Move-Out & Deposit Returns
Return the deposit before the deadline
Pacific Rentals Pro runs the move-out end to end: an inspection you walk area by area with photos, a signed report your tenant receives in their portal, an itemized statement, and the ledger postings behind it. Your state's return deadline is calculated from the move-out date — all 50 states and DC — and you're emailed as it approaches, because missing it is what turns a legitimate deduction into a penalty.
Start FreeFour steps, in order
Mark the move-out
Enter the move-out date and the reason — lease ended, broke the lease, abandoned, evicted, mutual agreement. The deposit and pet deposit come straight off the lease, so there's no figure to look up, and your state's return deadline is calculated the moment you save.
Walk the unit
Add an area, pick its condition, type the deduction and a note the tenant will read, and attach photos. Photos come off your phone — HEIC included — and are resized on the way in, so a dozen shots per room is normal rather than painful. Add as many areas as the unit needs.
Sign and send
Sign by drawing or typing your name. The app builds the inspection report as a PDF with your photos embedded, the deposit arithmetic, both signature blocks and a disclaimer naming your state and due date, then emails every tenant on the lease a link to it.
Record the return
Enter how you sent it — check, bank transfer, Zelle, other — the reference and the date. You get the itemized statement as its own PDF, the ledger postings happen, and the deadline reminders stop.
The deadline is the whole game
Most deposit disputes aren't lost on whether the damage was real. They're lost on the calendar. Miss the window and many states hold that you forfeit every deduction — then add penalty damages on top, double the deposit in some states, triple plus costs in others.
It's a calendar problem more than a legal one. Move-outs cluster at month-end, the walkthrough slips a week, the contractor's estimate takes another, and a 21-day state has you at day 19 with nothing sent.
So the date is computed when you mark the move-out, and the reminders arrive on a ladder — ten days out, five, two, the day itself, and again if it passes. Each one names the tenant, the property and the amount you're holding. They stop the moment you record the return.
See the deadline in all 50 statesReminder ladder
- 10 days outTime to finish the walkthrough and price the work
- 5 days outEstimates in, deductions decided
- 2 days outStatement and payment ready to go
- Due todayLast call before the window closes
- OverdueKeeps arriving until you record the return
Leases that renewed instead of ending are skipped, so a renewal never triggers a deposit reminder.
What your tenant sees
Nothing, until you sign and send. Then their portal becomes a move-out view.
The report, in full
Every area you recorded, its condition, your note, the deduction, and the photographs — not a figure they have to take on trust. Plus the deposit held, the deductions and the refund due.
A signature, not an agreement
They sign to confirm they've seen it. The screen says so in those words. You get a dated record that the itemization reached them, and their copy of the PDF is regenerated carrying their signature.
Their forwarding address
They enter it themselves — street, city, state, ZIP — and you're emailed the moment it arrives. No chasing it by text after they've gone.
The half nobody tells you about
A deposit you're holding is not income — it's the tenant's money in your keeping. The part you keep at move-out is. Most landlords book both the same way and either overstate their income for years or understate it in the year it matters.
Recording the return posts both sides correctly: the retained amount as income, the refunded amount as a non-deductible expense so it never shows up as a write-off it isn't. Your Schedule E export then counts the right things without you having to remember which is which. If you took the deposit before you started using the app, it offers to record that too, so the money has a beginning as well as an end.
What it doesn't do
Worth knowing before you sign up rather than after.
It doesn't move the money
You send the refund your usual way and record how and when. Your tenant's deposit never passes through us.
It doesn't post the mail
Where your state requires certified delivery to the forwarding address, that trip is still yours.
It isn't legal advice
The deadlines and notes are general information. Your state's requirements are yours to verify.
Security deposit FAQ
How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit?
It depends on the state — from 10 days to 60, with most falling between 21 and 30. Pacific Rentals Pro carries the deadline for all 50 states and DC, applies it to your move-out date automatically, and emails you as the date approaches. Several states also attach conditions the date alone doesn't capture, which is why each state's note travels with the deadline rather than just the number.
What has to be on an itemized deposit statement?
Each deduction on its own line with a specific description rather than a lump sum, the deposit you held, the total deducted, and the amount being returned. The statement the app produces lists every deduction you recorded with its area and note, the security and pet deposits held, the total, the amount returned and how you sent it. The inspection report that accompanies it carries the photographs.
Does the app send the refund money?
No, and deliberately. You send the money the way you already do — check, bank transfer, Zelle — and record how and when you sent it. The app's job is the documentation and the deadline, not holding your tenant's money. Nothing is mailed for you either, so where your state requires certified delivery to a forwarding address, that posting is still yours to do.
Does the tenant have to agree with the deductions?
No. The tenant signs to confirm they have seen the report, and the app says so in those words on the signing screen — acknowledgement is not agreement. They can also add their forwarding address, which you're emailed about the moment it arrives. What the signature gives you is a dated record that the itemization reached them, which is the thing most often disputed.
What happens if the deductions exceed the deposit?
The refund shows as zero rather than going negative, and the statement reflects that. Pursuing a shortfall beyond the deposit is a separate matter the app doesn't track — it documents the deposit accounting, not a debt.
How does a retained deposit affect my taxes?
A security deposit you're holding isn't income — it's the tenant's money in your keeping. The portion you keep at move-out is. The app posts those two differently: the retained amount lands as income, the refunded amount as a non-deductible expense, so your Schedule E export counts what it should and leaves out what it shouldn't. That split is the part most spreadsheets get wrong.
Your deposit case is built on paper, not memory
Photographs, a dated itemization your tenant has seen, and a deadline you didn't have to remember. Free to start, and the move-out tools are there from the first lease you add.
Get Started FreeAlso see everything else PacRent does for landlords who self-manage.