Self-help templates
Request for the Return of a Deposit
A letter asking a landlord or other holder to return a deposit, with the amount, the reason and a deadline.
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Licence: this document is for your personal use only. You may not resell, share, copy or republish it, or use its content, without the written permission of TheLawToKnow.
How to use it
- When: you paid a deposit (for a rented home, a room, a holiday rental, a car or equipment hire, a booking or a purchase that did not go ahead) and the other side has not returned it, or you want to ask for it back.
- Before you send: check the agreement or the law for the return deadline. Make sure you have handed back what you rented and, for a home, that you did the handover and left it in the agreed state.
- Fill in everything in [square brackets] and delete the options you do not use. Use the exact amount, the date you paid and how.
- Send it by a method you can prove: e-mail with read receipt, registered post or courier. Keep a copy and the proof.
- Attach proof: the agreement or receipt, proof of payment, the handover record or photos, and earlier messages.
- Not for: a dispute about a different debt (use a payment demand letter) or a deposit the other side is entitled to keep under the agreement.
What is inside
- Art. 1. Sender
- Art. 2. Recipient (holder of the deposit)
- Art. 3. The deposit
- Art. 4. Why it is due
- Art. 5. Earlier contact
- Art. 6. What I ask
- Art. 7. If you do not return it
- Art. 8. Contact
- Notes on the clauses and a checklist of what to check under your country's law
Also in the bundle: Tenant's kit (19 €)
What these templates are not
- They are self-help templates, not legal advice, and they do not replace a lawyer.
- Laws differ from country to country, and some rules cannot be changed by contract. Each template ends with a checklist of what to check where you live.
- For a high-value or unusual situation, ask a local lawyer or notary to look at the final text.
TheLawToKnow Tools. Self-help template. Not legal advice. Check the law currently in force. Written with the help of AI tools and reviewed by a lawyer-author.