Move-out checklist for tenants: notice, cleaning, walk-through and your deposit

A move-out checklist is the tenant’s plan for the last weeks of a lease, from the notice letter to the key handover. It ends with the same condition form you signed at move-in, now filled in for the day you leave.

The checklist matters because of the deposit. Landlords may generally deduct for damage and extra cleaning, not for the ordinary aging of a home, and the move-in record is how both sides tell the two apart.

A forwarding address is the address where you will receive mail after you leave, and the landlord needs it to send the deposit or a list of deductions. Give it in writing, even if you already said it out loud.

You, the tenant, run the checklist and send the notice. The landlord or property manager inspects the unit, signs the move-out column of the condition form with you, and sends back the deposit or an itemized statement. If your landlord has its own move-out form or cleaning list, ask for it early and use it alongside this one.

1. Find your signed move-in condition form and your move-in photos.
2. Read the notice clause in your lease, then send written notice with your move-out date and forwarding address.
3. Ask for a pre-move-out inspection if your state or lease offers one.
4. Clean and do small repairs, then take dated photos of every room once the unit is empty.
5. Do the final walk-through with the manager, sign the form, hand back the keys and get a receipt.

• Notice given by text or by phone when the lease asks for written notice.
• No forwarding address on file, so the deposit refund or deduction letter goes to the old unit.
• Leaving before the walk-through, so the landlord inspects with no one there to agree or object.
• Photos taken only at move-out, with nothing from move-in to compare them to.
• Keys left on the counter with no receipt showing how many were returned.

Start with the notice period in your lease and work backward. Most steps fall into the last month.

Aim for the condition written on your move-in form, not a showroom. In California, for example, cleaning deductions are limited to making the unit as clean as when you moved in (California Courts Self-Help Guide, Security deposits).

• Kitchen: inside the oven and fridge, stovetop and hood filter, dishwasher, cabinet shelves, sink and counters. Unplug and empty the fridge only if the lease says so.
• Bathrooms: toilet base and bowl, tub or shower walls, grout, mirror, vanity drawers, exhaust fan cover.
• Living areas and bedrooms: spot-clean walls, wipe baseboards, sills and window tracks, dust blinds, empty closets, vacuum or mop floors.
• Small repairs your lease allows: fill nail holes, replace dead bulbs, the HVAC filter and smoke detector batteries.
• Outside: empty the balcony, garage and storage unit, and put trash out under the building’s rules.

Normal wear and tear is the decline that comes from ordinary living, such as faded paint or light scuffs where furniture stood. In California, a landlord may deduct for damage beyond normal wear and tear caused by the tenant or guests, but not for that ordinary aging (California Courts Self-Help Guide, Security deposits).

Washington’s statute draws the same line: no deposit may be withheld for wear resulting from ordinary use of the home (RCW 59.18.260, Washington deposit and written checklist). Holes in walls, burns, broken fixtures and pet stains usually count as damage. Compare each item with your move-in form: anything written down on day one was there before you.

Ask for the walk-through on your last day, with the unit empty. Bring your copy of the move-in checklist so the manager fills in the move-out column against it.

1. Walk each room with the manager and read the move-in line before you look at the item.
2. Agree on each note, or write your objection next to it before you sign.
3. Record the final electric, gas and water readings with the date.
4. Return door keys, mailbox keys, fobs, garage remotes and parking permits, and get a signed key receipt.
5. Hand over your forwarding address in writing again, and keep a copy of the signed form.

Every state sets its own deposit deadline and notice rules, so check your state’s landlord and tenant law. Two examples show how different they can be.

In California, after a tenant gives notice, the landlord must say in writing that the tenant may ask for a pre-move-out inspection (California Courts Self-Help Guide, Security deposits). After move-out, the landlord has 21 days to return the deposit or send an itemized statement of deductions (California Courts Self-Help Guide, Security deposits). Deductions over $125 need copies of the invoices or receipts (California Courts Self-Help Guide, Security deposits).

In Florida, a landlord with no claim must return the deposit within 15 days after the lease ends (Florida Statutes 83.49, Deposit money or advance rent). A landlord who wants to keep part of it must send written notice of the claim within 30 days, by certified mail or by e-mail as the statute allows (Florida Statutes 83.49, Deposit money or advance rent). A landlord who misses that notice loses the right to make a claim on the deposit (Florida Statutes 83.49, Deposit money or advance rent). The tenant then has 15 days after receiving the notice to object in writing (Florida Statutes 83.49, Deposit money or advance rent).

If the deposit does not come back, California’s court guide suggests writing to the landlord first, then filing in small claims court (California Courts Self-Help Guide, Security deposits).

Your side of the checklist ends with a clean record. List each deduction with the amount, the reason and the receipt or estimate, then send it within your state’s deadline.

The photos from this walk-through become the starting record for the next tenant. Rekey the locks, check the utilities, and file the signed form with the lease, as the tenant document collection guide suggests for every tenancy.

• California Courts Self-Help Guide, Security deposits: In California the landlord must tell the tenant in writing, after notice, of the right to ask for a pre-move-out inspection, has 21 days after move-out to return the deposit or send an itemized statement, must attach receipts for deductions over $125, and may deduct cleaning only to move-in cleanliness and damage beyond normal wear and tear.
• Florida Statutes 83.49, Deposit money or advance rent: A Florida landlord must return the deposit within 15 days if it makes no claim, or send written notice of a claim within 30 days by certified mail or e-mail under s. 83.505; a landlord who misses the notice forfeits the right to impose a claim on the deposit; the tenant then has 15 days to object in writing.
• RCW 59.18.260, Washington deposit and written checklist: A Washington landlord may not collect a deposit without a written rental agreement and a written checklist of the unit’s condition at the start of the tenancy, signed and dated by landlord and tenant, with a copy to the tenant; a landlord who collects a deposit without the checklist is liable to the tenant for the deposit; no deposit may be withheld for wear from ordinary use.