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AB 2801 move-out documentation tool for California landlords

Free. Walk through a rental turnover room by room, capture timestamped before-and-after photos, and package them into one tenant-ready report — designed to support California's AB 2801 security-deposit documentation. No account, and your photos never leave your device.

What AB 2801 asks a California landlord to photograph

AB 2801 amended Civil Code § 1950.5. It added three sets of photographs, with two trigger dates:

Move-in photos
for tenancies beginning on or after July 1, 2025, taken immediately before, or at the start of, the tenancy.
Before any work
since April 1, 2025, taken within a reasonable time after the tenant hands the unit back, but before any repair or cleaning you intend to deduct for. This one applies to every tenancy, whatever year it began.
After the work
taken once those repairs or cleanings are finished.

All of it reaches the tenant with the itemized statement within 21 days of them vacating, alongside a written explanation of each cost. You do not have to print anything: California allows delivery by mail, by email, on a flash drive, or as a link the tenant can open. Where the deductions for repairs and cleaning come to more than $125 together, the documentation travels with the statement — and at or below that, a tenant can still ask for it within 14 days.

What this tool does

  • Walks you room by room, so the before and after shots line up as pairs.
  • Timestamps each photo from our server's clock rather than your phone's, and labels any photo it could not verify that way.
  • Holds the pause. Close the tab while the unit gets cleaned, come back to the same link on the same device, and pick up where you left off.
  • Takes your itemized charges and receipts alongside the photos.
  • Accepts move-in photos you already have, and marks them as supplied by you rather than taken here.
  • Produces one report you can save as a PDF and send.

What it does not do

It is a documentation aid, not legal advice. It does not review your deductions, does not decide what you may charge a tenant, and does not guarantee compliance with AB 2801 or any other law. Confirm what your own tenancy requires, and speak to a qualified California landlord-tenant attorney if you are unsure.

Your photos stay on your device

Nothing is uploaded to us. A turnover lives in this browser — which is also the reason to save your finished report as a PDF and keep it with your records for the unit. A browser can clear its own storage, and then the only copy is the one you kept.

Common questions

Does AB 2801 apply to a lease signed before 2025?
Yes, for the move-out photographs. The before-work and after-work sets apply to every tenancy no matter when it started. Only the move-in requirement is limited to tenancies beginning on or after July 1, 2025.
Do I have to take move-in photos?
For tenancies beginning on or after July 1, 2025, California requires photographs taken immediately before, or at the start of, the tenancy. For earlier tenancies it does not, though those photos are still the clearest evidence of the condition you are comparing against.
Can I still charge a tenant for professional cleaning?
Only where it is reasonably necessary to return the unit to the condition it was in at the start of the tenancy, ordinary wear and tear aside. AB 2801 narrowed this, and it is the reason move-in photos matter.
Do I have to print the photos for my tenant?
No. California allows delivery by mail, by email, on a flash drive, or as a link where the tenant can view them.
How long do I have?
Twenty-one days from the day the tenant returns the unit, to refund the deposit in full or deliver the itemized statement with the photographs and the explanation of each cost.

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