured home or of a mobile manufactured home space or lot or park, as such terms are defined in subdivisions (1), (2) and (3) of section 21-64, shall pay interest on each security deposit received by such landlord at a rate of not less than the average rate paid, as of December 30, 1992, on savings deposits by insured commercial banks as published in the Federal Reserve Board Bulletin rounded to the nearest one-tenth of one percentage point, except in no event shall the rate be less than one and one-half per cent. On and after January 1, 1994, the rate for each calendar year shall be not less than the deposit index, determined under this section as it was in effect during such year. On and after January 1, 2012, the rate for each calendar year shall be not less than the deposit index, as defined in section 36a-26, for that year. On the anniversary date of the tenancy and annually thereafter, such interest shall be paid to the tenant or resident or credited toward the next rental payment due from the tenant or resident, as the landlord or owner shall determine. If the tenancy is terminated before the anniversary date of such tenancy, or if the landlord or owner returns all or part of a security deposit prior to termination of the tenancy, the landlord or owner shall pay the accrued interest to the tenant or resident not later than twenty-one days after such termination or return. Interest shall not be paid to a tenant for any month in which the tenant has been delinquent for more than ten days in the payment of any monthly rent, unless the landlord imposes a late charge for such delinquency. No landlord shall increase the rent due from a tenant because of the requirement that the landlord pay on interest the security deposit.
Source Link - 6 Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21(h)(3)(A)
-
Whenever any real estate is voluntarily or involuntarily transferred from a landlord, other than a receiver, to a successor, including a receiver, such landlord shall withdraw from the escrow account and deliver to the successor the entire amount of security deposits paid by tenants of the property being transferred, plus any interest accrued pursuant to subsection (i) of this section. If at the time of transfer of such real estate the funds in such account are commingled with security deposits paid by tenants in real estate not being transferred to such successor, and if at such time the funds in such account are less than the amount of security deposits paid by all tenants whose security deposits are contained in such account, such landlord shall deliver to such successor a pro rata share of security deposits paid by tenants of the real estate being transferred to such successor.
Source Link
