Get Your Security Deposit Back with ChatGPT

What does this setup do?

You upload your lease, photos, and the landlord's deduction list, ChatGPT or Claude finds your state's official security deposit rules with web search, flags deductions worth questioning, and drafts a demand letter. You send it and decide on next steps.

Who is it for?

For renters who moved out and got back less than expected, or nothing at all, and want to push back in writing before thinking about small claims court.

How do you set it up?

Tools

• ChatGPT Free or Claude Free. Both include web search and file uploads, and ChatGPT Free limits uploads.
• Your lease, the landlord's itemized deduction list if you got one, and your move-in and move-out photos
• Your state's official tenant rights page or handbook, which the chat can find with web search

Steps

1. Gather your lease, any move-in checklist, your photos, and whatever the landlord sent about the deposit.
2. Upload them with the prompt below. Black out account numbers first.
3. Have the chat use web search to find your state's official tenant rights page. Deposit return deadlines and allowed deductions are set by state law, so go by the official page.
4. Read the deduction review. Common things to question are charges for normal wear and tear and charges without proof, if your state's rules back you up.
5. Ask for a short demand letter that cites the state rule from the official page, lists the deductions you dispute, and gives a date to respond.
6. Send it yourself in a way you can prove, like certified mail or email. If it doesn't work, check your state's small claims court page or free legal aid.

Help me get my security deposit back. Don't contact my landlord for me.

State and city: [state, city]
Move-out date and deposit amount: [date, amount]
What I got back and when: [amount, date, or nothing yet]
Attached: my lease, the landlord's deduction list (if any), and my move-in and move-out photos.

1. Use web search to find my state's official page on security deposits (attorney general, housing agency, or state tenant handbook). Link it. Tell me the return deadline and what landlords may deduct, quoting the official page.
2. Go through each deduction and say whether my lease, my photos, or the state rules give me grounds to question it. Mark anything you're unsure about.
3. Draft a polite demand letter under 200 words: dates, deposit amount, disputed deductions, the state rule with its link, and a response date.

Rules: Use only official government sources for the law. If you can't find one, say so. Don't invent laws, deadlines, or penalties. This isn't legal advice.

Which chat tools work with this prompt?

Paste the prompt into any of these assistants (free or paid tiers).

• ChatGPT
• Claude

What tips make it smoother?

• Take dated photos of every room on move-in and move-out day. They're your best evidence.
• Give the landlord your forwarding address in writing when you move out.
• USA.gov points to free legal aid for landlord and tenant disputes if you need a real lawyer.

Where do the claims come from?

Summaries use public sources linked below, not independent verification. How setups are picked.

• Read USAGov’s write-up (www.usa.gov)

  USAGov: Read your lease first, then find your state agency for tenant rights, which may link to your attorney general, housing agency, or state tenant handbook.

• Read USAGov’s write-up (www.usa.gov)

  USAGov: Free and low-cost legal aid programs, including help with landlord and tenant disputes.

• Read OpenAI Help Center’s write-up (help.openai.com)

  OpenAI Help Center: Web search is available on every ChatGPT plan, Free included, within plan usage limits.

• Read OpenAI Help Center’s write-up (help.openai.com)

  OpenAI Help Center: Free plan users can search the web and upload images or files; uploads have their own usage limit.

• Read Anthropic’s write-up (www.anthropic.com)

  Anthropic: Claude Free is $0 and includes web search, file creation, memory, and connectors.