How long does a tenent have to collect their security deposit after terminating their lease?

I had a tenant move out in August 2007. She did not leave a forwarding address and did not return phone calls concerning her security deposit. At the time I was willing to repay her in full despite her moving out a week late. I have not heard from her since, but this week her boyfriend emailed me demanding the deposit back. It is February 2008 and I have since released the apartment. Do I have to repay her?

a security deposit is strictly for damage, did they damage the place?

i would find damage in the amount of the s.d. or you will get a letter from an attorney soon

if they terminated a lease and the lease says they have to live there a certain period of time and didn't then you don't have to give their deposit back. they have a obide by the rules in the lease. if they moved out after the lease was up then you should give them the deposit back.

A security deposit can also be used to cover back dated rent. So if the tenant terminated their lease early or stayed past the end date on their lease you can use a portion of the money to cover this. Otherwise I don't think there is any time limit to collecting security deposits unless it is stated differently in your lease agreement.

You've got this situation reversed. Int he eyes of the law it is not the tenants responsibility to collect the return of the security deposit. It is the landlord's responsibility to return it. It may seem like semantics but the burden is on you as the landlord since it was you that collected it.

There are very strict laws in most stated governing the return of the security deposit. In many states tenants can sue for 2 or 3 times the amount of the security deposit if the landlord did not return it within the specified timeframe (this time varies from state to state but is usually 30-60 days).

Hopefully when they moved out you attempted to reach them to return the security deposit and have this documented. As soon as tenant's move, I always make sure to let the postman know that the people moved so their mail no longer comes to the property.

In the past I have had tenant's move out and not leave me a forwarding address. If I have no forwarding address I send a letter to them at the last known address (my rental property) and when it comes back as "Addressee Unknown" or "Moved" I have proof that I tried and couldn't get a hold of them because there was no forwarding address listed. I file this away in case they ever try to sue me for not returning the security deposit.

If you don;t have proof of trying to get a hold of them, you may be better off paying them if there is any money left from their security deposit.

Good Luck!