California is one of the few states where a tenant can ask to see, before leaving, exactly what the landlord intends to deduct from the deposit, and fix it first. The statute calls that walkthrough an "initial inspection". Here is who has to offer it, when it can happen, what the written list must contain, and how it connects to the photographs AB 2801 now requires.
The walkthrough is the only moment when a deduction is still a warning instead of a bill.
General information about California law (Civil Code § 1950.5, AB 2801), not legal advice.
It is the walkthrough Civil Code § 1950.5(f) calls an "initial inspection": at the tenant's request, the landlord looks at the unit before the tenant leaves and lists in writing the repairs and cleaning that could be deducted from the security deposit. The tenant then has until the end of the tenancy to take care of them.
The landlord is required to notify the tenant in writing, within a reasonable time after either party gives notice that the tenancy is ending, that the tenant may request a walkthrough and be present for it. The walkthrough itself only happens if the tenant asks; a tenant who does not ask keeps every other right, including the right to contest deductions later.
General information about California law, not legal advice. The statute wording prevails over any summary.
No earlier than two weeks before the end of the tenancy, at a time the parties agree on, with at least 48 hours of written notice from the landlord unless the tenant waives it in writing. The tenant has the right to be present, and the landlord leaves a written list of what could still be deducted.
Either party gives notice. From that moment the landlord owes the tenant a written reminder of the walkthrough right.
The tenant asks, in writing for the record. The landlord proposes a date and time in the last two weeks of the tenancy.
Landlord and tenant go through the unit together, belongings still in place. The landlord notes visible condition and cleanliness, room by room.
The landlord hands over the itemized statement of proposed repairs and cleaning, or leaves it in the unit if the tenant is absent.
Until the last day, the tenant can clean and repair the listed items, consistently with the lease, and photograph the result.
Once the unit is empty, the landlord photographs it before any cleaning or repair (AB 2801) and settles the deposit within 21 days.
Fix or clean what the list identifies, within the rules of the lease, before returning the keys, and keep dated photographs of every item once done. What is corrected by move-out cannot be deducted; what the walkthrough could not see because of belongings, or what happens between the walkthrough and the last day, can still be assessed on the empty unit.
Treat the list as the deduction bill in draft. Every item you correct and photograph before the keys go back comes off it. Keep your own dated photos of the empty, cleaned unit on the last day: they are your side of the AB 2801 record.
Write the list the way you would want to read it in a dispute: element, location, what is wrong, what would fix it. A vague list invites a vague argument. And the list does not replace the move-out photographs the law now requires.
A walkthrough with a precise list ends most deposit disputes before they start.
AB 2801 requires photographs of the unit at move-out before any cleaning or repair, and after the repairs, for any deduction, on top of move-in photographs for tenancies that started on or after July 1, 2025. The walkthrough is the moment both sides see what those photographs will show, while the tenant can still change it.
The walkthrough is a conversation. The photographs are the evidence. California now expects both.
Both parties can photograph, and both should. A record produced by an independent third party, in the same structure as the move-in record, is the one neither side can accuse of choosing its angles, and the one that compares element by element with day one.
The walkthrough is one step of the move-out. The full sequence, the photographs before repairs, the 21 day statement, and the line between wear and damage each have their own guide.
Primary texts and official guidance this guide is based on. Verify against them: the law changes, this page is general information, not legal advice.
Scoutmyplace produces independent move-out condition reports across Los Angeles, in the same structure as the move-in record: every room documented with timestamped photos and video by a trained scout with no stake in the deposit, delivered within 24 hours, inside the 21 day window.