California and San Francisco · Task guide
Collect and return a deposit in San Francisco
California's statute is specific: one month's rent (two for qualifying small landlords), statutory photographs at the start and the end, an initial inspection the tenant may request in the last two weeks, and twenty-one days after vacating to return the balance with an itemized statement. San Francisco adds annual interest on deposits held over a year. Two modes; arithmetic is separated from entitlement throughout.
Preparation only. Nothing is saved to an account.
Stage 1 of 4
Confirm the cap
One month's rent (furnished or not); two months for a natural-person or LLC landlord with no more than two properties totalling four units (Civ. Code §1950.5, per sf.gov, fetched 29 Sep 2026). Any advance beyond first month's rent counts toward it.