Move-In and Move-Out Inspections for San Antonio Rentals: The Documentation That Wins Deposit Disputes

The move-in inspection is not paperwork you do to be thorough. It is the evidence file you will hand a Bexar County JP judge if a former tenant sues you over their security deposit under Texas Property Code § 92.109 — and without it, you will usually lose, even when you are right about the damage.

Most San Antonio landlord losses in deposit cases are not about the law. They are about a landlord who charged $1,400 for carpet replacement with no move-in photo of the carpet, no move-out photo, and a one-line itemization that says "carpet damaged." The tenant shows up with a phone full of pictures. That is the whole case.

Why the inspection matters more in Texas than in most states

Texas does not require a landlord to conduct a joint move-in walkthrough. It does not require a state-issued condition form. It does not require pre-move-out notice of proposed deductions the way some states do. What it requires is on the back end: under § 92.104, if you keep any part of the deposit, you must deliver an itemized list of deductions and the balance within 30 days of the tenant surrendering the property and giving you a forwarding address. Under § 92.109, if you act in bad faith, you are on the hook for $100 plus three times the wrongfully withheld amount plus the tenant's attorney's fees.

The practical effect: the burden falls on you to prove the condition changed during the tenancy and that the change was beyond normal wear and tear. No baseline documentation, no proof. The inspection is the baseline.

The move-in condition form

The Texas Apartment Association (TAA) lease bundle includes an Inventory and Condition Form. If you are writing your own lease or using a shorter form, build one that covers, room by room:

• Walls, ceilings, and trim — note every nail hole, scuff, and paint defect
• Flooring — carpet stains, tile cracks, laminate seams, hardwood scratches
• Doors, locks, and hardware — including the deadbolt strike plate condition
• Windows, screens, and blinds — screens are the single most common move-out fight
• Appliances — model, serial, working status, existing dings
• HVAC — filter size, date last changed, condensate line condition
• Plumbing fixtures — running toilets, drain speed, caulk condition
• Smoke and CO detectors — location, tested, battery date (required functional under § 92.255)
• Yard, fence, and exterior — especially relevant in Converse, Cibolo, and Schertz where lot sizes run larger

Give the tenant 48 to 72 hours after move-in to add anything you missed and return the signed form. If they never return it, the form still stands as your baseline — but note in your file that you delivered it.

Photos and video, the right way

A phone camera dumps EXIF metadata (date, time, sometimes GPS) into every photo. That metadata is what makes the photo credible in a hearing. Do not screenshot, do not text photos to yourself in a way that strips the data, and do not upload to a service that recompresses. Store originals in a dated folder (cloud drive, not just the phone).

Walk the entire unit on video in one continuous take, narrating the date and address at the start. Then take stills of anything specific. Do both — a JP judge will believe the video before they believe a stack of photos that could be from any date.

Entry during the tenancy

Texas has no statutory notice-to-enter requirement. Your entry rights come from the lease. If your lease is silent, you have a problem — the tenant's right to quiet enjoyment will beat a surprise inspection every time. Write in a clause allowing entry with 24 hours' written notice for inspections, repairs, and showings, plus immediate entry for emergencies.

Do one interior inspection around month six, especially for tenants new to you. Look for unauthorized occupants, pets you did not approve, water leaks under sinks, and HVAC filter neglect. Document with photos and a short written report emailed to the tenant. This mid-lease record often becomes the bridge evidence between move-in and move-out condition.

The move-out inspection

Schedule it for the day after the lease ends, after the tenant has fully vacated and returned keys. Do not do a joint walkthrough with the tenant on move-out day unless you have to — you want a clean, unhurried inspection where you are not being pressured into on-the-spot concessions.

Repeat the move-in protocol exactly:

• Same room order, same angles where possible
• Video walkthrough with date narration
• Stills of every deduction item, with a tape measure or a common object in the frame for scale on carpet stains, drywall holes, and floor damage
• Photograph the meters (CPS Energy electric, SAWS water) so you have a final read if utilities were in the tenant's name

Within a few days, get written estimates or paid invoices for every repair you intend to deduct. A handwritten note that says "carpet $800" is not itemization. An invoice from a named vendor with an address and phone number is.

Tying it to the § 92.104 itemization

Your 30-day letter should list each deduction with: the item, the room, the cause (tenant damage vs. normal wear), the dollar amount, and a reference to attached documentation. Send it certified mail with return receipt to the forwarding address, and keep the green card. If the tenant never provided a forwarding address in writing, your 30-day clock does not start — but do not use that as a strategy. Mail it to the last known address anyway.

Normal wear and tear you cannot deduct: minor nail holes, faded paint after multi-year tenancy, worn carpet traffic paths, mineral deposits on fixtures from San Antonio's hard water. That last one catches new landlords — SAWS water runs hard, and etched glass shower doors after two years is wear, not damage.

What most people get wrong

• Skipping the move-in form because the unit is "obviously in good shape." The tenant will remember it differently in 14 months. Do the form every time, even on a brand-new build in Alamo Ranch.
• Charging for full carpet replacement when only one room was damaged. Carpet has a depreciable life (commonly 5–7 years for builder-grade). If the carpet was four years old and rated for seven, you can charge for the remaining three years of useful life, not the full replacement. JP judges know this.
• Deducting for "cleaning" without a professional invoice. "I spent 10 hours cleaning" at $50/hour is not going to fly. Hire an actual cleaner, get an invoice, deduct that.
• No mid-lease documentation on long tenancies. A tenant of three years who leaves damage will argue everything was pre-existing. Your six-month and eighteen-month inspection reports break that argument.
• Using the deposit to cover unpaid rent without itemizing. You can apply the deposit to rent owed, but you still have to itemize it in the 30-day letter under § 92.104. Silent retention is what triggers § 92.109 treble damages.
• Photographing without dates. Undated photos are worth roughly nothing. If your camera does not embed metadata, timestamp the images and photograph a dated newspaper or phone lock screen at the start of the walkthrough.

What the file should look like on move-out day

One folder per property, one subfolder per tenancy, containing: the signed lease, the signed move-in condition form, the move-in video and photos, any mid-lease inspection reports, all repair and maintenance invoices during the tenancy, the move-out video and photos, vendor estimates and invoices for deductions, the itemization letter, and the certified mail receipt. If that folder exists and is complete, the average deposit dispute never reaches a JP hearing — the tenant's attorney looks at what you have and advises settlement.

When you are ready to list the unit again, HomeFinder lets you post the rental at /list-your-home, and if you want a manager to run the inspection protocol for you, browse local property managers and agents at /agents. More landlord resources are collected at /resources.