Bronx security deposit law and where to sue
Your landlord has 14 days from the day you move out to return the deposit with an itemized statement of anything withheld. That deadline is New York State's, under N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108 - it is the same in all five boroughs. What is local is the rest of this page: the Bronx County courthouse that hears the claim, when it sits, and who in Bronx will look at your case for free.
Nearly four in five Bronx households rent - the highest share of any borough - and the borough's median rent is the city's lowest, so a one-month deposit here is a smaller sum than in Manhattan but a larger share of a month's income.
What is the same in every borough
The deposit is capped at one month's rent, the itemized statement is due with the money, and missing the 14-day deadline forfeits the landlord's right to keep any of it. A willful violation adds punitive damages of up to twice the deposit.
New York deposit rules in full, with citations and deductions →
First: is your apartment rent stabilized?
This is the question that decides which statute your deposit falls under, and it is the one most Bronx tenants skip. About 928,000 apartments across roughly 43,000 New York City buildings are rent stabilized. A stabilized apartment is governed by GOL § 7-107, not the § 7-108 rules described above. Bronx has about 233,000 of them - the second-largest rent stabilized stock in the city.
You do not have to guess. A DHCR rent history request asks the State to tell you whether the apartment is rent stabilized, and its registered rent history. The answer comes back in about 20 business days, mailed to the apartment, so file it the day you decide to fight - not the week before a hearing.
Second: who exactly are you suing?
A small claims case names a legal owner, not "the management company" or the person who answered your emails. In New York City the owner of record is public: HPD Online gives the owner and managing agent registered for the building for any registered building. Take the name and the service address from there, put them on the claim, and use the same name on your demand letter so the paper trail matches.
The Bronx County small claims window
Bronx County Civil Court
851 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10451
- Small claims clerk
- Room 105 · 718-618-2517
- Court hours
- 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday
- Claim limit
- $10,000 in the Small Claims Part
- Filing fee
- $15 or $20, depending on the size of the claim
Evening court. Evening small claims runs 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday, with the calendar called at 6:30 p.m.
Help Center. The Help Center is in Room 121, open 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. It is free, it is for people without a lawyer, and it is the cheapest second opinion on a deposit claim in the borough.
Court address, room and hours from the Bronx County Civil Court directory. City-wide information: 111 Centre Street, Room 838, New York, NY 10013, civil and small claims 646-386-5700.
Bronx by the numbers
426,925
renter households
80%
of households rent
$1,458
median gross rent
$2,916
one-month deposit, doubled
At the Bronx median rent, a one-month deposit is $1,458. If the landlord's violation was willful, the punitive damages the statute allows can double that figure to $2,916 - comfortably inside the $10,000 small claims limit, which is why most Bronx deposit disputes never need a lawyer or a bigger court.
Among the five boroughs Bronx has the fourth-largest number of renter households, the highest share of households renting, and the lowest median rent. Those three facts set what a deposit case here is usually worth and how crowded the Bronx County small claims calendar tends to be.
Households and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year, tables B25003 and B25064, for Bronx County.
Free legal help in Bronx
Bronx Legal Services - 349 East 149th St., Bronx · (718) 928-3700. Legal Services NYC runs one program per borough and takes new matters through a single city-wide intake line, 917-661-4500, Monday to Friday 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Free housing lawyers are means-tested and heavily oversubscribed. A deposit case is usually small enough to run yourself, and the Help Center at the courthouse exists for exactly that - but if your landlord has counterclaimed or the sum is near the limit, call.
Send the letter before you file
A dated demand letter that cites N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108 and names the 14-day deadline settles most deposit disputes without a courtroom. If it does not, you walk into Bronx County Civil Court holding the strongest exhibit there is: written proof you asked, and the date you asked.
Landlord already past the deadline? What to do when a New York landlord keeps the deposit
This page is self-help information, not legal advice. Court rooms, hours and phone numbers change; the Bronx County directory linked above is the authority, and these records were read on September 13, 2026. Rent stabilized apartments follow GOL § 7-107 rather than N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108, so confirm your own status before relying on either.