CALIFORNIA AB 2801 · IN EFFECT NOW

Don't lose a
$5,500 deposit dispute
because you didn't have move-in photos.

California now requires dated photos at move-in, move-out, and post-repair. Miss one and you forfeit the entire deposit plus 2× statutory damages. Spaceledger turns every iPhone into a compliance machine — under two minutes per room, shared access for tenants and staff, every record court-ready.

Book a 20-min demo See how AB 2801 works
BUILT IN IRVINE SHIPPING NOW BOTH SIDES PROTECTED
avg per room
1m 28s
AB 2801
Compliant
21 / 34
Living Room
CAPTURE IN PROGRESS
Aim at the green dot
THE LAW · IN PLAIN ENGLISH

AB 2801 changed everything on April 1st.

California Civil Code §1950.5 was amended in 2024 by Assembly Bill 2801. As of April 2025, every California landlord must produce dated photographic evidence at three points in every tenancy. The bar moved. We built the tool.

The Statute
Assembly Bill 2801
Cal. Civil Code §1950.5
Signed into law SEP 2024
Photo requirement effective APR 1, 2025
Move-in photos required JUL 1, 2025
Applies to ALL CA LANDLORDS
Penalty for violation 2× DEPOSIT
01
Move-in photos
Photograph the unit immediately before, or at the inception of, the tenancy. Date-stamped, retained, and shareable with the tenant. This is the baseline that every future deduction is judged against.
Required for tenancies on or after Jul 1, 2025
02
Move-out photos
After the tenant returns possession but before any repairs or cleaning are done. This is the “before” in every “before-and-after” that justifies a deduction. Without it, you cannot withhold.
In effect as of Apr 1, 2025
03
Post-repair photos
After cleaning or repairs are completed. All three sets of photos must accompany the deposit return, with itemized invoices and a written cost breakdown, within 21 days of move-out.
In effect as of Apr 1, 2025
!
If you don't comply

You forfeit the entire security deposit, owe the tenant up to 2× the deposit amount in statutory damages, and pay the tenant’s attorney fees. Per unit. Per dispute. Every time.

HOW IT WORKS

Three steps. Nine seconds of judgment.

Spaceledger collapses move-in, move-out, and post-repair documentation into a single workflow that runs on the phones your team and tenants already own. No specialists. No tripods. No training day.

01
Invite to capture

From your dashboard, send a one-tap SMS or email to the tenant or field staff. They install the Spaceledger app and register an account — giving them ongoing access to view their own captures any time.

Install + register in 60s
02
Capture & tag

The capturer aims the iPhone at 34 guided dots, then taps any item or condition issue inside the 360° space to drop a tag with a written note. Date-stamped, geolocated, hash-verified, uploaded automatically.

1m 28s avg per room
03
Resolve disputes

When move-out comes, side-by-side compare against the move-in baseline. Tagged notes appear in context. Generate court-ready dispute reports with one click. Survive AB 2801. Win the small-claims case.

PDF in 60 seconds
tag
IN-SPACE TAGGING

Tag it. Note it. Settle it—years later.

Inside every captured 360° space, your team can drop a tag on any item or condition issue and attach a written note. The annotated record is hash-locked to the original capture — meaning the note is as legally defensible as the photo itself.

Pre-existing damage
Tag pre-existing scuffs, stains, or wear at move-in. Tenant signs off in-app. Disputes vanish.
Itemized deductions
At move-out, tag each deduction directly on the 360° record. Each tag links to the corresponding repair invoice.
Maintenance flags
Field staff tag maintenance issues during turn captures. Auto-routed to your work order system.
2841 OAK LN · LIVING ROOM
MOVE-IN · DAY 0
TAG · LEASING AGENT
Pre-existing scuff, ~3in, southwest wall
SEP 14 2025 · 10:42 AM · HASH-LOCKED
TENANT ACK
Maya Chen · Signed
PRICING

One price. Two ways to pay.

No tiers. No feature paywalls. No volume thresholds to navigate. Every customer gets the full product. Pay monthly to stay flexible, or pay annually and get two free months.

Pay Monthly
$2 per unit
per month

Month-to-month flexibility. Cancel anytime. $24 / unit / year equivalent.

Save 17%
Pay Annually
$20 per unit
per year

Pay once, locked in for 12 months. Save $4 / unit / year — 2 free months.

Example
3,000-unit operator
Monthly
$6K / mo
$72K / year
Annual prepay
$60K / yr
Save $12K
Breakeven
8 disputes
at ~$7,500 each covers the year
OPERATING 10,000+ UNITS?  Contact us for enterprise terms
QUESTIONS

Frequently asked.

Both. AB 2801 applies to every California landlord regardless of asset class. Spaceledger supports single-family rentals, small multifamily, and large apartment communities equally well. The capture flow is identical; only the dashboard organization changes.
Yes — and it works in their favor. Tenants install Spaceledger from the App Store and register a free account, which gives them ongoing access to their own move-in record. They can pull up the time-stamped baseline of their unit anytime — including during a move-out dispute 18 months later. Same evidence, both sides. That’s the AB 2801 fairness loop the law was written to enable. Install + registration takes under a minute.
Your leasing agents and field staff can capture the same way — from the same SMS link, on their own iPhones. We don’t require tenant participation; we just enable it. Most operators run a hybrid model: tenant-led for move-in (when they want their deposit protected), staff-led for move-out and turn.
Every capture is automatically time-stamped, geolocated to the property address, and hash-verified to prove it hasn’t been edited. Reports export as court-ready PDFs with the chain-of-custody documentation needed for AB 2801 compliance and small-claims-court admissibility. We’re not lawyers, and you should consult yours, but the documentation we produce meets the explicit requirements set out in §1950.5.
Spaceledger runs alongside your existing PMS without disruption. Captures and reports can be exported to PDF and attached to existing tenant records, or accessed via API for deeper integrations. We’re actively building native integrations for the major PMSs — ask us where we are with yours.
For a typical 1K–5K unit operator: under two weeks from contract signing to first capture. Onboarding involves importing your unit list, configuring your team accounts, and a 30-minute training session for your operations lead. The product itself requires no setup — it works the moment a tenant or staff member taps the link.
GET COMPLIANT

Book a 20-minute demo.

We'll walk you through your AB 2801 exposure, show you the platform, and give you a no-pressure quote based on your unit count. California operators only.

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