system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How high would punitive damages have to be for it to no longer be profitable for landlords to illegally withhold security deposits?
gpt
There’s obviously no single number to give you that would answer this question. In deciding whether to take any illegal action, you weigh the chances of getting caught, chances of getting punished if accused, and the actual retribution for your actions. 

In a civil-suit situation, as this would be, you also have to consider incidental things like time and legal fees, which are often daunting enough that few victims actually consider court in civil matters like this. Additionally, think about how a plaintiff would weigh the amount of the deposit and the amount that it would cost to go to court- usually the deposit amount is already low enough that you would rather just take a loss. 

You could, for example, set punitive damages at $15,000 per day that your deposit is withheld, but with a low probability of having to actually pay such a fine, there’s little deterrence. 

Rather than question what the fine should be, it would be better to wonder how to improve the efficacy of the legal system that’s already in place.