Getting your deposit back: 'promptly' and the RTB

The Act says a landlord must return the deposit "promptly" once the tenancy ends, and it says nothing more precise than that. There is no number of days in section 12(1)(d), no 14-day rule and no 28-day rule. What the landlord may keep is limited to three things: rent arrears, unpaid bills you owed under the agreement, and damage beyond normal wear and tear.

Your landlord holds the deposit personally. The scheme in the 2015 Act under which the RTB would hold it has never been commenced, so there is no third party to ask. If the money does not come back, the route is a written request with a date, then an RTB dispute, which is free at mediation and €30 at adjudication. The deposit tool works out what you should get back against any deductions claimed and builds the request letter.

This guide covers the Republic of Ireland. It assumes you have moved out or are about to; the rules on how much can be taken at the start are in deposits and advance rent: the one-month caps.

What "promptly" means in practice

The word gives the landlord a short time to check the home, read the meters and work out any lawful deduction. It does not give them a month to think about it, and it does not let them hold the money until the next tenant has moved in. The RTB looks at whether the delay was reasonable for the checks the landlord actually needed to make. A delay of months with no written reason is hard to justify on that test.

The request letter on this site asks for the deposit, or a written list of deductions, within 14 days of the keys going back. That figure is our planning figure for a reasonable time; the Act does not set one. Say it plainly in the letter so there is a date the landlord has missed if nothing arrives.

Deposit disputes are among the most common types of case the RTB deals with each year, and the facts are usually simple: the tenancy ended, the money did not come back. That makes the paperwork, not the argument, the thing that decides them.

The three lawful deductions, and the written list

The landlord may deduct rent arrears, unpaid bills that were yours under the agreement, and the cost of damage beyond normal wear and tear. Nothing else. A deduction for wear and tear, for cleaning to a higher standard than you found the home in, or for the landlord's own refurbishment is not lawful. Neither is a deduction with no reason given in writing.

Every deduction should come to you itemised, with the figures and, where there is a repair, the receipt or the quote. A single line saying "deposit retained for damages" is not enough to support a deduction at the RTB. What a landlord may deduct, and wear and tear goes through each heading and the evidence that answers it.

Before you ask: the evidence

A deposit case is decided on what each side can show. On the last day, photograph every room, every wall and every appliance, dated, and compare them with the photographs from the day you moved in. Photograph the final meter readings. Return the keys by hand with a witness, or with a dated note, and keep a copy of the note. The day the keys go back is the day the landlord's time to return the deposit starts.

Give the landlord a forwarding address and your bank details in writing. A landlord who says "I had no address to send it to" has an excuse the RTB will hear, and it costs nothing to remove it. The moving-out checklist has the full list for the last fortnight.

The letter

Send this once the keys are back, by email, and keep the sent copy. The names and dates are examples; the deposit tool fills it from your answers. It is our letter, not an RTB form.

Request for the return of my deposit for 14 Elm Terrace, Cork, T12 AB12.
To Sinead Byrne, landlord.
From Aoife Walsh, former tenant.
My tenancy ended on 9 December 2026 and I returned the keys to you that day.
I paid a deposit of €1,800 on 1 February 2025.
The rent is paid to the termination date and no bills are outstanding.
Section 12(1)(d) of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 requires the deposit to be returned promptly.
Please return the full deposit by 23 December 2026 to the account below.
If you intend to make any deduction, please send me an itemised list in writing with receipts by the same date.
If I do not hear from you by then I will refer the matter to the Residential Tenancies Board.
Account name: Aoife Walsh, IBAN: IE00 AIBK 0000 0000 0000 00.
Forwarding address: 3 Mill Road, Cork, T12 CD34.
Signed: Aoife Walsh.
Date: 9 December 2026.

Keep the tone flat. The letter is for the RTB file as much as for the landlord, and a calm letter with a date and a section number is harder to ignore than an angry one.

If the landlord does not pay: the free route first

Ring Threshold on 1800 454 454, Monday to Friday 9am to 9pm. The advisers are free, they deal with deposits every day, and they will often write to the landlord or tell you exactly what to put in the RTB application. Do this before you think about a solicitor. For most deposits a solicitor's fee is out of proportion to the sum, and the RTB process is designed to be used without one.

If you are also short of money because of the delay, MABS on 0818 07 2000 is the free money advice service. The deposit for the next home is often the pressing problem, and the deposit journey lists the supports.

The RTB dispute: free, then €30

Apply online at rtb.ie. You need the address, the landlord's name and contact details, the deposit amount, the dates, and your evidence: the agreement, the proof of payment, the photographs, the key receipt and the letter. The time limit for a deposit claim is the general one, six years, so there is no rush that should make you skip the letter stage. How to make an RTB dispute application walks through the form; nothing is filed on this site.

Mediation is free and private. A mediator talks to both sides, usually by phone, and many deposit cases settle at this stage because the sums are clear and the landlord has little to gain by continuing. The agreement becomes a binding determination order.

Adjudication costs €30. An adjudicator hears both sides and decides. For applications made from 14 September 2026 the hearing is public and the published report names both parties and the address. That cuts both ways: a landlord with a thin case has a reason to settle before the hearing.

Either side can appeal to a tribunal within 10 working days, for €30 after mediation or €85 after adjudication. The RTB's published averages for 2024 are about 7 weeks for mediation, 17 for adjudication and 15 for a tribunal.

What the RTB can order

The RTB can order the landlord to return the deposit in full or in part, and it can add damages where the deposit was kept without a lawful reason or the landlord ignored the request. Damages are capped at €20,000 for any breach, but the published figures are far lower, around a few thousand euro at most, because the RTB compensates proven loss rather than annoyance. For a deposit case the usual order is the deposit itself plus a modest sum, or the deposit alone.

A determination order that the landlord ignores is enforced in the District Court, and the RTB can take that case for you. Determination orders and enforcement explains how.

If you cannot find the landlord

The RTB's public register shows whether the tenancy was registered, and a registered landlord has given the RTB an address. If the tenancy was never registered, the RTB can still take your application; the landlord's failure to register is their breach, not yours. An agent who collected the deposit is not usually the right respondent; the claim is against the landlord, though the agent's details help the RTB find them.

Where this leaves you

The Act gives you "promptly" and no number, three lawful deductions and no others, and a landlord who holds the money personally because the 2015 scheme never started. Your side is the evidence: photographs in and out, the key receipt, the forwarding address, and a letter with a date. Send the letter the day the keys go back, give the 14 days, and ring Threshold if nothing arrives. The RTB route is free at mediation and €30 at adjudication, and the order it makes can be enforced. Keep paying rent to the termination date and never treat the deposit as the last month; the deposit tool does the arithmetic and the letter.