Whenever a tenant shall deposit with the landlord a security
deposit, such deposit, or any portion thereof, until returned to the
tenant or lawfully applied for obligations of the tenant to the landlord,
shall continue to be the money of the tenant and shall be held in
trust by the landlord with whom such deposit shall be made and shall
not be mingled with the personal moneys or become an asset of the
landlord.
Whenever a tenant shall provide to the landlord a security deposit,
the landlord shall provide to the tenant a written receipt for the
security deposit and shall further inform the tenant, in writing,
of the location where the deposit is held; if the deposit is being
held in a banking organization, the name and address of the banking
organization in which the security deposit is being held; and a statement
as to whether or not the deposit is being held in an interest-bearing
account.
Upon the termination of the tenancy or at the time that a tenant
surrenders possession of the residential unit, whichever occurs later,
the tenant shall have placed the residential unit in an overall clean
condition as it was when the tenancy commenced, excepting normal wear
and tear.
Absent good cause shown by the landlord, should the landlord
fail to return the security deposit or provide the aforesaid written
statement within the twenty-one-day period established in § 93-5,
above, the landlord shall be liable to the tenant for an additional
25% of the entire security deposit in landlord's possession.
Furthermore, in the event that the landlord willfully and without
good cause fails to return all or a portion of the security deposit,
a court may award to the tenant up to triple the amount of that portion
of the security deposit wrongfully withheld from the tenant, together
with reasonable attorney's fees and court costs. In determining
whether to award such treble damages and/or attorney's fees,
the court may consider the past practices of the landlord regarding
return of other security deposits. Treble damages and/or attorney's
fees shall not be awarded pursuant to this section where a landlord
has made a good-faith estimate or has properly documented (e.g. with
receipts, invoices) the amounts which properly should be withheld
from the security deposit and has returned to the tenant the balance
of the security deposit in a timely manner. Should the landlord, within
the aforesaid twenty-one-day period, fail to return the entire security
deposit or fail to provide the aforesaid written statement specifying
the reasons for the retention of all or a portion of the security
deposit, accompanied by full payment of the difference between the
security deposit and the amount retained, it shall be presumed that
the landlord is willfully and without good cause retaining the security
deposit.
In any court action brought by a tenant for the return of the
security deposit, the landlord shall bear the burden of proving that
the withholding of the security deposit or any portion of it was justified.
Any attempted waiver of the terms of this article by a landlord
or tenant, by contract or otherwise, shall be deemed to be against
public policy and shall be considered void and unenforceable.