What to do when your landlord won't return your deposit?

Within 10 days after you give up possession, your landlord must return the full deposit, or return the balance with a statement of account showing each deduction. If an amount cannot be worked out yet, the landlord can send an estimated statement within the 10 days and then the final balance and statement within 30 days. Deductions must follow conditions you agreed to in the lease, and damage can be deducted only if both move-in and move-out inspection reports were done. Interest for 2026 is 0%.

If the money does not come back, apply to the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service (RTDRS) or court within two years. The RTDRS fee is $75 for claims of $7,500 or less and $150 above that, and fee waivers are available. Separately, not returning a deposit on time, or deducting for damage without inspection reports, is an offence with a fine of up to $5,000; that process starts with a written complaint to Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction within three years.

Your landlord has 15 days to act, counted from the later of the day the tenancy ends and the day it receives your forwarding address in writing. By then it must return the security deposit and any pet damage deposit with interest (0% for 2026), or apply to the Residential Tenancy Branch to keep some of it. Without an RTB order, the landlord can keep money only if you agree in writing at the end of the tenancy. Landlords cannot decide to keep a deposit on their own.

If the landlord does neither within the 15 days, it loses the right to claim against the deposit and must pay you double the deposit (interest is not doubled). You can file a direct request, decided without a hearing, 20 days after the tenancy ended and you gave your forwarding address. The filing fee is $100, with waivers for low income, and the general deadline is two years after the tenancy ends. Take part in the inspections: a tenant who skips both inspection times the landlord offered loses the right to get the deposit back.

If your landlord is not claiming anything, the deposit and interest (0.5% a year) must come back within 14 days after the tenancy ends. A landlord who wants to keep some has 28 days to send written notice of the amount to your last known address, and must return the part it is not claiming. Unless you agree in writing, either of you can ask the Residential Tenancies Branch to decide.

If you apply first, the landlord must file its own claim within 14 days of the Branch's notice or 28 days after the tenancy ended, whichever is later, or return the deposit. The Branch's deposit service is free; a $50 fee applies only when a claim goes above the deposit amount. It tries mediation first and then makes a decision, and if the landlord does not pay an order, you can apply to the province's security deposit compensation fund.

Within seven business days after the landlord knew, or should have known, that you moved out, it must return the deposit with any interest, or return the part it is not claiming and serve you a notice of claim through the Office of Residential Tenancies (ORT) online portal. The claimed amount then stays in trust for 30 days. Interest is payable only on tenancies longer than five years, and a lease clause that lets the landlord keep the deposit automatically is not allowed.

To get your money, apply to the ORT within 60 days after the tenancy ends, whether the landlord missed its deadline or you disagree with its claim. The fee is $50. Once notified, the landlord has 10 business days to file the deposit with the ORT, or the director may order it paid to you. A landlord's claim is heard only if you dispute it, so do not let the 60 days pass.

Ontario landlords cannot take a general security deposit. The only deposits allowed are a rent deposit of up to one month's rent, which must be applied to your last month (or last rent period), and a refundable key deposit of no more than the expected cost of replacing the keys, which must be returned when you hand the keys back. The landlord cannot hold the rent deposit for cleaning or repairs. Interest on the rent deposit is owed every year at the rent increase guideline (2.1% for interest due in 2026); the landlord can use it to top up the deposit after a rent increase, and if it is not paid, you can deduct it from a later rent payment.

If the landlord keeps a key deposit after you return the keys, or you paid a pet deposit or any other deposit the law does not allow, you can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board within one year to get the money back. Collecting or keeping money illegally is also an offence, enforced by the province's Rental Housing Enforcement Unit.

In New Brunswick your landlord does not hold the deposit. It must be sent to the province's Tenant and Landlord Relations Office (TLRO) within 15 days, and the TLRO mails both of you a Certificate of Deposit. When you move out, apply to the TLRO for the refund (online is fastest); each tenant named on the certificate applies separately for their share. The balance is paid within 7 days of your written request. No interest is paid to the tenant.

A landlord who wants to keep any of it must file a Security Deposit Claim with the TLRO within 7 days after the tenancy ends (a little longer if it ended by a notice to quit or notice to vacate). You are told about the claim and can dispute it, and a residential tenancies officer investigates and decides. If you and the landlord agree on a split, a Security Deposit Refund Agreement form is the quickest route.

Your landlord must return the deposit with any interest within 10 days after the lease ends (the rate is 0% on deposits paid since January 1, 2013). To keep any part, the landlord needs your written consent or must file a Form R Security Deposit Claim with the Director of Residential Tenancies within those 10 days and send you a copy. A landlord who does neither loses the right to keep it.

To get it back, file Form S (Application to Director to Return Security Deposit) or Form J within one year after the lease ends. The fee is $31.15, with waivers for people on income assistance or the Guaranteed Income Supplement and for hardship. If the landlord cannot show your consent or a timely Form R within 10 days of being served, the Director can order the deposit returned with interest and your application fee, without a hearing.

Within 15 days after the tenancy ends, the landlord must return the deposit with interest (2.75% for 2026) or file a Form 2B application with the Rental Office to claim against it. Without that application, the landlord can keep money only with your written agreement at the end of the tenancy or for an earlier Director's order you have not paid. If you give no forwarding address within six months, the landlord may keep the deposit.

To get it back, file Form 2A with the Rental Office within six months after the tenancy ends, choosing the option to request the return of the security deposit. The landlord has to prove any reason for keeping money, and when it has neither returned the deposit nor applied, the Director can decide without a hearing. A landlord who does not follow the rules loses the right to claim against the deposit and can be required to pay you double.

Your landlord must return the deposit with interest (0% for 2026) within 10 days after you move out, unless it has a claim. To keep any part, the landlord needs your written agreement or a decision from the director of Residential Tenancies.

If the money does not come back, file an Application for Dispute Resolution with the Residential Tenancies Office within one year after the rental agreement ends. There is no fee if you are only asking for the deposit ($20 otherwise). Once you serve the application, the landlord has 10 days to file its own claim, or it loses the claim against the deposit and the director can order it returned, possibly without a hearing.