Document a rental unit room by room, score your evidence, and estimate a fair deposit deduction.
Rate every item. Add a note and a photo count for anything not perfect — a wide shot plus a close-up.
Add at least one room to begin.
Estimate a fair, depreciation-adjusted charge for tenant-caused damage. Normal wear and tear is the landlord's cost — do not enter it here.
Typical HUD-style useful life: carpet ~5 yr · paint ~3 yr · appliances ~10 yr · fixtures ~7 yr. An item past its useful life prorates to $0.
Both parties should type their full names below and each keep a copy. An unsigned record cannot reach Strong evidence. This supports your position in a deposit dispute but is not binding — the landlord's itemized statement controls.
I confirm this record reflects the unit's condition on the inspection date above.
Renters and landlords lose security-deposit disputes because nobody documented the unit's condition at move-in — and again at move-out. Pre-existing scuffs, stains, and broken fixtures get blamed on the tenant, and with no signed room-by-room record, deposits get withheld unfairly. This free tool builds that record: toggle the rooms that exist, rate each standard item (walls, ceiling, flooring, windows/blinds, doors, fixtures/lighting, outlets/switches, plus appliances and bath fixtures), add a note and a photo count, then it scores how complete and photo-backed your evidence is. On move-out it also estimates a fair, depreciation-adjusted deduction so you aren't billed full replacement on a worn item.
A tenant moves out of a 1-bedroom apartment. The move-in record rated everything Good with photos, so completeness is high. At move-out the carpet has a pet stain (Damaged). The carpet's replacement cost is $1,200, it is 3 years old, and its useful life is 5 years.
fair charge = 1200 × max(0, (5 − 3) / 5)
= 1200 × (2 / 5)
= 1200 × 0.4
= $480.00
deposit held = $1,800.00
estimated fair deduction = $480.00
estimated deposit return = 1800 − 480 = $1,320.00The landlord cannot fairly charge the full $1,200 because the carpet was already 3 years into a 5-year life. If the carpet were 5+ years old, the prorated charge would be $0.00 — past its expected life, only ordinary wear, which is the landlord's cost.
Walk every room and rate each item as New, Good, Fair, Poor, or Damaged, add a note for any defect, and take a wide shot plus a close-up. Photograph undamaged areas too. Both parties sign, date, and each keep a copy. This tool scores how complete and photo-backed your record is.
Prorate by age and useful life: fair charge = replacement cost × max(0, (useful life − age) / useful life). A worn item past its useful life is generally $0. Normal wear and tear is the landlord's cost, not deductible.
Wear and tear (faded paint, lightly worn carpet, small nail holes) is ordinary living and the landlord's responsibility. Damage (large holes, pet stains, broken fixtures) is beyond ordinary use and may be deductible, capped at the item's prorated remaining value.
It varies by state, commonly 14–45 days after move-out; California is 21 days. Note your own state's deadline in the return-deadline field.
Yes — undated photos and metadata-stripped screenshots are weaker. Use a camera app that embeds date/time. California's AB 2801 phases in date-stamped photo requirements in 2025.
No. It is a documentation aid, not legal advice and not a binding number. The landlord's itemized statement controls; the figure here is an estimate to help both parties prepare and compare. Everything runs in your browser.
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