West Virginia security deposit law

No section of West Virginia's security deposit article or its landlord and tenant article caps the amount of a security deposit.

W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6 W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6A

• A security deposit is any refundable deposit a tenant gives to secure performance of the rental agreement or against damage to the home. It does not include rent or prepaid rent. W. Va. Code 37-6A-1(14)
• A pet fee or an application fee falls outside the security deposit definition only if you and the tenant expressly agree in writing that it is nonrefundable. W. Va. Code 37-6A-1(14)
• If the tenant has an assignee or subtenant, you may hold a security deposit from only one of them. W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(f) See Deposit return on the West Virginia page

When the tenancy ends, deliver the deposit, minus any deductions, with a written itemization of the damages and other charges within the notice period: 60 days after the tenancy ends, or 45 days after a new tenant occupies the home, whichever is shorter.

W. Va. Code 37-6A-1(7) W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(a)

• You may apply the deposit only to rent due (including the reasonable late charges the rental agreement specifies), damage from the tenant's noncompliance less reasonable wear and tear, utilities billed to and paid by you that the tenant owed under the agreement, reasonable costs of removing and storing the tenant's belongings, and other damages or charges the rental agreement provides, such as a third-party contractor's repairs of damage the tenant caused. W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(b)
• If the damage exceeds the deposit and needs a third-party contractor, tell the tenant so in writing within the notice period; you then have 15 more days to provide the itemization and the cost of repair. W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(c)
• The tenant is not entitled, when the tenancy ends, to an immediate credit of the deposit against delinquent rent. W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(d)
• Deliver the deposit and any notice in person, or by mail to the tenant's last known address or the forwarding address the tenant gave. If mail comes back undeliverable and personal delivery is not reasonably possible, hold it for six months and hand it over at your place of business within 72 hours after a written request. W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(g)
• Whoever holds the landlord's interest when the tenancy ends must return any deposit owed, even if the original landlord never transferred it. W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(e)
• Keep itemized records of deposit deductions for one year after the tenancy ends, and within 72 hours of a written request let the tenant inspect them or give a copy during normal business hours. W. Va. Code 37-6A-3
• If you fail to comply willfully or not in good faith, the tenant may get a judgment for the unreturned deposit plus damages of one and a half times the amount wrongfully withheld; if the tenant owes you rent, the court credits the award against it. W. Va. Code 37-6A-5(a)
• A lease term waiving the tenant's deposit rights is unenforceable, and if you sue to enforce one, the tenant may recover actual damages and reasonable attorney's fees. W. Va. Code 37-6A-4

Neither the security deposit article nor the landlord and tenant article requires you to keep a deposit in a separate account or to pay interest on it.

W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6 W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6A

Neither article requires a move-in inspection or condition checklist. Deductions cannot cover reasonable wear and tear, so a dated record of the home's condition at move-in helps you support a deduction.

W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6A W. Va. Code 37-6A-2(b)(2)