Senate BillIntroduced
S 4856: Extends the timeline for the return of security deposits for residential rental agreements from fourteen days to thirty days.
What S 4856 does, verified January 8, 2026
The proposed law aims to extend the timeline for landlords to return security deposits to tenants in New York State. Currently, landlords must return the remaining portion of the deposit within fourteen days after the tenant vacates the premises. The proposed law would extend this timeline to thirty days. If a landlord fails to provide the tenant with an itemized statement indicating the basis for the amount of the deposit retained, if any, and return any remaining portion of the deposit within thirty days, they would forfeit their right to retain any portion of the deposit.
Bill journey
1IntroducedCurrent
2In CommitteePending
3First Chamber FloorPending
4Second ChamberPending
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: REFERRED TO JUDICIARY (2026-01-07)Alert me
Quick answers about S 4856
- What is the current status of S 4856?
- As of January 8, 2026, S 4856 is recorded as "Introduced": it has been introduced and is waiting for its first committee hearing or floor vote. The last recorded action, on January 7, 2026, was "REFERRED TO JUDICIARY".
- Did S 4856 pass?
- Not yet. S 4856 has been introduced and has not passed either house.
- Who wrote S 4856, and where is it now?
- S 4856 was authored by Sen. James Skoufis. Its committee of record is Senate Judiciary.
Author and sponsors
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| Jan. 07, 2026 | REFERRED TO JUDICIARY |
| Feb. 13, 2025 | REFERRED TO JUDICIARY |
Latest bill textIntroduced version, February 13, 2025 · 243 words
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4856 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 13, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary AN ACT to amend the general obligations law, in relation to extending the timeline for the return of security deposits for residential rental agreements from fourteen days to thirty days The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 1-a of section 7-108 of the 2 general obligations law, as added by section 25 of part M of chapter 36 3 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows: 4 (e) Within [fourteen] thirty days after the tenant has vacated the 5 premises, the landlord shall provide the tenant with an itemized state- 6 ment indicating the basis for the amount of the deposit retained, if 7 any, and shall return any remaining portion of the deposit to the 8 tenant. If a landlord fails to provide the tenant with the statement and 9 deposit within [fourteen] thirty days, the landlord shall forfeit any 10 right to retain any portion of the deposit. 11 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05457-01-5
Text of S 4856 as introduced, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions