Idaho security deposit law

Idaho sets no maximum security deposit. Any amount a tenant deposits with you for a purpose other than paying rent counts as a security deposit, whatever the lease calls it.

Idaho Code § 6-321(1)

• Because the definition turns on purpose, money deposited for pets, cleaning or keys is a security deposit under the statute. Whether a charge labelled nonrefundable escapes that definition is not settled by the text. Idaho Code § 6-321(1)
• Cities and counties may not enact or enforce rules that regulate the deposits charged for private residential rentals. Idaho Code § 55-306 See Rent control and local rules on the Idaho page

Refund the deposit within 21 days after the tenant surrenders the home, unless the lease fixes another time, and in every case within 30 days after surrender. You may keep only amounts needed for the contingencies the deposit arrangement specifies, and never any part for normal wear and tear.

Idaho Code § 6-321(1) Idaho Code § 6-321(2)

• A partial refund must come with a signed statement itemizing the amounts kept, the purpose of each, and a detailed list of expenditures made from the deposit. Idaho Code § 6-321(2)
• Normal wear and tear is deterioration from the intended use of the unit without negligence, carelessness, accident, misuse or abuse by the tenant, household members, invitees or guests. Idaho Code § 6-321(1)
• If the property changes owners during the tenancy, the new owner is liable for refunding the deposits. Idaho Code § 6-321(3)
• Failing to return a deposit as the law requires is a ground for a tenant's lawsuit, after the tenant gives you 3 days' written notice demanding it. Damages in that suit may be tripled. Idaho Code § 6-320(a)(4) Idaho Code § 6-320(d) Idaho Code § 6-317 See Tenant repair remedies on the Idaho page
• The clock runs from surrender of the premises. The statute does not tie it to a forwarding address. Idaho Code § 6-321(2)
• Idaho counts a period by excluding the first day and including the last, unless the last day is a holiday (every Sunday is one), in which case it is excluded too. Idaho Code § 73-109 Idaho Code § 73-108

Idaho does not require you to pay interest on a deposit or to hold it in any particular account yourself. A deposit for a home managed by a landlord's third-party manager must be kept in a separate account at a federally insured financial institution, apart from the manager's operating account.

Idaho Code § 6-321(4)

• The separate-account rule does not apply to a property owner, to managers who share members or principals with the owner entity, to a real estate licensee, or to a nonprofit organized under Idaho Code title 30, chapter 30. Idaho Code § 6-321(4)

No Idaho statute requires a move-in checklist, inspection report or photographs. The one move-in duty in the landlord-tenant chapters is to verify, when the rental agreement begins, that smoke detectors are installed and working.

Idaho Code title 6, ch. 3 Idaho Code § 6-320(a)(6)

• Deductions from the deposit still cannot cover normal wear and tear, so a record of the starting condition helps you show what changed. Idaho Code § 6-321(1) See Returning the deposit on the Idaho page