Security Deposit Refund Notice

What this document contains

6 clauses every security deposit refund notice carries, plus 4 you can add.

1. 01

   Who the notice is from and to

   The head of the notice: the place and date it bears, who it issues from, and everyone it is addressed to. Recipients are entered here rather than through the party picker — a notice is served on its recipients, not agreed with them, and the Sender is its only signatory.

2. 02

   Subject

   The one line a recipient reads first, and the line the notice is later found by in a file. Written by the Sender rather than composed from the facts — those live on other clauses, and a clause cannot read another clause's data.

3. 03

   The tenancy

   What was let, on what terms, and for how long. Establishes the relationship the deposit was paid under.

4. 04

   The deposit

   What was paid, when, how, and what the Sender accepts may fairly be kept back. The admitted deductions are the Sender's own concession — nothing computes them, nothing checks them against the total, and nothing requires them.

5. 05

   Vacating the premises

   When the Sender moved out and what was handed back. This is the fact that starts the landlord's obligation running, and the one most often disputed.

6. 06

   The sum demanded

   What the Sender says is now due, and how long the Recipient is allowed to pay it. The period is the Sender's own — no statute fixes one for the return of a deposit — and nothing computes a date from it.

Optional clauses

• Requests already made

  A record of the times the Sender has already asked for the deposit back. Optional, because some tenants write on the day they move out.

  Worth adding when: the sender has already asked for the deposit back

• What the Sender intends if this notice is not complied with

  The paragraph a notice conventionally ends with, in which the Sender says what they intend if it is not complied with. Optional, and never added automatically: whether to say anything at all is the Sender's decision. Where the Sender has words of their own they are used verbatim; where they have none, a neutral closing sentence is rendered that names no remedy and predicts no outcome.

  Worth adding when: the sender has said what they intend to do if the notice is not complied with

• Enclosures

  The documents sent with the notice. Optional, because many notices enclose nothing.

  Worth adding when: the sender is sending documents along with the notice

• Custom Clause

  A free-form clause for bespoke provisions not covered by standard clauses. Use clauseId 'custom-clause-1', 'custom-clause-2', etc. to add multiple. The LLM provides clauseTitle and clauseBody. Use the sequence parameter to control placement.

What the law requires

When a period begins to run

A period running from receipt and a period running from the date of the notice count different things. Where a document is sent by post, service is deemed to be effected at the time the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post, unless the contrary is proved.

General Clauses Act 1897, s. 27

Stamp duty

The Indian Stamp Act charges the instruments listed in its Schedule. A notice is not among them: it creates no right, transfers no property and records no bargain.

Indian Stamp Act 1899, s. 3 and Sch. I

What governs the refund

A security deposit is money held under the tenancy and refundable on the terms the parties agreed. Where the agreement says when and how it comes back, that governs. Where it says nothing, the deposit is refundable on the tenant delivering up possession, less what the landlord is entitled to deduct.

Indian Contract Act 1872; the tenancy agreement itself

Some States limit the deposit and fix a period

Several States cap the security deposit a residential landlord may take and prescribe a period within which it must be refunded after the tenant vacates. Whether such a provision applies depends on the State and on whether the premises fall within the relevant Act.

The applicable State rent or tenancy legislation

Deductions are for what was agreed or what was damaged

A landlord may generally deduct arrears of rent, unpaid utility charges, and the cost of making good damage beyond fair wear and tear. Fair wear and tear is not deductible, and a deduction the tenancy agreement does not provide for has to be justified on ordinary principles.

The tenancy agreement; Indian Contract Act 1872, s. 73

Limitation

A suit to recover the deposit is governed by the Limitation Act, which fixes both the period and the point from which it runs. A demand notice does not by itself extend or restart it, though an acknowledgement of liability made in writing and signed before the period expires starts a fresh one.

Limitation Act 1963, s. 18 and Schedule I, Art. 55