Sealed Claim Photo California Civil Code 1950.5

The photos the deposit law requires, sealed so they hold up.

California now requires landlords to photograph rental units at specific moments of every tenancy, and to hand those photographs to the tenant when deducting from the security deposit. Everyone tells you to take the photos. Nobody tells you how to prove them. This page explains both, from the statute's own text.

What Civil Code 1950.5(g) actually requires

The photograph requirements were added to Civil Code section 1950.5 by AB 2801 (2024). Both are already in force. The statute defines three required moments:

1. Move-in. For tenancies beginning on or after July 1, 2025: "the landlord shall take photographs of the unit immediately before, or at the inception of, the tenancy." (1950.5(g)(1))
2. Move-out, before repairs. Since April 1, 2025: photographs "within a reasonable time after the possession of the unit is returned to the landlord, but prior to any repairs or cleanings" that will be deducted from the deposit. (1950.5(g)(2))
3. After repairs. Photographs "within a reasonable time after such repairs or cleanings are completed." (1950.5(g)(2))

The photos must be delivered, and a link counts

When a landlord deducts for repairs or cleaning, the photographs are not optional records; they are part of the required documentation package sent with the itemized statement:

"If a deduction is made for repairs or cleanings allowed by this section, the landlord shall provide photographs taken pursuant to subdivision (g), along with a written explanation of the cost of the allowable repairs or cleanings... The landlord may provide such photographs to the tenant by mail, email, computer flash drive, or by providing a link where the tenant may view the photographs online." California Civil Code section 1950.5(h)(2)(D)

One narrow exemption: if total deductions for repairs and cleaning are $125 or less, the documentation package is not required unless the tenant requests it within 14 days of receiving the itemized statement. The subdivision (g) photographs must still be taken.

The burden sits on the landlord

Section 1950.5(m) places the burden of proof on the landlord for the reasonableness of amounts claimed against a deposit. The same subdivision exposes bad faith claims to statutory damages of up to twice the security, on top of actual damages, and section 1950.5(h)(7) strips a landlord of any claim to the security for bad faith noncompliance with the itemized statement requirements. Disputes can be brought in small claims court.

Put together: the landlord must produce photographs tied to specific moments, must hand them over, and must carry the burden when challenged. The tenant, holding move-in photos of their own, is in the mirror position: their evidence contests the deduction.

The problem the statute does not solve: proving the photos

The statute defines each photograph by its moment. A deduction dispute therefore turns on one question: can this photo be shown to match its moment? An ordinary phone photo cannot answer it. Its date lives in metadata that any free tool can edit, it can be a screenshot of an older image, and nothing ties it to the unit. Guides on AB 2801 photo requirements recommend organization, sequence, and backups. All useful, none of it proof. Advice about taking photos is protocol. Whether a photo's date can survive challenge is a different property entirely: tamper evidence.

What a sealed photo record is

A sealed photo is one whose proof is created at the shutter, not asserted afterward:

• Capture. A guided room-by-room walkthrough produces the required shots for each statutory moment, so nothing is missed and every photo is labeled by moment: move-in, move-out, post-repair.
• Seal. At capture, each photo is cryptographically sealed with its time and location: a mathematical fingerprint recorded immediately, so any later change to the image, the date, or the metadata is detectable.
• Verify. A permanent verification link lets anyone, including a tenant, a landlord, or a small claims judge, confirm each photo matches its seal. The same link format satisfies the statute's own delivery option in 1950.5(h)(2)(D): "providing a link where the tenant may view the photographs online."

The record is symmetrical. A landlord uses it to support a deduction with photographs whose moments are provable. A tenant uses it to lock in move-in condition before the tenancy starts. Both sides of the same handoff, same record.

Questions this page answers

Does AB 2801 require timestamped photos?

The statute's word is "photographs." It does not say timestamped. But because every required photograph is defined by its moment, a photo whose date can be proven answers the question a dispute will actually ask; a photo whose date is merely asserted does not.

Does this apply to all California landlords?

Section 1950.5 applies to security for residential rental property used as the tenant's dwelling. The photograph provisions contain no exemption by unit count.

Can a tenant use sealed photos too?

Yes. A tenant's own sealed move-in record documents pre-existing condition with a provable date, which is the exact question in most deduction disputes. Section 1950.5(e)(2)(A) bars claims for conditions that preexisted the tenancy.

How do you prove photos were not edited?

By sealing them at capture. A cryptographic seal recorded at the shutter makes any later alteration detectable and gives a third party a way to check. Nothing applied after the fact, no matter how carefully the photos are organized, can prove what the image looked like on the day it mattered.

Sealed Claim Photo is launching soon for California landlords and tenants: the required photos, sealed at capture, delivered with a verification link.