Published 2026-09-27 · 10 min read

Nebraska Security Deposit Law 2026: Limits, Deadlines & Deductions

Nebraska's security deposit law is one short section — Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1416, part of the Nebraska Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act — and it is strict in both directions that matter. It caps the deposit at one month's periodic rent (plus a small pet deposit), and it gives you only 14 days after the tenancy terminates to deliver or mail the balance with a written itemization. Miss that deadline and you owe the money due plus the tenant's court costs and reasonable attorney's fees; miss it willfully and not in good faith and the tenant also collects liquidated damages of one month's periodic rent or twice the security deposit, whichever is less.

The short version: Collect no more than one month's periodic rent, plus — when appropriate — a pet deposit of up to one-quarter of one month's rent (§ 76-1416(1)). You may apply what you hold (security and prepaid rent alike) only to unpaid rent and to damages from the tenant's noncompliance with the rental agreement or the tenant-duties statute, § 76-1421. Within 14 days after the date of termination of the tenancy, deliver or mail the balance and a written itemization (§ 76-1416(2)). No interest is owed and no separate account is required — but the 14-day clock, the abandoned-property rule for unreachable tenants, and successor liability on a sale are all in the same section.

What the earlier version of this page missed: Two subsections were omitted entirely — § 76-1416(4), which preserves other damages under the Act but shields a tenant from damages tied to a government-ordered removal caused by the landlord's own neglect, and § 76-1416(5), which binds whoever holds the landlord's interest when the tenancy terminates. The old page also omitted the housing-agency exception to the cap in subsection (1), and its "recent changes" answer was unsourced: the official Source line for § 76-1416 shows the section was last amended by LB 532 in 2021 (before that, LB 433 in 2019).

Nebraska's 14-day refund window is one of the shortest in the country — and a willful miss can cost a month's rent plus the tenant's legal fees. The Security Deposit Disposition & Deadline Tracker ($14.95) keeps your return deadlines, itemized deductions, and mailing dates in one spreadsheet so the clock never sneaks up on you.

The statute table

Limits: how much can you charge?

The cap is one month's periodic rent for security "however denominated" — relabeling part of the money does not take it out of the cap. On top of that, and only "when appropriate," you may demand or receive a pet deposit of up to one-quarter of one month's periodic rent. The one express carve-out is for housing agencies organized or existing under the Nebraska Housing Agency Act, to which subsection (1) does not apply. Non-refundable pet fees and monthly pet rent are separate concepts the subsection does not cap, but assistance animals are exempt from pet charges under federal law regardless. Check your numbers with the Security Deposit Max Checker.

The 14-day deadline, precisely

Within 14 days after the date of termination of the tenancy, you must deliver or mail two things: the balance, if any, and a written itemization. The Nebraska Supreme Court's annotation to the section (Hilliard v. Robertson) reads the 14 days as the time allowed the landlord to return the deposit — not a deadline by which the tenant must demand it. Two weeks is tight: do the move-out inspection the day the keys come back, price the deductions immediately, and mail with days to spare. Find your exact cutoff with the Security Deposit Deadline Finder.

When the clock actually starts

Section 76-1416 keys everything to one date — the date of termination of the tenancy — but three different clocks run out of the same move-out, and each has its own trigger:

• The 14-day return clock runs from the date of termination, whether or not the tenant has asked for the money back and whether or not you have finished repairs. A slow contractor does not extend it.
• The 1-year abandoned-property clock runs on money you did try to return: if the mailing comes back undeliverable, or the returned balance simply sits outstanding for one year, the funds become abandoned property to report and pay over to the State Treasurer.
• The successor clock never restarts. If you sell the property, subsection (5) binds whoever holds the landlord's interest at the time of termination — buying a property with a tenancy ending does not buy a fresh 14 days.

Log all three dates at move-out: termination date, mailing date, and (if it comes back) the undeliverable date.

A worked example

Rent is $1,200 a month. You hold a $1,200 security deposit plus a $300 pet deposit — $1,500 total, exactly at the § 76-1416(1) ceiling. The tenancy terminates on Monday, March 2, 2026.

• The balance and written itemization are due delivered or mailed by Monday, March 16, 2026 — 14 days after termination.
• Your lawful deductions total $450: $300 of unpaid rent and $150 of damage from the tenant's noncompliance. The balance is $1,050.
• You mail the itemization and the $1,050 on or before March 16: you have complied, and the file is closed.
• If instead you hold the $450 without a good-faith basis and blow the deadline, the tenant recovers the money due plus court costs and reasonable attorney's fees — and, because the failure was willful and not in good faith, liquidated damages of the lesser of one month's rent ($1,200) or twice the security deposit (2 × $1,200 = $2,400): $1,200. On this deposit the liquidated-damages exposure alone equals the entire base deposit.

Deductions and the itemized list

On termination, property or money held as prepaid rent and security may be applied to exactly two things under § 76-1416(2): rent owed, and the amount of damages you suffered by reason of the tenant's noncompliance with the rental agreement or with § 76-1421 (the tenant's duties to maintain the unit). Damage beyond ordinary wear and tear fits the second category; ordinary wear does not — it is not noncompliance. The written itemization must account for the amount not returned, and it travels with the balance inside the same 14 days. A late or missing itemization is a failure to comply with subsection (2), which is what triggers subsection (3). Generate a compliant letter with the Security Deposit Deduction Letter Generator.

Two edges landlords miss:

• Other damages survive (§ 76-1416(4)). Complying with the deposit section does not cap either side: the section expressly does not preclude the landlord or the tenant from recovering other damages available under the Act.
• The government-removal shield (§ 76-1416(4)). A tenant is not liable for damages directly related to the tenant's removal from the premises by order of a governmental entity where the premises were unfit for habitation because of the landlord's own negligence or neglect. Do not itemize those costs against the deposit.

Move-out compliance checklist

1. At signing, total everything "however denominated" against the 1-month cap, and add a pet deposit only up to ¼ month's rent and only when appropriate (§ 76-1416(1)).

2. Log the termination date the day it happens — the 14-day clock runs from that date, not from the inspection, the repair bill, or the tenant's demand.

3. Inspect on day one. Photograph the unit and price every deduction against the two permitted categories: unpaid rent, and damages from noncompliance with the lease or § 76-1421.

4. Screen out the § 76-1416(4) shield — no charges for damage directly tied to a government-ordered removal caused by your own neglect.

5. Write the itemization as you price it, accounting for every dollar not returned; it must go out with the balance, inside the same 14 days.

6. Deliver or mail by day 14 and keep the proof. No forwarding address: first-class mail to the last-known mailing address, with the balance and the itemization of what was kept.

7. Calendar the 1-year mark on any returned mailing. Undeliverable or still-outstanding funds are abandoned property — report and pay them to the State Treasurer under the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act; they are never yours to keep.

Interest and where the money sits

Nebraska requires no interest on deposits and imposes no separate account, escrow, or banking rule in § 76-1416. Simple to hold, simple to return — which is exactly why courts show little patience for landlords who miss the 14-day window.

The penalty, spelled out

Section 76-1416(3) has two tiers, and they punish the same failure at different levels of fault:

• Any failure to comply with subsection (2) — late balance, late itemization, or both — lets the tenant recover the property and money due, court costs, and reasonable attorney's fees. The section's annotations treat the attorney-fee award to a prevailing tenant as a matter of right, not judicial discretion (Lomack v. Kohl-Watts), and the mandatory fee provisions reach even pro bono representation (Black v. Brooks).
• A willful failure that is not in good faith adds liquidated damages of one month's periodic rent or twice the amount of the security deposit, whichever is less. The "whichever is less" formula cuts in a direction most summaries get wrong: it caps the penalty at the smaller measure. Run the arithmetic both ways before you decide a withholding is worth defending — on a $1,200 deposit at $1,200 rent the exposure is $1,200; on a small $400 deposit at the same rent it is $800 (2 × $400), not $1,200.
• One case-law wrinkle: the annotations also record (Mason v. Schumacher) that, to recover a deposit plus attorney's fees under subsection (3), the tenant must establish that the landlord did not comply with a demand for the deposit's return. A tenant who demands and is ignored is in the strongest position the section offers — treat every written demand as the start of litigation, not correspondence.

FAQ

Does the pet deposit count toward the one-month cap?

No. Section 76-1416(1) allows a pet deposit of up to one-quarter of one month's periodic rent in addition to the one-month cap on security, when a pet deposit is appropriate. The cap itself covers security "however denominated," and housing agencies under the Nebraska Housing Agency Act are excepted from subsection (1).

When exactly does the 14-day clock start?

On the date of termination of the tenancy. The balance and a written itemization must be delivered or mailed within 14 days after that date (§ 76-1416(2)). Per Hilliard v. Robertson, the 14 days are the landlord's window to return the deposit — not a deadline for the tenant to ask.

What if the tenant gives me no forwarding address?

Mail the balance and a written itemization of the amount not returned, by first-class mail, to the tenant's last-known mailing address. If the mailing is returned undeliverable, or the returned balance remains outstanding for one year, it becomes abandoned property to report and pay to the State Treasurer under the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act (§ 76-1416(2)).

Can I deduct for unpaid utilities?

Only through the two permitted categories: if the unpaid utilities are damages you suffered from the tenant's noncompliance with the rental agreement or § 76-1421, document them and itemize them. The deposit cannot be applied to anything outside unpaid rent and noncompliance damages.

Do I owe interest, or have to hold the deposit in a separate account?

No. Section 76-1416 requires neither interest nor any separate account or escrow.

I bought the property mid-tenancy. Who owes the refund?

You do, if you hold the landlord's interest when the tenancy terminates — § 76-1416(5) binds the holder of the landlord's interest at the time of termination. Price the deposit liability into the closing, and get the funds and the lease file transferred.

How is the bad-faith penalty actually calculated?

Liquidated damages equal one month's periodic rent or twice the amount of the security deposit, whichever is less, on top of the money due, court costs, and reasonable attorney's fees — and subsection (3) requires the failure to be both willful and not in good faith.

What changed in § 76-1416 recently?

Less than most summaries imply. The official Source line for the section lists Laws 2019, LB 433 and Laws 2021, LB 532 as its most recent amendments. The 14-day deadline, the 1-month cap, and the whichever-is-less liquidated damages are the current text — verify against the official statute linked below before acting.

Read the statute yourself

Everything here traces back to one section. If anything is disputed, the primary sources control:

• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1416 (Nebraska Legislature) — the official full text: cap and pet deposit, the 14-day return and itemization rule, abandoned property, penalties, and subsections (4)–(5).
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1416 (Justia) — the same section with the case annotations collected below the text.
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1416 (Cornell LII) — Legal Information Institute mirror of the section.

The deposit is only one piece of Nebraska compliance. Our full Nebraska landlord-tenant law guide covers the rest of the relationship — rent, fees, and increases, required disclosures, the landlord's duties under § 76-1419, and the entry rules under § 76-1423.

More security deposit guides

• Security deposit laws by state
• Montana security deposit law
• Nevada security deposit law
• Missouri security deposit law
• New Hampshire security deposit law

Last verified: October 15, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. Verify with a licensed Nebraska attorney before acting.