California Move-Out Checklist Template
Fill in a short form and download a signature ready move-out checklist that follows California landlord tenant rules. California requires the landlord to return the security deposit within 21 days. The controlling statute, Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1940-1954; Civ. Code § 1950.5, is cited in the PDF header. This is a software product, not legal advice.
No account. One-time payment. Signature-ready PDF in five minutes.
If any of these sound like you.
- ·A tenant is moving out of your California property and you want a signed, itemized record of the unit's condition at move-in versus move-out.
- ·You want a deposit accounting with itemized deductions and the state-required return deadline already on the page.
- ·You want a single PDF to give the tenant, the bookkeeper, and your records, not three different spreadsheets.
California rules at a glance.
AB 1482 Tenant Protection Act caps annual rent increases at 5% plus local CPI (max 10%) for covered properties, strengthened by SB 567 effective April 1, 2024 (stricter owner-move-in, substantial-remodel, and withdrawal-from-rental-market grounds). Just-cause eviction protections apply to tenancies over 12 months. City-level rent-control and tenant-protection regimes apply in San Francisco (Rent Ordinance, SF Admin Code Chapter 37), Los Angeles (Rent Stabilization Ordinance, LAMC Chapter XV), Oakland (Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance), Berkeley, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and other opt-in cities. AB 2801 adds photographic documentation requirements for security deposit deductions (effective 2025 in two stages). AB 2747 adds a positive-rent-reporting opt-in for landlords of more than 15 units (effective April 1, 2025). AB 414 extended the AB 12 small-owner carve-out to LLCs whose members are all natural persons (effective January 1, 2026).
- Security deposit return
- 21 days
- Pay or quit period
- 3 days
- Month to month notice
- 60 days
The template mechanics.
The move out wizard generates a room by room condition report with deposit accounting. You enter the property, the tenants, the inspection date, and list each room with its condition at move in and move out, plus any deduction. LeaseKit produces a PDF that includes the deposit total, itemized deductions, the refund amount, and the California return deadline.
Honest limits.
LeaseKit is a document service built by a small team of legal researchers and developers, tailored to each state’s landlord tenant rules. For a move-out checklist in California, we assemble the clauses that belong in the document and fill in your details.
It is not a substitute for a licensed attorney on a specific dispute. Housing law changes year to year. Template content is based on publicly available rules as of early 2026. Verify the notice periods and caps against current California law before using the PDF for anything time sensitive.
Common questions.
When does California require the deposit to be returned?+
LeaseKit fills in the California return deadline on the checklist and calculates the refund after your itemized deductions. The deadline and the itemization rules come from the California statute.
Free templates exist. Why pay for this?+
Free blank templates are fine if you are comfortable researching which California clauses are mandatory, editing legal language yourself, and formatting the result for signature. This page generates a California-specific document with the required disclosures, caps, and notice periods already in place, as a signature-ready PDF. Pay $19 once, download, done.
Do you store my data?+
Submissions are HMAC signed and encoded in the URL, not saved to a database. No account. After you download, nothing about the submission is retained.
What if I need to make edits later?+
The PDF is a flat file once downloaded. If you want a revised version, run the wizard again with the updated inputs and download a fresh copy.
What landlords ask about CA
- What is the security deposit cap in California?
- California caps the security deposit at one month of rent. Reference: Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1940-1954; Civ. Code § 1950.5.
- How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in California?
- California requires the landlord to return the security deposit (or an itemized statement of deductions) within 21 days of the tenant vacating. Reference: Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1940-1954; Civ. Code § 1950.5. Missing the deadline can forfeit the landlord's right to withhold any portion of the deposit and, in some states, expose the landlord to double or treble damages.
- How much notice is required for a rent increase in California?
- California requires 30 days of advance notice for smaller rent increases and 90 days for larger increases. California specifically: 30 days for increases under 10% and 90 days for increases of 10% or more (Civ Code Section 827(b)).
- What is the late fee cap in California?
- California does not impose a specific statutory percentage cap on late fees. Courts generally require the fee to be reasonable and tied to the landlord's actual damages. Reference: Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1940-1954; Civ. Code § 1950.5.
- How many days is the pay-or-quit notice in California?
- California requires a 3-day pay-or-quit notice before an unlawful detainer or eviction filing can be initiated for non-payment of rent. Reference: Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1940-1954; Civ. Code § 1950.5.
- How much notice terminates a month-to-month tenancy in California?
- California requires 60 days of written notice to end a month-to-month tenancy. Reference: Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1940-1954; Civ. Code § 1950.5.
- What mandatory disclosures does California require in a lease?
- California leases must include these disclosures: Federal lead-based paint disclosure (pre-1978 units); Megan's Law registered sex offender notice; Bed bug disclosure (Cal. Civ. Code § 1954.603); Mold disclosure if known (Health & Safety Code § 26147); Demolition permit notice if applicable; Smoking policy disclosure (Cal. Civ. Code § 1947.5). Missing a required disclosure can invalidate the lease's enforceability on that point and sometimes on the lease as a whole. Reference: Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1940-1954; Civ. Code § 1950.5.
- Which California statute governs landlord-tenant law?
- AB 1482 Tenant Protection Act caps annual rent increases at 5% plus local CPI (max 10%) for covered properties, strengthened by SB 567 effective April 1, 2024 (stricter owner-move-in, substantial-remodel, and withdrawal-from-rental-market grounds). Just-cause eviction protections apply to tenancies over 12 months. City-level rent-control and tenant-protection regimes apply in San Francisco (Rent Ordinance, SF Admin Code Chapter 37), Los Angeles (Rent Stabilization Ordinance, LAMC Chapter XV), Oakland (Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance), Berkeley, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and other opt-in cities. AB 2801 adds photographic documentation requirements for security deposit deductions (effective 2025 in two stages). AB 2747 adds a positive-rent-reporting opt-in for landlords of more than 15 units (effective April 1, 2025). AB 414 extended the AB 12 small-owner carve-out to LLCs whose members are all natural persons (effective January 1, 2026). The primary citation used across LeaseKit templates for this state is: Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1940-1954; Civ. Code § 1950.5.