How do I know how much interest to give a departing tenant on the deposit he gave me years ago?

Hello allegro:

If your state mandates interest, it probably tells you how to calculate it too. Landlord/tenant laws for your state are available for perusal. Check the sticky at the top of this forum.

excon

From what I've read of T/L laws, landlords in some areas are required to place security deposits into interest bearing accounts under certain conditions. The interest earned on those accounts is what is paid to the tenant, less an administrative fee is allowed. If you were required to do so and didn't you violated the law. Generally if you aren't required to place the funds into such an account then you probably aren't required to pay interest at all.

If you are so required and didn't then you need to find out what rates have been over the period you held the deposit and pay that.

Thanks!