Move-In / Move-Out Photo Documentation

Security-deposit disputes are won and lost on one question: what condition was the unit in, and when? Timestamped before/after photos answer it — and new laws like California’s AB 2801 are starting to require them.

The legal direction of travel

California’s AB 2801 (phasing in through 2025–2026) now requires landlords to photograph units before move-in, after move-out but before any work, and after any cleaning or repairs whose cost is deducted from the deposit. Whether or not your jurisdiction has followed yet, the principle is spreading: if you deduct, you document — and tenants’ attorneys already argue as if it were law everywhere. Getting your photo practice ahead of the requirement costs minutes per unit; being behind it costs deposits.

The three photo sets every tenancy needs

1. Move-in (baseline). Every room, plus close-ups of anything already worn or damaged — this protects the tenant too, which is why sharing it builds trust.
2. Move-out (before any work). The unit exactly as vacated, before the cleaning crew or handyman enters. This is the set AB 2801 is most explicit about, and the one most landlords skip.
3. After work. The same views after cleaning or repairs — the pair that justifies each deduction line-item: dirty oven next to cleaned oven, damaged wall next to patched wall.

Why the before/after structure fits turnovers perfectly

Deposit documentation is inherently before/after: the deduction is the delta between two states. In SiteProof, each unit turnover is a job (named by address — the app suggests it from GPS automatically) and each room or deduction item is a task with its before and after photo. The ghost overlay reproduces the exact framing across sets — the move-out oven shot lines up with the move-in oven shot, which is what makes the comparison undeniable. Every photo carries its timestamp and GPS-resolved address, so “when was this taken, and is it even our unit?” never gets traction.

From photos to a defensible statement

When a deduction is questioned, the winning response is not a folder of loose images — it’s a document: this unit, these dates, this item, before and after, cost incurred. SiteProof generates that as a branded PDF report per turnover, with per-task comparisons and capture times. For contested cases, Dispute-Proof Mode adds cryptographic sealing — each photo verifiably unmodified since capture — and exports the whole record as one evidence ZIP for your files, your property manager, or small-claims court.

Turnover crews and cleaners: proof of work

The same workflow serves the other side of the transaction. Cleaning and maintenance crews use before/after pairs as proof-of-completion — attached to the invoice, they end “was it actually done?” conversations before they start. A crew lead documents a unit in five minutes: one job, one task per room, shoot-work-shoot.

A practical cadence

• Move-in: full unit sweep, share the report with the tenant on day one.
• Move-out: photograph before anyone works — same angles via the overlay.
• Post-work: after shots per deduction item, generate the report, attach it to the deposit statement.