Move-in tip: take photos to protect your deposit.

To help protect your security deposit take photos of your rental before you move in. It only takes a few minutes.

With digital cameras today it is easy to document the condition of the rental before you move in so when check out time comes when you move out you have proof of the damage that was already existing before you got there.

Things to take pictures of would be the kitchen and bathrooms, get close-ups of the range and even inside the oven.

Also pictures of any existing damage or excessive wear on a carpet, water stain on the ceiling etc.

The nice thing about digital cameras is they automatically date the pictures. Just store them on your computer (back them up too) and see if you need them when you move out.