What to photograph before you hand over the keys
The most repeated piece of advice renters give each other is some version of “document everything.” It is good advice and it is almost always given too late — usually in a comment thread under someone who has already lost their deposit. This is the version you can use on the day itself: what to shoot, room by room, and how to keep the dates on those files from falling off.
Why the dates matter
Your photos are the answer to a document you have not seen yet
After you move out, most states require your landlord to send an itemized statement listing every deduction they are taking and what each one cost. That statement is the thing a dispute is actually about. Photos taken before you handed over the keys are what you hold it up against — which is why the date on the file carries as much weight as what is in the frame.
Across the 24 jurisdictions DepositHawk has verified against a primary statutory source, that itemization window runs from 14 to 45 days after move-out.
Your state's own deadline, and the full 51-jurisdiction table, are in the deposit return deadline guide.
The checklist
Room by room
Print it, or tick it off on your phone as you go. Nothing here is saved or sent anywhere.
Every room
Run this same pass in each room before you move on to the room-specific shots.
Kitchen
Bathrooms
Bedrooms
Entry, hallway, stairs
Outside, if it is yours
Meters, systems, paperwork
These are the shots people forget, and they are the ones that settle arguments about who used what.
Metadata
How to keep the dates attached
- 01Shoot originals, not screenshots. A screenshot of a photo throws away the capture date that made the photo worth taking.
- 02Do not crop, rotate, filter, or clean up the originals. Keep one untouched set and mark up a duplicate if you need to point something out.
- 03Take a slow video walkthrough as well. Say the date and the address out loud at the start of it.
- 04Email the whole set to yourself the same day. The email's timestamp sits on a server you do not control, which is the point.
- 05Back everything up to cloud storage before you reset or sell the phone.
- 06Keep it all for at least as long as your state gives you to file — that window is usually years, not months.
DepositHawk is not a law firm. This checklist is legal information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Your state's rules, and the facts of your own tenancy, decide what actually applies to you.
Next
If you have already moved out, the next useful thing is the date your landlord is working against. The deadline checker gives you that and the statute it comes from — free, no account.
Check my state's deadlineAlready drafted your own demand letter? Run it through the free letter checker to catch a missing statute citation before you mail it.
Already in a dispute — deductions you did not agree to, or a deadline that has come and gone? Check your rights and generate a demand letter — $19, one time.
Still in the lease, and would rather not have to remember any of this? Deposit Shield watches your state's deadline for a year and includes one demand letter if your landlord keeps the money anyway.
●Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
I didn't take photos when I moved out — am I out of luck?
No, but your case is narrower and you should know that going in. Photos are the cleanest evidence; they are not the only evidence. What still counts: the move-in inspection report, the listing photos your landlord posted when they re-advertised the unit, texts or emails where either of you described its condition, your maintenance requests about problems that were already there, receipts for cleaning you paid for, the walk-through form, and a neighbor or former roommate who saw the place. Your landlord's own itemized statement is evidence too — in most states it has to arrive within a set window and it has to be specific about what was damaged and what the repair cost. A statement that shows up late, or that charges a round number with no detail behind it, has problems of its own whether or not you have photos.
Can my landlord really charge me $900 for a hole in the wall?
They can put it on the statement. Whether it survives being challenged is a different question. A deduction generally has to be for damage beyond normal wear, and it has to reflect what the repair actually costs — not a whole-unit repaint because of a few nail holes. Two things tend to move numbers like that: showing what the wall looked like, and asking in writing for the itemization and the receipts behind it.
My landlord isn't responding to calls or texts — now what?
Silence is normal in these disputes and it does not mean you are out of options. Do two things. Put it in writing, because calls and texts leave you with little you can show later. Then find out whether their deadline has already run — every state sets one, and a landlord who has blown it is in a different position than one who is merely slow.
Is this a scam?
This checklist is free and there is nothing to sign up for. Where DepositHawk charges is the demand letter: $19, one time. No subscription, no auto-renewal, no trial that quietly becomes a charge. That is a deliberate contrast with how this category usually works.
See what your state’s law says your landlord owes you. Check my rights & generate my letter — $19.
DepositHawk is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Information and documents are for informational purposes only. No attorney-client relationship is created. Consult a licensed attorney for advice specific to your situation.