How to Get Your Security Deposit Back in Vermont
If your landlord did not return your Vermont security deposit, start with the timeline.
Vermont generally requires the landlord to return the deposit and any written itemized deductions within 14 days after the landlord discovers you vacated or abandoned the unit, or your vacate date if the landlord received notice of that date.
If that did not happen, get your records in order, send a clear written demand, and escalate only if needed.
First: Check the Deadline
Confirm:
- when you vacated
- whether and when you gave the landlord notice of that vacate date
- whether you can prove the landlord received that notice
- when the landlord discovered you vacated or abandoned the unit
- whether 14 days have passed from the correct trigger
- whether you received a written itemized statement if deductions were taken
- whether the rental was a seasonal occupancy not intended as a primary residence, which uses a separate 60-day rule
See the full rule: Vermont Security Deposit Deadline
What It Means If They Missed the Deadline
If a landlord fails to return the deposit with a statement within 14 days, Vermont law says the landlord forfeits the right to withhold any portion of the deposit.
If the failure is willful, Vermont law can make the landlord liable for double the amount wrongfully withheld plus reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
That makes a clean record especially important: the vacate date, notice, itemization, deductions, normal wear and tear, and amount still owed.
Step-by-Step: What To Do
1. Get your documentation together
- lease
- deposit amount
- vacate-date notice
- proof the landlord received the vacate-date notice
- possession-delivery proof
- last-known or mailing address proof
- move-in and move-out photos
- rent ledger and utility/direct-charge records
- abandoned-property communications, if relevant
- any written itemized statement
- messages and mailing records
2. Look at any deductions
If the landlord sent deductions:
- check if they were itemized in writing
- check whether the charges fit Vermont's allowed categories
- watch for normal wear and tear
- watch for claimed damage caused by actions or events beyond your control
- look for utility, abandoned-property, rent, or damage charges that are vague or unsupported
Review here: What Can a Landlord Deduct in VT?
3. Send a demand letter
A clear demand letter:
- identifies the missed deadline
- asks for the refund balance
- cites the forfeiture rule when the return-and-statement deadline was missed
- keeps the tone professional
- creates a written record before escalation
Use this: Security Deposit Demand Letter
You can work through the steps yourself. This puts the Vermont letters, timing, and follow-up sequence in one place.
4. Escalate if needed
If there is still no response, you can consider small claims or another appropriate route.
TL;DR
If your Vermont security deposit was not returned after the 14-day deadline:
- confirm the correct trigger date
- gather your documentation
- review any deductions
- send a clear demand letter
- escalate only if needed
One letter alone is not always enough. The value is the sequence: prevention, deadline notice, entitlement follow-up, and final demand.