Document your rental's condition the right way. Walk through the unit room by room, rate every item (Good, Cosmetic damage, or Repair Required), add notes and photos, and export a professional rental inspection checklist PDF with signature lines for every tenant and the inspector. Works for move-in and move-out, completely free, no account, no email wall.
The security deposit fight is almost always a documentation fight. A dated, signed move-in checklist establishes the unit's condition before the tenant ever unpacks, so at move-out there's no argument about whether the carpet stain or the cracked tile "was already like that." Most states put the burden on the landlord to prove damage beyond normal wear and tear, and several require condition documentation before deposit deductions will hold up. Five minutes with a checklist at move-in routinely saves hundreds of dollars and a small-claims hearing at move-out.
Do the walk-through together with the tenant when the unit is empty and clean. Go room by room, walls and ceilings, floors, lights and outlets, doors and knobs, then the room-specific items (appliances in the kitchen, the tub and exhaust fan in bathrooms, the garage door, exterior siding and gutters). Mark only what needs attention: anything not flagged is recorded as Good. Test what can be tested, run faucets, flip every switch, open every window. Finish by having every tenant and the inspector sign the same document, and give the tenant a copy.
Notes describe a problem; photos prove it. Attach a photo to anything you flag, a wide shot for context and a close-up of the damage, plus a few general shots of each room even when everything looks fine. This tool compresses photos automatically and embeds them in the PDF next to the item they document, so the date, the room, and the image travel together in one signed file. (Photos stay in the PDF only, share links carry the rooms, ratings, and notes without them.)
At move-out, repeat the same walk-through with the move-in checklist in hand and compare item by item. Anything that went from Good to damaged, beyond normal wear and tear, is a documented, defensible deduction. From there, follow your state's deposit timeline: most states require an itemized statement and the remaining deposit within 14 to 60 days of move-out. Use our free Security Deposit Return Letter Generator to send a compliant itemization.
Normal wear and tear is the gradual decline that happens no matter how careful a tenant is: faded paint, lightly worn carpet in walkways, small nail holes from hanging pictures, loose door handles. Damage is different, pet stains, burns, large holes in drywall, broken appliances, unauthorized paint colors. You can deduct for damage but not for wear and tear, and the side-by-side move-in/move-out checklists are exactly how you show which is which.
Yes, build the checklist, attach photos, and download the signed-ready PDF with no account, no email wall, and no payment step. It's part of Advanced Collection Bureau's free toolkit for landlords and property managers.
Several states require landlords to document the unit's condition or provide an inventory checklist at move-in, and in many of them it's a precondition for keeping any of the security deposit. Even where it isn't required, a signed checklist is the standard evidence courts expect in deposit disputes.
Yes. A checklist signed by both parties at move-in is far stronger evidence than one the landlord completed alone. This tool adds a signature and date line for every tenant you list, plus the inspector.
Yes, attach photos to any item and they're compressed automatically and embedded in the PDF next to that item. Photos are excluded from share links (they're too large for a URL) but always included in the PDF.
Yes, the Share button creates a link (plus a QR code, email, and text option) that opens the same checklist, rooms, ratings, and notes on this page. Links made with the previous version of this tool still work too.
Apply the deposit first, following your state's itemization deadline. For unpaid rent or damage beyond the deposit, a collection agency that specializes in rental debt, like Advanced Collection Bureau, can pursue it on contingency: no recovery, no fee.
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