Get your deposit back: when, the move-out statement and how to complain

The Rent Act (lejeloven) sets no fixed date for when you get your deposit back. The landlord must pay back the rest once your obligations on moving out have been settled, and may deduct, for example, unpaid rent, utilities and refurbishment. With a landlord who has more than one apartment, the refurbishment must be listed in the move-out report. If you disagree with the statement, you can take the case to the Rent Tribunal (huslejenævnet).

When do you get your deposit back?

The deposit is an amount of no more than 3 months’ rent, which is security for your obligations when you move out (§ 59(1) of the Rent Act (in Danish)). According to the ministry’s page on deposits and prepaid rent (in Danish), the landlord repays the deposit when the lease ends, but can first set off what you owe. The rest must be paid back once your obligations have been settled. Neither the Rent Act nor the ministry’s page mentions a specific number of days.

This article is about private rental homes. If you live in social housing (almen bolig) from a housing association, the Act on the Rental of Social Housing (lov om leje af almene boliger) applies, which has its own rules.

There are still deadlines that set the pace. With a landlord who has more than one apartment, the move-out inspection must be held no later than 2 weeks after the landlord became aware that you were moving out, and claims for refurbishment cannot be made later than 2 weeks after the inspection (§ 187(2) and (3)). The move-out report does not have to include prices, so the amounts can come later. According to the ministry’s guidance on move-in and move-out inspections (in Danish), the deadlines only apply to refurbishment, not to unpaid rent, heating contributions and the like. A heating bill can therefore still come after the inspection.

You can do a lot yourself to get the money faster:

• Give the landlord your new address no later than 8 days before you move out, as the law requires (§ 186(2)), and state the account number the money should be sent to.
• Attend the move-out inspection, or send someone with a power of attorney, and take the report with you.
• Hand in the keys against a dated receipt.
• Ask in writing for an itemised move-out statement once the inspection has been held.

What may the landlord deduct from the deposit?

According to the ministry, the deposit covers the expenses there may be when you move out, for example unpaid rent, heating and refurbishment. The landlord may set off:

• Refurbishment that falls under your duty to maintain and that, with a landlord who has more than one apartment, is listed in the move-out report. What it covers depends on whether you or the landlord has the interior maintenance. We go through this in the article on painting when moving out.
• Damage you are responsible for because you, your household or others you have let into the home have acted negligently (§ 149(2)).
• Rent you owe.
• An additional payment after a utilities statement, for example for heating and water.

The landlord may not deduct for wear and tear that falls outside your duty to maintain, and cannot demand that you leave the home in better condition than when you took it over (§ 187(1)). If you reported a defect when you moved in and it has not been fixed, you are not liable for it when you move out, according to the guide to standard form A10. You get no interest on the deposit. According to the ministry, you are at most entitled to get back the same amount you paid in.

A deposit and prepaid rent are two different things. You can live off prepaid rent in the last part of the tenancy, once the lease has been terminated or cancelled (§ 59(3)). You normally cannot live off the deposit, because it has to cover your obligations when you move out. How the notice period and the last rent payment fit together is explained in the article on giving notice on your rental home.

The move-out statement: how to check it

Go through the statement line by line and compare it with the move-out report, your lease and the move-in report.

Item in the statement	May be deducted when	What you check
Painting, whitewashing, wallpaper and floor treatment	The work is in the report and falls under your duty to maintain, or it repairs damage you are responsible for	Who has the interior maintenance under the lease? Is the item in the report?
Damage, for example burn marks or a broken window	You are responsible for the damage, and it is in the report	Was the damage noted in the move-in report or on your defects list?
Replacing old building parts or fixtures	You are responsible, but the claim may be reduced depending on the circumstances when new replaces old	How old was the item, and how much does the landlord gain from getting a new one?
The price of the work	The cost is reasonable and customary	Ask for invoices or quotes for each item
Rent	You owe the rent	Has the prepaid rent been used for the last months?
Heating, water and electricity	A utilities statement shows an additional payment	The statement itself and its deadlines

The requirement for reasonable and customary costs and the reduction when new replaces old are set out in the ministry’s guidance on move-in and move-out inspections. If documentation is missing for an item, write to the landlord and ask for it before you accept the statement. The requirement that an item is in the move-out report applies with a landlord who has a duty to hold move-out inspections. If the landlord rents out only one apartment, claims for refurbishment must instead be made no later than 2 weeks after the day you move out, unless the lease gives a longer deadline (§ 187(2) and § 189).

Claims that are not in the move-out report

Here the Rent Act is clear. If the landlord has a duty to hold move-out inspections, costs for refurbishment that are not in the move-out report are not your concern. The exceptions are defects that could not be seen with ordinary care, and fraud (§ 187(2)). If the landlord has not held the inspection on time, invited you correctly or given you the report, the claim for refurbishment lapses (§ 187(5)). If no move-in inspection was held, even though the landlord had a duty to hold one, the claim also lapses, except for damage you are responsible for (§ 90(3)). The whole move-out inspection process is described in the article on painting when moving out.

If the statement includes an item for refurbishment that is not in the report, write to the landlord and refer to § 187(2). The lapse only applies to refurbishment. Claims for unpaid rent and utilities are not covered by the rules on inspections and reports.

Can the landlord demand more than the deposit?

Yes. The deposit is security, not a cap. If the costs of refurbishment, damage and unpaid rent are higher than the deposit, the landlord can demand the rest from you. You are liable for damage that you, your household or your guests cause through negligent behaviour (§ 149(2)). According to the guidance, you will often have to pay the whole cost if the landlord has to replace building parts or fixtures because you have not maintained or treated the home properly.

There are limits, though. The costs of refurbishment may not exceed what is reasonable and customary. If the landlord gets new for old, the claim may be reduced on a discretionary basis, depending on the circumstances. And the claim can never be about bringing the home into better condition than when you took it over. The landlord’s side of the rules is in our guide for landlords on deposits and prepaid rent.

If the landlord does not pay: a reminder and the Rent Tribunal

1. Write a reminder. Ask for an itemised statement and for the rest to be paid by a specific date. Write that you will otherwise take the case to the Rent Tribunal, and keep all correspondence.
2. Object point by point. If you disagree with parts of the statement, write which items and why. The tribunal asks you to specify which items in the move-out statement you are complaining about.
3. Take the case to the tribunal. The Rent Tribunal decides disputes about refurbishment on moving out, including disputes about repaying the deposit in connection with moving out (§ 190, as amended by Act no. 1793 of 28 December 2023 (in Danish)).

If the home is in the City of Copenhagen, you take the case to the municipality’s Rent Tribunal. It costs DKK 367 in 2026. If the landlord loses the case, the landlord pays a fee of DKK 7,027, but not if the landlord only partly loses or the case is settled at the tribunal. Case handling typically takes 8 to 10 months (City of Copenhagen, in Danish). Send the lease, the move-out report, the move-in report, the invitation to the move-out inspection, the date you handed in the keys, your defects list, relevant correspondence and preferably photos (City of Copenhagen, in Danish). The whole procedure is described in the article on the Rent Tribunal in Copenhagen.

When the case belongs in the Housing Court

According to the City of Copenhagen (in Danish), the Rent Tribunal cannot deal with pure money claims, for example repayment of rent or prepaid rent where nothing has been set off against the deposit. These are decided by the Housing Court (boligretten).

Have you paid too much deposit?

If the landlord has charged more deposit than allowed, meaning more than 3 months’ rent, you can demand the overpayment back (§ 40(1) and § 59(1)). Once the tenancy has ended, the claim must be brought before the Rent Tribunal within 1 year of moving out. Interest runs on the claim from the date of payment (§ 40(3)). The rules in § 40 apply in regulated municipalities such as Copenhagen (§ 6(1) and § 7(3)).

Deposit when subletting, and when the property has been sold

Subletting

The Rent Act also applies to subletting (§ 1(1)). If you sublet from another tenant, you can choose to provide security with a bank guarantee or an amount in a separate escrow account instead of a deposit (§ 59(2)). You can do this both when the agreement is made and later in the tenancy. A tenant who has sublet can be fined if any surplus deposit and prepaid rent has not been settled and paid back no later than 6 weeks after the sublease has ended, or after a final decision by the Rent Tribunal (§ 62(2)). That rule applies in regulated municipalities such as Copenhagen, but not, among others, in the smaller properties exempted by § 7 (§ 6). Whether Copenhagen is regulated, and what that means, is explained in the article on rent regulation, and the rest of the rules in the article on subletting your rental home.

When the property has been sold

Your rights under the Rent Act apply against anyone without registration in the land register (tinglysning). The same applies to agreements on deposits and prepaid rent, when the amounts together are no more than six months’ rent (§ 17(1)). So your claim to the deposit carries over to the new owner within that limit. If you want to bring the claim against an owner other than the one who owned the property when the claim fell due, you must bring proceedings within 1 year of the end of the tenancy (§ 17(2)). What a sale otherwise means for you is explained in the article on what happens when the landlord sells the apartment.

If you are looking for your next home, you can see the homes available to rent from BY Administration.

Sources

• Act on Rent (lejeloven), Act no. 341 of 22 March 2022 as amended (Retsinformation, in Danish)
• Act no. 1793 of 28 December 2023 amending the Act on Rent and other acts, including § 190 (Retsinformation, in Danish)
• Deposit and prepaid rent (sm.dk, in Danish)
• Guidance no. 10936 of 21 October 2015 on move-in and move-out inspections, refurbishment and maintenance in private rental properties (Retsinformation, in Danish)
• Standard form A, 10th edition: lease for residential use with guide (sm.dk, in Danish)
• What the rent tribunals can deal with (City of Copenhagen, in Danish)
• When a tenant moves in or out (City of Copenhagen, in Danish)
• Bring a case before the Rent Tribunal (City of Copenhagen, in Danish)