[CA] Must a landlord refund a security deposit electronically if rent was paid by wire?

I understand how frustrating it must be to deal with this situation regarding your security deposit. Have you had any written communication with your landlord about the check and the trust account issue?

Are there any specific terms in your lease agreement that address the return of the security deposit?

Hello, welcome to our service. My name is Legal Eagle. I've been a lawyer for over 20 years. I'm sorry to hear about the issue with your landlord and the security deposit.

AB 414 (effective January 1, 2026). AB 414 amended Civil Code § 1950.5 specifically for this situation: if the landlord received rent electronically, she is now required to return the security deposit electronically as well, unless you and she agreed in writing to a different method. A landlord's unilateral insistence on a paper check does not satisfy the statute. Since you moved out after January 1, 2026, this amendment applies to your tenancy. You have two separate statutory violations, not just one.

Wrong method. She sent a check when the law required electronic return, given your wire payment history and no written agreement to the contrary.

Missed deadline. § 1950.5(g) requires return within 21 days of move-out. You're now at day 30 with no money in hand. The check bouncing doesn't toll this deadline; the statute measures from when funds are actually available to you, not when a landlord mails something that doesn't clear.

Combined, this supports a claim that she is retaining the deposit in violation of the statute, which under § 1950.5(l) can expose her to your actual damages plus up to twice the deposit amount as a statutory penalty if a court finds bad faith. A refund check that fails at the issuing bank, followed by the landlord's bank asking her to authorize release and her declining, is the kind of fact pattern that supports a bad-faith argument, not a technical hiccup.

On the "trust account" explanation. That story doesn't hold up on its own. If she has $15,200 that's "locked" and unavailable, the check should never have been issued for that amount in the first place. Her declining to authorize the funds when her own bank called is worth documenting precisely, since it goes to intent.

On the entry without 24-hour notice. That's a separate violation under Civil Code § 1954, which requires reasonable written notice, presumptively 24 hours, before landlord entry absent emergency or your consent. Whether to raise it in the same letter or hold it separately is a tactical call. Combining it can strengthen a bad-faith narrative; it can also let her muddy the deposit issue by arguing back about the entry.