California rewrote its deposit law more in the last two years than in the previous two decades. If what you know predates 2024, it's wrong now: AB 12 slashed the deposit cap, and AB 2801 did something no other state has done — made photographic documentation of unit condition a legal requirement. Everything lives in Civil Code §1950.5, as amended.
How much can a landlord charge?
Since July 1, 2024: one month's rent, furnished or unfurnished — the old two-month/three-month structure is gone. Everything collected as security counts toward the cap, however it's labeled: pet deposits, key deposits, cleaning fees. One narrow exception: small landlords (natural persons owning no more than two rental properties totaling four units) may charge up to two months — but never to active-duty service members. Deposits lawfully collected before the effective date didn't have to be refunded down, but every new lease must comply.
The photo mandate — AB 2801
This is the landmark. California landlords are now required by law to photograph the unit:
- At move-in (tenancies beginning on or after July 1, 2025) — establishing the baseline condition;
- At move-out (as of April 1, 2025) — immediately after the tenant vacates, before any cleaning or repairs;
- After repairs — documenting that deducted-for work was actually performed.
The photos must be provided to the tenant along with the itemized deduction statement. A landlord who can't produce them has a deduction problem; a tenant reviewing deductions is now entitled to see the evidence. California has effectively written into statute what deposit disputes always turned on: condition evidence, at both ends of the tenancy.
The 21-day clock and the receipts rule
Within 21 calendar days of the tenant vacating, the landlord must return the deposit balance with an itemized statement — and for any single deduction over $125, attach receipts or invoices. Tenants may also request an initial (pre-move-out) inspection in the final two weeks of tenancy, after which the landlord must provide a list of proposed deductions — giving the tenant a chance to fix issues before they become charges. Items not identified there (and not hidden by the tenant's belongings) are hard to deduct later.
What can be deducted — and the penalty
Unpaid rent, cleaning to return the unit to move-in cleanliness, and repair of damage beyond ordinary wear and tear. Bad-faith retention exposes the landlord to statutory damages of up to twice the deposit on top of the amount owed (§1950.5(l)) — with “bad faith” meaning knowing or reckless disregard, and thin documentation plus inflated claims being exactly the pattern courts read as bad faith.
Why California just made the case for sealed documentation
Notice what AB 2801 assumes: that photos decide these disputes. The legislature is right — and it's also why ordinary photos are about to become the battleground. The statute requires photographs; it can't make them trustworthy. A camera-roll image's timestamp is editable metadata, and when a landlord's “move-out photo” and a tenant's memory disagree, the fight just moves from whether photos exist to whether they're honest.
That's precisely the gap SealMove closes — for both sides. Every photo and video is cryptographically sealed on the phone the instant it's captured, independently timestamped, and locked with Face ID into a tamper-evident archive that satisfies the documentation duty and survives the credibility fight. Landlords: your AB 2801 compliance photos become unchallengeable. Tenants: your own sealed baseline means you're never at the mercy of the landlord's album. Either party sends the other a report to review and acknowledge — no app required.