How Your Move-In Inspection Can Protect Your Security Deposit
If you’re anything like most people, housing costs represent a huge chunk of your monthly budget. On top of that, moving can be both a stressful and expensive affair. In my experience, as the lease concludes, the final discussions related to the security deposit can be stressful!
With the end of the business relationship, and passage of time, the landlord and the tenant may have different views about the property’s condition.
For this reason, I have always breathed a sigh of relief when I got my security deposit back after a move or short-term rental stay.
Now, as an experienced attorney and real estate agent, I am often on the other side, walking through vacation properties to determine whether any significant damage after a guest leaves. So, I have considered the important steps involved in this process on both sides - as Christine Leonard, Esq., attorney/real estate agent/vacation rental property owner - or as short-term rental guest or tenant.
Over the years, I moved around a lot and rented a lot of apartments. In various roles, I’ve also leased commercial space as the head of an organization. Despite all the other busy tasks associated with any move, I have observed the significance of a careful review of the contract terms before signing a lease, especially the security deposit. It is so important to document any concerns with the property when moving in (and get a receipt for the security deposit).
In my experience, the move-in inspection is crucial. As I’ve outlined below, it is so important to maintain good documentation. It’s the first step to be in the best possible position to get the full security deposit back when the lease ends.
What is a Move-In Inspection?
First up, take time to understand what a move-in inspection actually entails. Most people do a walk-through of a home or apartment prior to signing a rental agreement. This is a great first step to take, but a simple tour isn’t the same as a proper move-in inspection.
The key difference? Documentation, documentation, documentation!
During a move-in inspection, you and the landlord or property manager will create an official record of the rental’s condition. That sounds complicated, but it really isn’t. Just follow the simple steps below.
1. Review the Lease Agreement First
Prior to doing the actual inspection, get a copy of your lease agreement and give it a thorough read. You’ll likely find various disclosures about the property’s condition—like the federally mandated lead paint disclosure. Other disclosures will depend on specific state laws or your landlord’s discretion.
According to Nolo, many states require landlords to provide a “move-in checklist.” If you don’t find this information online from a government website, you can contact a local real estate attorney. If present, this part of the lease agreement should document any existing damage to the rental. You should also check your state and local regulations as far as the rules for security deposits and specific regulations that apply in your area.
When you do the move-in inspection, have a comprehensive checklist handy so that you can go over each individual item.
2. Inspect the Property
After reviewing the lease, it’s time to create a checklist and to prepare for the inspection. To do it right, do a detailed walk-through of the home or apartment to check everything out. If your lease agreement includes a move-in checklist, make sure to look at each item on the list to ensure that they’re all correct. Stessa has good examples of what a move-in checklist should include based on the specific criteria of the property. Beyond that, you should also make your own checklist. If helpful, you can use our Apartment Inspection Checklist as a starting point. Ideally, with the landlord or property manager present, take time to inspect all of the following:
● The basics like floors, walls, ceilings, windows, and doors
● Test all appliances including refrigerators, washers, dryers, stoves, dishwashers, and microwaves
● Plumbing—not just sinks (look underneath too), toilets, and showers, but also outdoor spigots and exposed piping in basements or utility areas
● Test the lights and replace bulbs, if needed, to check whether socket works
● Check HVAC systems (both heat and air conditioning)
● Storage areas such as attics, basements and even closet/cabinet interiors
● Exterior spaces like yards, patios, garages, or sheds
As you do your inspection, make sure to take photos or videos—with timestamps—to back up your documentation. Keep in mind that landlords may take a harder look at the property after a tenant departs.
In my experience as an attorney and tenant, I recommend a video walkthrough. Why? Because it’s really easy to overlook or forget small details. If I pan around with the phone, video footage will capture everything.
This is exactly what happened to me with one of my first rentals. I was getting ready to sign the lease on a great apartment in a new city, and I rushed through the move-in inspection. While taking a video during the final walkthrough, I missed a small hole in the veneer in the bathroom door.
The video footage on my phone didn’t miss this detail, however. Without that video, I probably wouldn’t have gotten my security deposit back.
If you are looking for a helpful Move-In Inspection Checklist? Here is the Apartment Inspection Checklist PDF from ApartmentHomeLiving.com
3. Communicate with Your Landlord
Once you’ve finished the inspection, send any notes, photos, or video to your landlord immediately along with any questions that might have come up along the way. Ask the landlord to sign and date the checklist so that you have written documentation that certifies their acknowledgment of the property’s condition. In my experience, it’s better to even have a photo of the signed checklist and not rely on any verbal agreements.
4. Make Backup Copies
In my case, the entire documentation process was digital, from reviewing the initial draft of the lease to signing the final copy, so this step was easy. I did all the paperwork on my laptop, then uploaded everything to cloud storage to prevent disaster in case the laptop got lost, broken, or stolen. It’s a good idea for you to follow the same practice as me, as a real estate investor and broker, I keep paper and digital versions of the lease agreement, photos, correspondence and move-in inspection notes.
How a Move-In Inspection Protects Your Security Deposit
Hopefully you’ll never need the documentation that you collected during your move-in inspection. The reality is, both landlords and tenants usually want the move-in, rental, and move-out processes to proceed as smoothly as possible. With any move, things can get bumpy—and that’s why it’s important to have a plan with your move-in inspection to protect yourself upon moving out.
1. You Can Avoid Paying for Pre-Existing Damage
This is how my documentation saved me. Remember that small hole in the bathroom door that I didn’t notice? I don’t think my landlord had ever noticed it, either, since it wasn’t on my move-in checklist.
However, when I moved out, the property management company saw it and notified me that they’d be keeping my security deposit to purchase a replacement door.
I wasn’t particularly interested in paying for a very expensive door that I didn’t damage. I looked through my video walkthrough—timestamped a couple of weeks prior to my move-in day. Sure enough, even though I hadn’t called out the damage, I had captured the damage on the video.
I sent timestamped screenshots of the video to the property manager to point out that the hole was there before my time, and that ended the dispute. The property manager agreed that the damage pre-existed me, and I got my security deposit back. If I had not created that video, I would have been stuck in a long disagreement about whether I needed to pay for a new door.
2. You Can Clarify Normal Wear and Tear
To keep your security deposit, you’ll need to prove that any damage to the floor is due to “normal wear and tear,” which is the landlord’s responsibility, not yours. This can be a controversial issue, especially if the tenant is allowed to have pets. For example, I had a landlord who wanted to keep the security deposit in order to replace the living room carpet.
Once again, since I had a cat, I was relieved to have the documentation (and landlord’s acknowledgement) of photos taken during the move-in inspection. I had also taken a video of the same area when I moved in. Thankfully, this proof was sufficient to end the carpet complaint and I got my deposit back.
Photos or videos can show any wear and tear that pre-existed your tenancy, which will allow you to argue that any additional deterioration is the result of normal wear and tear—and in most places, that is the landlord’s financial burden, not yours. However, this is why everyone should review the local rules that apply at the start of the lease - rather than the end!
3. Documentation Keeps Everyone Accountable
Ultimately, during any move, the goal is to make the process as seamless as possible—and to get that full security deposit back, if you can. Having your move-in inspection at the ready helps you accomplish this feat. You can use it to dispute any items where there is disagreement and resolve issues more quickly.
The move-in inspection can also serve as protection against assertive landlords. If they know that you’ve documented the property’s condition properly with sufficient detail, they’ll be less likely to try and make unfair claims in order to keep your security deposit.
Make Move-In Inspections a Priority
As you can see, it is really important to spend an adequate amount of time and effort to do a move-in inspection the right way. The most important thing to remember is to be thorough when reviewing the lease agreement and documenting the property’s condition. Don’t skip these steps—it could help you get your security deposit back, which will mean a lot of time and money saved. And you will even breathe more easily with a little extra money to spend on your next place!
