Topic: Rental deposits and landlord power: how many months, and how easily they can end it
What does Taiwan require?
Everyday topic
Taiwan's deposit rule sits in Article 7 of the Housing Rental Market Development and Management Act: a deposit may not exceed two months' total rent, any clause demanding more is void, and a landlord who overcharges risks a fine of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000. To end a lease early, Article 10 lists five grounds — damage the tenant won't repair, rent unpaid for more than two months after a demand, subletting without consent, the landlord reclaiming the unit for reconstruction, among others — and most require thirty days' written notice; reclaiming for reconstruction requires three months'. A tenant can likewise end the lease early on thirty days' notice under Article 11. The government offers rent subsidies and tax breaks to landlords who register through approved rental agencies, but registration is optional and does not affect the lease's validity — it only affects eligibility for subsidies. Deposit terms and refund timing are supposed to be written into the contract; in practice, most disputes are about the condition of the unit at move-out, not the deposit amount itself.
What is this topic?
Taiwan's Housing Rental Market Development and Management Act caps the deposit at two months' rent (Article 7) and lists five grounds on which a landlord may end the lease early (Article 10) — four require thirty days' written notice, reclaiming the unit for reconstruction requires three months'.
Mainland China's Housing Rental Regulation (State Council Order No. 812, in force since 15 September 2025) only requires the deposit amount, refund timing and deduction grounds to be written into the contract — it sets no cap at all.
Japan's Civil Code Article 622-2 requires a landlord to refund the *shikikin* (security deposit), minus what the tenant owes, once the lease ends and the unit is returned; Japan additionally has *reikin* — "key money" paid to the landlord, usually non-refundable, that no statute requires or limits — and the Land and House Lease Act's Article 28 requires "just cause" before a landlord may refuse renewal or terminate, so a tenant cannot simply be told to leave.
The United States has no federal rule at all: HUD's role is limited to anti-discrimination under the Fair Housing Act, and deposit caps are set state by state — California's Civil Code §1950.5, as amended by AB 12 (effective July 2024), cut the limit from two or three months to one.
India's Model Tenancy Act, 2021 is only a template for states to adopt — it proposes a two-month cap for residential premises, six for commercial — but most states still run on their own older Rent Control Acts.
Indonesia's rental law still traces to the Dutch-era Civil Code (Articles 1548 onward); the deposit amount is left entirely to contract, and a landlord cannot evict a tenant who refuses to leave without going through court.
Brazil's Tenancy Law caps the deposit at three months' rent, held in a savings account (Article 38), while Article 46 lets a landlord reclaim the unit without cause once a contract of thirty months or longer expires.
Sources and dates
Dates follow local time zones, calendars, and official notices. Check the source when a date is estimated or locally variable.