Move-in photos: the requirement that starts with your next tenancy

Of the three photo requirements AB 2801 added, this is the one with a boundary date attached. For tenancies that begin on or after July 1, 2025, a landlord must take photographs of the unit immediately before, or at the inception of, the tenancy. Tenancies that started before that date are not covered by this particular requirement — though the move-out photo rules still reach them.

Why this is the set that actually earns its keep

Move-out photos show a condition. Move-in photos are what make that condition *mean* something, because the standard for a cleaning or repair deduction is the condition the unit was in at the inception of the tenancy, ordinary wear and tear excluded. Without a record of the starting point, a before-and-after pair from move-out shows only that the unit was dirty — not that this tenant made it so.

Landlords who have been through a deposit dispute tend to already know this. The move-in set is the one you are grateful for two years later.

What to capture

Shoot the same list you would at move-out, so the two sets line up. Wide shot from the doorway of every room, then close-ups of anything already imperfect.

• Every room, wide, from a consistent position — the doorway is the easiest to reproduce later.
• Inside appliances: oven, fridge, dishwasher, microwave.
• Floors across their whole span, and carpet in particular.
• Walls and ceiling corners, plus any existing marks, nail holes, or patches.
• Window sills, tracks, and coverings.
• Every closet, cabinet, and drawer interior.
• Existing damage, deliberately and in close-up. Photographing the chip in the counter protects the tenant, and protects you from being blamed for it at the other end.

Photograph after the turnover clean, not before

This trips people up. The move-in set is supposed to represent the condition the tenant receives, so it belongs after the unit has been cleaned and repaired and before anyone moves furniture in. An empty, freshly cleaned unit is also the easiest thing in the world to photograph well — nothing in the way, and every surface visible.

It is worth pinning the two appointments together in your calendar: clean, then photograph, then hand over keys. We do move-in cleans across the Bay Area and can schedule so the unit is ready with time for the photos.

Where to keep them

Somewhere you will still be able to find them at the end of the tenancy, which may be years away. A folder in your phone's camera roll is not that place — phones get replaced, and by the time you need the photos you will not remember which of eleven thousand images belong to unit 4.

The statute sets the requirement to take the photographs and to provide the move-out set with the itemized statement; it does not spell out a retention period. Practically, keep everything for as long as a claim could realistically be brought, and file it per unit and per tenancy rather than by date.

Our free documentation tool keeps each turnover as its own session so the before and after sets stay attached to the right unit, and it will resume where you left off if you close the tab mid-walkthrough. It helps you organize and timestamp the record — the obligations themselves remain yours to confirm.