Renting / Move-in condition report
Move-in condition report
In New York, after you sign a lease and before you move in, your landlord must offer you an inspection. If you ask for one, you both sign a list of the damage already there, and the landlord can't later keep deposit money for anything on it. Make a room-by-room checklist for your apartment, print it, and take it to the inspection.
Available now, no account neededWhat the law says about your deposit
One month at most. A security deposit, or any rent paid in advance, can't be more than one month's rent. The exceptions are registered seasonal rentals and owner-occupied co-op apartments NY General Obligations Law §7-108(1-a)(a) · checked 22 Oct 2026.
The move-in inspection. After you sign the lease but before you move in, the landlord must offer you the chance to inspect the apartment with them or their agent. If you ask for it, you and the landlord sign a written agreement listing any defects or damage already there, and the landlord can't keep any of the deposit for the conditions it lists. The agreement can be used as evidence of the apartment's condition only in a dispute about the deposit NY General Obligations Law §7-108(1-a)(c) · checked 22 Oct 2026.
What can and can't be kept. The whole deposit must be refundable except for amounts the landlord can itemise: unpaid rent, damage beyond normal wear and tear, utilities the lease makes payable to the landlord, and the cost of moving and storing belongings you leave behind. The landlord can't keep anything for ordinary wear and tear, or for damage caused by a previous tenant NY General Obligations Law §7-108(1-a)(b) · checked 22 Oct 2026.
The move-out inspection. Within a reasonable time after either of you gives notice to end the tenancy, the landlord must tell you in writing that you can ask for an inspection and be there for it. This doesn't apply if you give less than two weeks' notice. If you ask, it takes place between two weeks and one week before the tenancy ends, with at least 48 hours' written notice of the time. The landlord then gives you an itemised statement of the repairs or cleaning they propose to charge for, and you can fix them before you leave NY General Obligations Law §7-108(1-a)(d) · checked 22 Oct 2026. Choose "Moving out" above to make a report for that inspection.
Fourteen days to return it. Within 14 days of your moving out, the landlord must give you an itemised statement of anything kept and return the rest. A landlord who doesn't loses the right to keep any of the deposit NY General Obligations Law §7-108(1-a)(e) · checked 22 Oct 2026. In a dispute the landlord must show that the amount kept is reasonable, and a wilful violation can cost punitive damages of up to twice the deposit NY General Obligations Law §7-108(1-a)(f), (g) · checked 22 Oct 2026. You can't sign these rights away: a lease term that waives them is void NY General Obligations Law §7-108(3) · checked 22 Oct 2026.
Rent-regulated apartments. The Attorney General's guide says the 14-day and inspection rules currently apply only to apartments that aren't rent-regulated. For a rent-stabilised or rent-controlled apartment, the landlord must return the deposit, less any lawful deductions, at the end of the lease or within a reasonable time after, whether or not you ask NY Attorney General: Residential Tenants' Rights Guide · checked 22 Oct 2026. An inspection report is still good evidence, so it's worth making one.
If the deposit isn't returned. Try the landlord first. If that fails, you can file a rent security complaint with the Attorney General's office NY Attorney General: Residential Tenants' Rights Guide · checked 22 Oct 2026.
More on deposits and fees: security deposits in our renting fees guide, and moving in and moving out in the step-by-step renting guide.
This is a checklist and a summary of the law, not legal advice.