At the end of the lease, the landlord may apply the deposit plus interest earned towards the payment of all amounts for which the tenant is liable under the lease. The balance of the deposit and interest must then be refunded to the tenant not later than 14 days after the restoration of the property to the landlord. (This time frame is relevant only if the deposit is used by the landlord for amounts owing and not paid directly by the tenant.)
Should no amounts be due and owing by the tenant, the landlord must refund the full deposit and interest to the tenant within 7 days of the expiry of the lease.
A third time frame exists in the Rental Housing Act for the refunding of the deposit. This entails that the tenant fails to respond to the landlord’s request to do an exit inspection, which the landlord then completes independently. In this scenario, if the landlord records damage done by the tenant, he may deduct the amount owing by the tenant and refund the balance plus interest within 21 days after the expiry of the lease.
