Getting your rental deposit back: what a landlord may withhold and what they may not

A deposit is not the landlord's renovation fund. It is security that comes back once the tenant has met their obligations — and ordinary wear is not a breach of any obligation. This is written in the law, though few people read the law on handover day.

What the law says

Under the Act on Residential Leases a deposit may be agreed, but a term setting it above three months' rent is void. Three months is a ceiling, not a recommendation.

Section 25 of the same act is the heart of the matter: a tenant is not liable for ordinary wear arising from using the flat for the purpose set out in the lease. You are allowed to live in the flat. Wear that comes from living there is not damage.

There is, however, no statutory deadline for returning the deposit. It is a debt payable on demand. In practice that means the demand should be made in writing and dated.

Where the line runs between wear and damage

Ordinary wear: parquet dulled along walking routes, wallpaper faded on the window side, silicone seals yellowed, cupboard hinges loosened, a small nail hole from hanging a picture.

Damage: a burn mark on the worktop, a cracked basin, a door scratched by a dog, a leak that was never reported, a large mounting plate drilled into the wall without permission.

The line is not always obvious, and in exactly those unclear cases what decides the outcome is who carries the burden of proof.

The burden of proof sits with the landlord

A landlord claiming compensation has to show three things: that the damage exists, that it falls within the tenant's responsibility, and what the repair actually cost. An assertion is not enough, and neither is an estimate of the cost.

The Consumer Disputes Board's decisions show where that leads. In one case a landlord kept the entire 1,500 euro deposit, citing damage to the floor and a door frame plus cleaning shortfalls. The board recommended returning 1,460 euros. What could be withheld was 40: two hours of the landlord's own cleaning at 20 euros an hour, because only the cleaning shortfalls had been proven.

Twenty euros an hour is the established consumer-authority rate for cleaning a landlord does themselves. It is a useful number to remember if someone tries to withhold hundreds of euros in the name of cleaning.

On cleaning: notice first, invoice second

The landlord has to point out cleaning shortcomings and give the tenant a chance to put them right. Only if the tenant does not can a cleaner be hired and the cost deducted from the deposit.

In practice that means it is worth answering the phone after handover. If the complaint is about the oven, the cheapest solution is to go and clean the oven.

How to protect yourself in advance

Photograph the flat on move-in day. Every room, the bathroom, the inside of the oven, the corners of the floors. Photos with a visible date settle three disputes out of four.

Do the same on handover day, from the same points. Comparable photos are stronger evidence than either set alone.

Ask for a handover record and read it before signing. If it contains points you disagree with, write your dissent onto that same document. A verbal objection disappears.

Keep the cleaning receipt. It proves the work was done by a company, and in many leases a receipt is precisely what is required.

If the deposit does not come back

First a written demand to the landlord, with a deadline and a reason. Email is enough; save it.

Then the Consumer Disputes Board. The process is free and produces a recommended decision. A recommendation is not directly enforceable, but most landlords follow it, and it carries weight later.

Last, the district court. This is worth knowing in advance: the police will not help. In precedent KKO 2021:36 the Supreme Court held that a landlord had not committed embezzlement even though he failed to return the deposits and spent the money on his own costs. It is a civil claim, not a crime, and it is pursued as a civil action.

One number worth doing

Three hours of professional cleaning for a one-bedroom costs about 135 euros. A deposit is typically one to three months' rent — in Kanta-Häme often 700 to 2,500 euros.

But the dispute is usually decided not by the quality of the cleaning but by who can prove the condition of the flat. Which makes photographs cheaper insurance than cleaning.

---

This is general information about the law rather than legal advice on an individual case; in a dispute, ask a lawyer or consumer advice. If what you need is a clean before handover, the scope is on the move-out cleaning page and prices by flat size are in a separate article.