Three California laws can turn one move-out into a four-figure judgment: AB 2801 photo rules, the 21-day deposit deadline, and AB 1482 rent caps. RentGuard turns all three into guided workflows that take minutes and leave a court-ready paper trail.
Free forever, no account needed. Not legal advice.
None of this is about being a bad landlord. It's about paperwork nobody told you had a deadline.
California now requires photographs at move-in, at move-out, and after any repair you charge for, delivered with the itemized statement. Miss the photos and the deduction is unenforceable, no matter how real the damage was.
You have 21 days from move-out to deliver an itemized deposit statement. Bad-faith violations carry statutory damages of up to twice the deposit, on top of the deposit itself.
Most increases are capped at 5% + regional CPI, never above 10%. The CPI figure changes annually and varies by metro region — and in rent-controlled cities, a stricter local ordinance overrides it entirely.
Not property management software. No rent collection, no tenant screening — just the compliance work that carries real penalties.
A room-by-room checklist per unit, three capture events per tenancy. Every photo is stamped with a server-side timestamp, the device timestamp, GPS, and a SHA-256 hash of the file — tamper-evidence that stands up when the tenant says you took the photo last week.
Move-out starts a countdown with escalating reminders at day 7, 14, 18, and 20. The deduction builder makes each line item carry its own photo pair and receipt, then generates the itemized statement PDF with the photos embedded. Included on every paid plan — we don't paywall the deadline that gets people sued.
The free calculator answers one question once. On a paid plan it's attached to your units, remembers the last increase date, and warns you before you break the rolling 12-month rule.
In Los Angeles, Santa Ana, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Santa Monica and two dozen more California cities, AB 1482 is not your cap. A stricter local ordinance is — with its own percentage, its own registration rules, and its own notice filing.
The calculator stays free forever. Paid plans add the photo engine, the deposit workflow, and no ads.
Every new account starts with one free month of Premium. Referring a friend earns more.
$3.99/mo Essentials or $6.99/mo Premium — locked for as long as you stay subscribed, not just for an introductory period. The early-bird window closes {date}.">RentGuard is in build. Join the waitlist and you'll be offered the early-bird rate — $3.99/mo Essentials or $6.99/mo Premium, or $45/$75 a year — locked for as long as you stay subscribed, not just for an introductory period. We'll email you when spots open.