For renters
The home inventory app built for renters
Your deposit is decided on move-in day, not move-out day. The hour you spend photographing a flat before you unpack is the evidence you will want back in twelve months. iFoundIt keeps those photos and your belongings in one place.
Free to download • Works offline
Protect your deposit
Dated move-in photos are what settle a disagreement about whether that scuff was already there.
Ready for renters insurance
A photo list of what you own is the documentation a contents claim asks for, and almost nobody has it.
Move-out made easy
When the lease ends, the inventory you already built becomes your packing list.
Free to use
No subscription to protect your own belongings. Download it and start.
Export a PDF
Send a clean report to your insurer or landlord, or keep it for your own records.
Works offline
Document a new flat on key day, before the broadband engineer has been anywhere near it.
What to photograph when you move into a rental
Deposit disputes are rarely about whether damage exists. They are about when it appeared. Your landlord says the carpet stain is yours. You think it was there when you arrived. With no dated record, that argument is decided by whoever sounds more certain, and that is usually not the tenant.
So the job on move-in day is narrow: prove the condition of the place before you own any of it. Do it before a single box comes in, because furniture hides exactly the things that get disputed later.
Photograph the damage that already exists. Walls, floors, ceilings, skirting boards. Scuffs, holes, chips, water stains. Get a wide shot for context and a close one for detail, because a close-up of a scratch with no reference point proves nothing about which room it was in.
Photograph everything that gets inspected. Inside and behind the fridge, the oven including the trays and the drip pans, the bath and shower seals, the window blinds, inside every cupboard and drawer, and the carpet in each room. These are the places deductions come from.
Photograph what should be working. Taps running, drainage, the extractor fan, radiators, smoke alarms. A photo does not prove function, but it does prove you looked on day one, and it dates the complaint if something turns out to be broken.
Then send them to the landlord. This is the step almost everyone skips and it is the one that matters. A photo on your phone is a claim. A photo emailed to your landlord on the day you moved in, with them acknowledging it, is evidence. Some places now put obligations on landlords too: California’s AB 2801, for example, requires landlords to take photographs around the tenancy before making deductions.
Do the same walk again on your last day, in the same order. Two sets of dated photos of the same flat, twelve months apart, ends most disputes before they start. For the belongings side of this, our guide to building a home inventory covers the rest, and the insurance page goes deeper on claims.
How it works
Photograph the place on move-in
Room by room, before the boxes come in, then email a copy to your landlord.
Add your belongings
Snap and tag what you own so renters insurance has something to work with.
Export when you need it
Generate a PDF for a claim, a landlord, or your next move.
How to protect your security deposit
None of this is difficult. It is just easy to skip on a day when you would rather be unpacking.
Do the walk before you unpack
Once the sofa is against the wall, you cannot photograph the wall. Move-in day is chaotic and this feels like the least urgent thing you could be doing. It is the only part of the day that is worth money later.
Make sure the date is provable
Your camera records a date, but a date in file metadata is easy to wave away. Emailing the photos to your landlord or to yourself on move-in day creates a timestamp nobody controls, which is a much stronger position.
Get it acknowledged in writing
A short email saying “here are the move-in photos, please confirm you have received them” is enough. If your landlord uses an inventory or check-in report, fill it in and keep your copy. A reply you can point at beats a folder of photos nobody has seen.
Photograph the boring surfaces
Deductions come from carpets, oven interiors, bath seals, and blinds far more often than from anything dramatic. Nobody argues about a hole in a door because it is obvious. They argue about whether a carpet was always that colour.
Repeat the walk on your last day
Same rooms, same order, same angles. A before and after pair is far more persuasive than either photo alone, and doing it in the same order makes it obvious to a third party that nothing has been left out.
Questions, answered
What should I photograph when moving into a rental?
Photograph existing damage on walls, floors and ceilings, then the places that get inspected: inside and behind the fridge, the oven and its trays, bath and shower seals, blinds, inside cupboards, and the carpet in every room. Take a wide shot for context and a close shot for detail, and do it all before any of your furniture arrives.
How do move-in photos protect my security deposit?
Deposit disputes are almost always about when damage appeared rather than whether it exists. A dated set of photos taken before you moved anything in shows the condition you inherited, which shifts the argument from memory to evidence. Sending them to your landlord on the day makes the date much harder to dispute.
Do I need to send the photos to my landlord?
It is the step that turns photos into evidence, so yes. A folder on your phone can be dismissed as taken any time. An email sent on move-in day, ideally acknowledged, creates a record neither side controls. If there is a formal check-in report, complete it and keep your own copy.
Why do renters need a home inventory?
Two reasons. It documents what you own for a renters insurance claim, which is the part people only think about after a burglary or a flood. It also makes moving out much faster, because the list you built when you arrived is the list you pack from when you leave.
Does iFoundIt work for renters insurance claims?
A dated, photo-based inventory with item details is the kind of supporting documentation insurers generally ask for, and you can export it as a PDF. Requirements vary between providers and policies, so confirm what yours expects before you rely on it.
Is it free for renters?
Yes. It is free to download and use on iPhone and Android, with no credit card and no item limit. Android is currently a direct APK download because there is no Play listing yet.
More ways to use iFoundIt
Protect your stuff and your deposit
Download iFoundIt free and document your place before you unpack a single box.
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