- Connecticut landlords must return your deposit with interest, or a written list of damages, within 21 days after you move out.
- Give your landlord your forwarding address in writing, or the deadline may run from when they receive it.
- Clean inside every cabinet, drawer and appliance, because that is where landlords look first.
- Photograph every room when you finish, with the date showing.
How Connecticut's deposit rules work
Since October 1, 2023, under Public Act 23-207, Connecticut landlords have 21 days after a tenant moves out to return the security deposit with interest, or to send a written, itemized list of damages they are deducting. Before that change the deadline was 30 days. If you give your forwarding address later, the landlord has 15 days from receiving it.
A landlord can deduct for damage beyond normal wear and tear and for unpaid rent, but not for the ordinary aging of paint, carpet and fixtures. Cleaning is where most disputes start, because a dirty unit is easy to claim and hard to disprove without photos. A thorough clean and a dated photo record take most of the argument away. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
Kitchen
- Inside and outside every cabinet and drawer, including shelf liners.
- Inside the oven, the racks and the broiler drawer.
- Stovetop, burner grates or drip pans, and the knobs.
- Range hood and filter.
- Inside the refrigerator and freezer, with shelves and drawers removed and washed.
- Dishwasher interior, filter and door seal, and the microwave inside and out.
- Sink, faucet, backsplash and counters, degreased.
- Floor, including under and behind the stove and refrigerator if you can move them safely.
Bathrooms
- Toilet inside and out, including the base and behind it.
- Tub and shower, tile and grout, glass doors and tracks.
- Sink, faucet and vanity, inside and out.
- Mirror and medicine cabinet.
- Exhaust fan cover dusted.
- Floor and baseboards.
Bedrooms, living areas and the rest
- Closets empty, with shelves and rods wiped.
- Baseboards, door frames and doors, including the handles.
- Light switches, outlet covers and light fixtures.
- Windowsills, tracks and the inside of the windows.
- Blinds dusted or wiped.
- Walls spot-cleaned for marks and scuffs, without scrubbing flat paint hard.
- Floors vacuumed and mopped; carpets vacuumed, and cleaned if your lease requires it.
- Radiators or baseboard heaters dusted.
Older apartments with radiators, wood trim and plaster walls collect dust in places newer units do not have, so allow extra time for them.
Before you hand back the keys
- Remove every personal item, including from the basement, storage unit and any outdoor space in your lease.
- Take out all trash and recycling the way your building requires.
- Photograph or video every room, inside open cabinets and appliances, with the date showing.
- Return every key, garage remote and fob, and get a receipt or an email confirming it.
- Give your forwarding address to the landlord in writing.
When it makes sense to hire a move-out clean
A full move-out clean takes most people a long day, more for a large or older unit, and it lands at the same time as the move itself. National data puts a professional move-out clean at about $150 to $500 for a typical home, depending on size and condition. If your deposit is worth more than that to you, or you are moving out of state on a tight schedule, handing it off can make sense. We clean inside every cabinet and appliance and photograph each room when we finish.
When to call us. If the move itself is taking every hour you have, our move-out clean covers every item on this list, inside every cabinet and appliance, with dated photos of each room when we finish.
Sources
- CTLawHelp: Security deposit laws
- Connecticut General Statutes, Chapter 831: Security deposits
- HomeGuide: Move-out cleaning cost
About the author. Viola Nash is the Cleaning and Disinfection Guides Editor at IMD Disinfecting Services. Every guide is checked against current CDC, EPA and Connecticut public health guidance and against the way our crews do the work, and updated when that guidance changes.
