California’s Security Deposit Cap: One Month, With Narrow Exceptions

The era of first, last, and double deposit is over. California capped security deposits at one month’s rent — and overcharges are recoverable the day they are collected.

What California Law Says

Under AB 12, Civil Code section 1950.5 limits security deposits to one month’s rent for furnished or unfurnished units alike, with a narrow exception allowing two months for small landlords owning no more than two properties with four or fewer units total. Everything refundable collected at move-in is deposit, whatever the lease calls it.

How to Protect Yourself, Step by Step

1. Total everything paid at move-in beyond the first month’s rent — pet deposits, key fees, last month’s rent all count toward the cap.
2. Verify any claimed small-landlord exception; the ownership facts are checkable.
3. Demand refund of amounts over the cap in writing.
4. Keep the money trail: receipts, transfers, the lease’s own labels.
5. Recover overcharges in small claims if refused — the statute, not the lease, controls.

Common Questions

My lease calls it a nonrefundable move-in fee. Does that dodge the cap?

No — California prohibits nonrefundable deposits outright, and refundable amounts by any name count against the one-month limit.

I paid a pet deposit on top of one month. Legal?

Only if the combined total stays within the cap — pet deposits are not a separate bucket.