Rental Inspection Checklist for Single-Family Owners

By Gary E. Wilson, President & Designated Broker, Wilson Management, Inc.

Almost every disputed deposit comes down to one missing document: a record of what the property looked like when the resident moved in. Without it, the landlord is asserting and the resident is asserting, and the deduction generally does not survive.

Washington ties this together explicitly. Where a deposit is collected, the landlord must provide a written checklist or statement describing the condition of the premises, signed by both parties, with a copy to the tenant. Skip it and the ability to withhold for damage is severely undermined.

These are the three inspections that matter and what each should cover.

This article is general information, not legal advice.

Move-in inspection

This is the document everything else depends on. Complete it at or before move-in, with the resident, and have both parties sign.

Every room

• Walls and ceilings — marks, holes, cracks, previous repairs
• Flooring — condition, stains, wear, damage, transitions
• Windows — glass, screens, locks, coverings and their operation
• Doors — condition, hardware, locks, hinges
• Light fixtures, switches, outlets and cover plates
• Heating and cooling registers or units

Kitchen

• Every appliance, tested and noted as working
• Cabinets and drawers, including runners and hinges
• Worktops and splashback
• Sink, taps, drain and disposal
• Extractor fan or hood, and the filter

Bathrooms

• Toilet — operation, seat, base seal
• Sink, taps, drain, stopper
• Bath and shower, including tiling, grout, seals and the door or curtain rail
• Extractor fan — tested, since this is the single most consequential item for moisture in this climate
• Mirrors, cabinets, towel rails

Systems

• Furnace or heat pump, with filter condition noted and last service if known
• Water heater — age, condition, any signs of leaking
• Electrical panel
• Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms tested, with the date recorded
• Laundry connections and any provided appliances

Exterior

• Roof condition from ground level, gutters and downspouts
• Siding, paint, trim
• Deck, patio, fencing, gates
• Driveway, paths, and any garage including door operation
• Yard condition, plantings, irrigation
• Crawlspace or basement where accessible

Keys and access

• Keys, remotes, mailbox key, association fobs — recorded by number

Photographs are the record

The written checklist is the required document. Photographs are what make it usable.

Photograph every room from multiple angles, plus close-ups of every existing mark. Systematic coverage matters more than photographing only the defects — a record showing five images of damage and nothing else establishes nothing about the twenty surfaces that were fine.

Note existing marks honestly. A property recorded as perfect is less credible, not more, and a resident who can point to one recorded imperfection that was overstated will challenge the rest.

Have the resident review the record, note anything they disagree with, and sign. That step is what converts your assertion into an agreed document, and it is the one most often skipped.

Periodic inspections

Residents report what inconveniences them. They do not report what is quietly costing you money.

A periodic interior inspection every six to twelve months finds the things that would otherwise surface as major repairs:

• Water damage or staining under sinks, around toilets, at shower seals
• Moisture or mould at window frames, in corners, in the bathroom
• Extractor fans that have stopped working
• Filters not changed
• Smoke alarm batteries removed
• Unauthorised pets or occupants
• Damage the resident has not reported
• Signs of unauthorised alterations

Entry requires proper notice for a permitted purpose. An inspection is not an exception to that, and a landlord who lets themselves in without notice has created a larger problem than whatever they found.

Exterior inspection needs no entry and should happen seasonally — gutters, roof, drainage, paint, decks, vegetation — ideally before the wet season.

Move-out inspection

Compare against the move-in record. Not against memory, and not against how a house looks when nobody has lived in it.

The distinction that decides disputes is wear versus damage.

Normal wear — not deductible:

• Carpet worn along a hallway or in front of a sofa after several years
• Paint dulled or lightly scuffed
• Minor nail holes from hanging pictures
• Faded window coverings
• Worn finish on taps and handles

Damage — deductible:

• Burns, tears, pet stains or odour in carpet
• Holes in walls beyond small nail holes, or unrepaired mounting damage
• Broken fixtures, appliances or windows
• Unauthorised paint or alterations
• Damage from neglect, such as mould from an extractor fan the resident disabled
• Missing keys, remotes or fobs

Owners routinely try to deduct for wear. Those deductions do not survive challenge — the resident paid rent for the use of the property, and use produces wear.

Photograph the same surfaces from the same positions as at move-in. Comparable images make a change self-evident; non-comparable ones invite argument about the angle.

Itemise each deduction with the supporting photographs and the actual cost of the remedy. A deduction supported by a dated before-image, a dated after-image and an invoice is not really disputable.

Returning the deposit

Return the balance within the statutory deadline with a written statement of what was withheld and why. That deadline was extended in recent years — our page on Washington security deposit law reflects the current requirement.

Missing the deadline can cost considerably more than the deduction was worth, which makes it one of the few genuinely unforced errors available in this process.

What makes a record hold up

Not all documentation is equal, and the difference only becomes apparent when it is challenged.

Provable dates. A photograph's value in a dispute comes from when it was taken. Images captured as part of a dated report carry weight; images pulled from a phone gallery months later invite argument about when they were actually taken.

Systematic coverage. Photographing only defects establishes nothing about everything else. Room-by-room coverage means the record can answer a question nobody anticipated.

Description with the image. A photograph of a worktop does not establish whether a mark is a stain or a shadow. A short written note does.

The resident's signature. A record they reviewed and signed is an agreed document. Unsigned, it is one party's assertion — and this is the single largest difference between a deduction that survives and one that does not.

Comparable framing. Photographing the same surfaces from the same positions at both ends makes a change self-evident.

If you are not local

Inspections are the part of ownership that is hardest to do from another state, and the part where absence costs most.

An owner who has not seen the property in two years is relying entirely on what the resident reports — and residents report what inconveniences them, not what is quietly damaging the building. A slow leak under a sink is an annoyance to them and a subfloor replacement to you.

For out-of-state and deployed owners, the inspection report with dated photographs is the property. It is the only reliable window into condition, and it is the difference between finding a moisture problem at its start and finding it when the flooring lifts.

Seasonal exterior checks

Exterior inspection needs no entry and no notice, which makes it the easiest inspection to actually do — and in this climate it prevents the most expensive failures.

Before the wet season (late summer to early autumn)

• Gutters and downspouts cleared, and downspouts discharging away from the foundation
• Roof inspected from ground level for lifted, missing or damaged shingles, and moss growth
• Flashings and penetrations checked where visible
• Exterior sealant and paint condition, particularly around windows and trim
• Drainage paths clear, and no ponding against the foundation
• Trees and branches overhanging the roof
• Crawlspace vents clear and screens intact

During winter

• After significant wind, a check for damage and debris
• Signs of water intrusion at ceilings and around windows
• Standing water where drainage has failed

Spring

• Moss treatment where growth has established
• Deck and fence condition after the wet months
• Gutters cleared again where trees are close

None of this requires access to the interior, and it catches the failures that otherwise arrive as a January emergency. Our post on emergency maintenance covers what those look like when they are not prevented.

Where to go next

Property Inspections covers how we build and use these records, and Single-Family Property Management covers the wider service.

To find out what your property should be renting for, request a free rental analysis.