Free Rental Inspection Checklist for Move-In and Move-Out
Walk the unit room by room and rate each item Good, Fair or Poor at move-in. Keep the draft, open it again at move-out, and rate the same items in the column next to it: anything that got worse is listed with its note and photo reference. Use routine-visit mode for a check during the tenancy. Add or remove rooms and items, then print it for both signatures, save it as a PDF or download a CSV.
A record of the unit's condition, not legal advice. Security deposit rules, deadlines and what counts as damage are set by the lease and your state's law.
What the rental inspection checklist covers
Every room, your layout
Entry, living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and the whole home to start with. Add more bedrooms and bathrooms, a dining room, laundry, garage or patio, rename them ("Bedroom 2, street side"), reorder them, and remove what the unit does not have.
Room-by-room items
Walls, ceiling, floor, doors, windows, blinds, lights and outlets in every room; cabinets, counters, sink and appliances in the kitchen; toilet, tub or shower, tiles and fan in the bathroom. Remove any item or add your own.
Move-in and move-out side by side
Two columns per item, Good, Fair, Poor or N/A, so the move-out inspection is a comparison with what both sides signed at move-in, not a memory of it.
Notes and photo references
A note per item ("scuff 10 in, left of the window") and the file name or number of the photo that shows it. Photos stay on your phone; the checklist points to them.
Whole home and safety
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, heating, air conditioning, the water heater, peeling paint and pests, plus the keys, fobs and remotes handed over and the meter readings.
Changes, remarks and signatures
A list of everything rated worse at move-out, your remarks on agreed repairs or disputes, and signature lines for tenant and landlord at move-in and again at move-out.
How to do a move-in and move-out inspection
Do the move-in inspection with the tenant before the furniture goes in, when every wall and floor can be seen. Go room by room in the same order every time, rate each item, and write a note for anything that is not Good: what it is, where, how big. Take a photo of it and type the photo's number next to the note. Both sides sign the printout and keep a copy.
At move-out, open the same draft (it stays in this browser) or a copy of the CSV, walk the rooms in the same order, and rate the move-out column. Items rated worse than at move-in are listed for you, with the move-in note beside them, so the conversation is about what changed rather than about what anyone remembers. Sign again.
Routine visits during the tenancy use one condition column instead of two. Before any visit, check the notice the lease and your state's law require. For housing built before 1978, the EPA lead disclosure rule applies before the lease is signed: the landlord gives the tenant the "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home" pamphlet, discloses known lead-based paint and hazards, and includes a Lead Warning Statement; leases of 100 days or less and zero-bedroom units are among the exceptions.
Buying, not renting? The home inspection checklist is for a buyer's walk-through of a house, system by system.
Repairs to track after the inspection? Log them per unit with the maintenance log template.
Rental inspection, home inspection, punch list
- Rental inspection checklist
- This page: the condition of a rented unit at move-in, at move-out and on routine visits, signed by tenant and landlord so both have the same record.
- Home inspection checklist
- A buyer's or agent's walk-through of a house before purchase: roof, foundation, plumbing, electrical and heating, with questions for the seller and the inspector. Use the home inspection checklist for that.
- Professional inspection
- A paid visit by a qualified inspector, or a city rental inspection where your city runs one. This checklist does not replace either.
- Punch list
- The list of unfinished or faulty work at the end of a construction or renovation job, before the contractor is paid in full.
Tips for a checklist that settles disputes
Photograph before the furniture
Walls, floors and carpets are clearest in an empty unit. Photograph each room from the doorway, then close-ups of anything not Good, and type the photo numbers into the checklist.
Be specific in notes
"Burn mark 2 in, counter right of the stove" can be compared at move-out. "Some wear in the kitchen" cannot.
Test the smoke alarms
The U.S. Fire Administration recommends smoke alarms inside and outside each bedroom and sleeping area and on every level of the home, tested monthly. Press the test button on each one during the walk.
Same order, same items, both times
Walk the rooms in the same order at move-in and move-out and keep the same items. That is what makes the two columns comparable.
More for agents and property managers: property inspection notes by voice, tips for new real estate agents.
Sources
Walking the unit? Talk instead of typing.
Record yourself in ParrotNotes as you go room by room ("bedroom two, carpet stain by the closet, about the size of a hand") and get a transcript and a summary to copy into the notes here, so nothing you said in the first room is forgotten by the last.
Get Started FreeRelated tools
- Home Inspection ChecklistWalk a house room by room with a printable home inspection checklist: roof, structure, plumbing, electrical, HVAC and more, with notes and a PDF to share.Open the tool
- Maintenance Log TemplateKeep a maintenance log for equipment, vehicles or a building, with date, asset, work done, parts, hours and who did it, then print it or download a CSV.Open the tool
- Work Order TemplateFill in a work order with the customer, job site, tasks, labor, parts and sign-off, then print it or save it as a PDF.Open the tool
- Punch List TemplateMake a punch list for a walk-through with location, item, trade, priority and status on each line, to print, copy or export as CSV.Open the tool