Free Move-In / Move-Out Inspection Form and Checklist Template

Most free inspection forms hand you a blank PDF and stop there. The blank is the easy part. What decides whether the form is worth anything six months later is how you fill it in, which fields you refuse to leave empty, and whether the photographs are attached to it.

This page gives you the template and the reasoning behind each part of it.

The form, section by section

1. Header — who, where, when

Field	Why it matters
Property address and unit	Identifies the record
Tenant name(s)	All adults on the lease, not just one
Lease start / end date	Establishes the period the record covers
Inspection date and time	The move-out date matters as much as the finding
Inspection type	Move-in, move-out, or both columns on one form
Present at inspection	Names of everyone who attended

The “present at inspection” line does more work than it looks like it does. If a dispute goes anywhere formal, who walked the unit and when is one of the first things asked.

2. Condition grid — one row per item

This is the body of the form. Use paired columns so move-in and move-out sit next to each other:

Item	Move-in condition	Move-in notes	Move-out condition	Move-out notes
Entry door and lock
Living room walls
Living room flooring
Kitchen countertops
Kitchen cabinets
Range / oven
Refrigerator
Dishwasher
Bathroom tub / shower
Bathroom toilet
Bathroom sink and vanity
Bedroom 1 walls / floor / closet
Bedroom 2 walls / floor / closet
Windows, screens, coverings
Smoke / CO detectors
HVAC and thermostat
Water heater
Keys, fobs, remotes (count)
Meter readings
Overall cleanliness

Use a fixed condition scale and define it on the form itself, so “fair” means the same thing to both parties: New / Good / Fair / Poor / Damaged.

For the full room-by-room item list, including exterior and seasonal items, use the rental inspection checklist.

3. Notes — where forms are usually wasted

The notes column is where a form either becomes evidence or stays paperwork. The rule: describe the specific thing, in the specific place, with a measurement or a count.

• Not “walls: fair” — but “living room, south wall: three nail holes, one 6-inch scuff behind sofa position”
• Not “carpet worn” — but “hallway carpet: traffic lane visible, no stains or burns, consistent with 3 years’ normal use”
• Not “kitchen dirty” — but “oven interior: baked-on residue on floor and door glass; hood filter greasy”

Write the notes as though the reader has never seen the unit, because that is exactly who will read them if this ends up anywhere formal.

4. Photographs — the part the form can’t do alone

Photographs are what make the notes checkable. The form should have a place to record, for each room, how many photos were taken and where they are stored.

• Wide shot first, then close-ups of anything noted
• Date-stamped, and keep the original files rather than screenshots
• Photograph undamaged surfaces too. The undamaged move-in photo is what proves that move-out damage is new — a photo you only think to take once there is damage to record is a photo taken too late.

5. Signatures

Field
Tenant signature and date (move-in)
Landlord / agent signature and date (move-in)
Tenant signature and date (move-out)
Landlord / agent signature and date (move-out)
Tenant forwarding address

Capture the forwarding address at move-out. In most states the deposit statement has to go there, and chasing it afterward is how deadlines get missed.

What happens to the form afterward

The move-out half of this form is the raw material for the security deposit disposition — the itemized statement of what you are deducting and why. Every line of that statement should trace back to a row in this form and a photograph attached to it.

That is the whole chain, and it only works if the first link was made properly:

Move-in form → move-out form → comparison → itemized deductions → refund.

Break the chain at the beginning and the end falls apart. A deduction with no move-in record behind it is an assertion, and the burden of proof generally sits with the landlord.

Paper, PDF, or something that does it for you

A printable form is fine, and for a single unit it may be all you need. It has two known failure modes worth planning around:

• The photos drift away from the form. Images end up on a phone, unlabeled and unattached, and by the time they are needed nobody can say which room photo 47 shows.
• The move-in copy goes missing. The move-out record is fresh; the move-in record is two years old and was a paper form in a folder in a car.

FoxInspect exists to close both gaps. The tenant completes the same walkthrough from a link on their own phone — no app download and no account — each photo is bound to the item it documents as it is taken, and the move-in and move-out records sit side by side automatically when the lease ends. For self-service move-ins where nobody is going to drive out with a clipboard, that is the difference between having a record and hoping you have one.

See how it works or start free — no credit card needed.

Before you use the form

• Is the item list identical to the one you will use at move-out?
• Is the condition scale defined on the form itself?
• Does every “Poor” or “Damaged” rating have a note and a photo?
• Has the tenant signed it, or have you documented that they were given the chance?
• Do both of you have a copy, and is yours somewhere you will find it in two years?

Answer those five and the form has done its job. The rest is walking the unit in the same order every time.