Free United States Move-In Condition Report

▶ Watch overview

Free United States Move-In Condition Report — overview

A United States Move-In Condition Report is a best-practice move-in condition report documenting the rental unit’s state at the beginning of the tenancy. Required by statute in several states (GA, MA, KS, WA) and recommended in every state.

Complete the Inspection Checklist

Walk through the property with the tenant. For each area, mark the condition at move-in. At move-out, repeat the walk-through and mark the condition again. Both landlord and tenant sign at move-in and move-out. Take time-stamped photos for every room. The checklist is most valuable when supplemented with photographic evidence.

About the United States Move-In Condition Report

A move-in condition report is the single most important document for preventing security deposit disputes at move-out. It establishes the baseline condition of the property and protects both parties: the tenant from being charged for pre-existing damage, the landlord from disputes over damage caused during the tenancy. Several states require it: GA O.C.G.A. §44-7-33 mandates a written checklist before move-in; MA G.L. c. 186 §15B requires a statement of condition within 10 days of move-in; KS Stat. §58-2548 requires an inventory; WA RCW §59.18.260 requires a checklist. Even where not required by statute, the move-in report is universally recommended best practice. The report should be detailed (room-by-room itemization, descriptive condition notes), signed by both landlord and tenant, dated, and supplemented with photographs (timestamped digital photos are ideal). Both parties should retain a signed copy.

United States Inspection Framework

• Statute: state-specific (GA, MA, KS, WA require; others recommended)
• GA O.C.G.A. §44-7-33: written checklist required before move-in
• MA G.L. c. 186 §15B: statement of condition within 10 days
• KS §58-2548: inventory required
• WA RCW §59.18.260: checklist required
• Best practice in every state for security deposit dispute prevention

Why This Form Matters

The move-in condition report is THE evidence at move-out if a security deposit dispute arises. Without it, the landlord has the burden of proving pre-existing condition vs. tenant-caused damage; in many states this burden shifts decisively toward the tenant. With a signed move-in report and matching move-out inspection, the landlord can clearly identify what changed during the tenancy. Best practice: room-by-room itemization, descriptive condition notes (not just ‘good/fair/poor’), photographs (timestamped), signed by both parties, retained for the full statute of limitations on deposit disputes in your state, a period that varies and has no reliable national figure.

Best Practices

• Walk through together. Both landlord and tenant should be present at both move-in and move-out. The signed checklist is much stronger evidence than a unilateral one.
• Photograph everything. Time-stamped photos for every room, every wall, every appliance. Use a smartphone with location and timestamp metadata.
• Be specific in notes. “Small nail hole 3 inches above light switch in east wall” is much more useful than “minor damage.”
• Document pre-existing issues. If the unit has issues at move-in (faded paint, worn carpet), document them so the tenant isn’t blamed at move-out.
• Save the checklist for at least the statute of limitations. Disputes can arise years after move-out – keep the signed checklist and photos for at least as long as a deposit claim can still be brought in your state, a period set by that state limitations period rather than by any national figure.
• Distinguish wear-and-tear from damage. Wear-and-tear is NOT chargeable. Document both, but only charge for actual damage beyond ordinary use.

Related Resources

• Landlord forms
• Eviction notice laws by state
• Security deposit laws by state
• Lease termination laws by state
• Tenant screening laws by state
• Late fee laws by state

Why does a move-in condition report exist at all?

A move-in condition report exists to convert an assertion into evidence. Eleven months into a tenancy, “that burn mark was already there” and “no, it was not” are claims of equal weight, and the party who cannot document the starting condition loses by default. The report fixes the property’s condition at one dated, jointly signed moment, so a later dispute becomes a comparison of two records rather than a contest between two memories.

Every design choice follows from that. It runs room by room because a deduction is charged item by item. It asks for descriptive notes rather than a grade because “worn” is an opinion and “two-inch tear in the carpet seam inside the bedroom doorway” is a fact. Georgia writes the point into statute: under Georgia Code Section 44-7-33(a), the signed move-in list of existing damage is “conclusive evidence of the accuracy of the list,” latent defects aside.

What counts as ordinary wear and tear, and what counts as chargeable damage?

Ordinary wear and tear is deterioration from a unit being lived in normally by someone using it as intended; damage is deterioration from negligence, abuse, accident, or use the unit was not built for. It is the most litigated distinction in a tenancy, and the statutes bar the deduction without defining the line. Washington’s RCW 59.18.260(4) forbids withholding a deposit “on account of wear resulting from ordinary use of the premises”; New York’s General Obligations Law Section 7-108(1-a)(b) allows retention only for damage “beyond normal wear and tear”; California Civil Code Section 1950.5(b)(2) permits deduction for repair of damages “exclusive of ordinary wear and tear.” Three phrasings, no definition — the line is drawn case by case on the evidence in front of the adjudicator.

Cleaning is measured against a starting point, not an ideal, so the report must record how clean the unit was on day one. California states the standard in Civil Code Section 1950.5(b)(3): cleaning necessary to return the unit to the level of cleanliness it was in at the inception of the tenancy. Age matters too — an item at the end of its service life has little remaining value to charge against.

Does a landlord have to let the tenant attend the move-out inspection?

It depends entirely on the state, and the answers are genuinely opposite: some states give the tenant a statutory right to request a pre-move-out inspection and a chance to fix what is found, and others impose no inspection duty at all.

States that require a pre-move-out inspection on request

• California. Civil Code Section 1950.5(f) requires the landlord to notify the tenant in writing of the option to request an initial inspection and of the right to be present at it. On request it happens no earlier than two weeks before termination, on at least 48 hours’ written notice unless waived. The landlord must then give an itemised statement of the repairs or cleanings proposed as the basis for deductions, and the tenant has until the end of the tenancy to cure them; subject to stated exceptions, the landlord may not deduct for items left out of that statement.
• New York. General Obligations Law Section 7-108(1-a)(d) requires written notice of the tenant’s right to request an inspection before vacating and to be present, held between two weeks and one week before the end of the tenancy, followed by an itemised statement and an opportunity to cure. Paragraph (c) adds a move-in counterpart: the landlord must offer a joint inspection before occupancy begins.

States with no pre-move-out inspection requirement

• Florida. Florida Statutes Section 83.49, the security deposit provision, contains no inspection requirement and no right for the tenant to be present; the word “inspect” does not appear in the section. Florida’s machinery is notice-based instead: under Section 83.49(3)(a), a landlord who intends to claim against the deposit must give written notice by certified mail within 30 days of termination.
• Washington. RCW 59.18.260 imposes a strict move-in checklist duty but creates no pre-move-out inspection right and no obligation to let the tenant attend a final walkthrough.

Georgia sits between the poles: Code Section 44-7-33(b)(1) makes the landlord inspect within three business days after termination and vacancy and list the damage with an estimated value, and the tenant may inspect the premises and that list within five business days — a right to inspect and object, not California’s advance warning plus a window to repair. Confirm which shape your state uses, and run a joint walkthrough regardless.

What documentation actually survives a challenge?

What survives is a dated record both parties signed, describing conditions specifically rather than grading them, backed by images taken at the same time, with a copy given to the tenant.

• Both signatures, and a copy to the tenant. In several states this is the operative duty. Washington’s RCW 59.18.260(3) requires the checklist to be signed and dated by both parties and a copy given to the tenant; Kansas Statute 58-2548 requires a joint inventory within five days of the initial date of occupancy, duplicate signed copies, and a copy to the tenant.
• A deadline you can miss. Massachusetts General Laws chapter 186 Section 15B(2)(c) requires a landlord accepting a security deposit to furnish a written statement of the present condition of the premises on receipt of the deposit or within ten days after the tenancy commences, whichever is later, carrying a prescribed notice that gives the tenant fifteen days to return a corrected list.
• A real penalty for skipping it. Under Washington’s RCW 59.18.260(5), a landlord who collects a deposit without providing a written checklist is liable to the tenant for the amount of the deposit, plus costs and fees. There, a missing checklist does not weaken the deduction — it destroys the deposit.
• Photographs, taken at the time. In California this is now a duty rather than a habit: Civil Code Section 1950.5(g) requires photographs at or immediately before the inception of tenancies beginning on or after 1 July 2025, and, from 1 April 2025, photographs after possession is returned and before any repairs or cleanings forming the basis of a deduction, and again once those are done. Elsewhere photographs remain the strongest voluntary evidence available.
• Metadata that has not been destroyed. Keep camera originals with their capture date intact; screenshotting or re-exporting through a chat app strips that data and leaves a picture whose date is only your say-so. Narrated video of each room in one unbroken take is hard to challenge because the continuity is itself the proof.

How long should you keep the report and the photographs?

Keep it for at least as long as a deposit claim can still be brought against you, which is set by your state’s limitations period for that claim, not by any national number. There is no universal retention period for a condition report, and any single figure offered as a nationwide answer is unreliable. Some states do impose a records duty directly — Massachusetts General Laws chapter 186 Section 15B(2)(d) requires a lessor accepting a deposit to keep a record that includes copies of any statement of condition given to the tenant, for two years from termination of the tenancy — but treat that as a floor for one obligation, not a safe policy. Storage is free, so keep the signed report and the original files indefinitely, foldered by unit and tenancy.

How does the report turn into a deposit deduction, and what if there is no report?

It supplies the line items for the itemised statement your state requires, on the clock your state sets: the move-out record names the condition, the move-in record shows it was not there before, and the images support both. Those clocks are tight and they vary — California Civil Code Section 1950.5(h)(1) allows no more than 21 calendar days after the tenant vacates, and New York General Obligations Law Section 7-108(1-a)(e) sets fourteen days and forfeits any right to retain if the landlord misses it.

When no move-in report exists, the landlord usually loses the disputed item — and in several states that is where the statute puts the burden. New York General Obligations Law Section 7-108(1-a)(f) places the burden of proof on the landlord as to the reasonableness of the amount retained; California Civil Code Section 1950.5(m) does the same for the amounts claimed. Carrying that burden with no baseline document means proving from recollection that a condition was not already there, against a tenant who need only say it was.

Which move-in report mistakes cost landlords the deduction?

• Signing a form nobody read. A report signed on the doorstep with keys in hand invites the argument that the tenant had no real chance to check it. Walk the unit together and let the tenant record dissent in writing.
• Tick-boxes with no detail. “Good / fair / poor” records an opinion, not a condition, and cannot be matched against the move-out entry.
• No photographs. A written entry unsupported by an image is your word about the past. Photograph every room, wall face, appliance interior, and noted defect on the day the report is dated.
• No second inspection at move-out. A move-in report with nothing to compare it to establishes only the starting condition; the deduction depends on the change.
• Logging only what was inspected. Record what was handed over too — keys, fobs, remotes, openers — and note utility meter readings at both ends.

Published by Tenant Screening Background Check

Established 2004 · 20+ Years · All U.S. States & Territories · Statute-Based · Attorney-Reviewed

A Private Eye Reports™ service trusted by landlords, property managers, and attorneys.