Everything else on this site is about what happens after the keys go back. Section 1950.5(f) is the one part of the deposit statute that works before — a procedure that turns the final itemized statement from a surprise into a document the tenant has already seen in draft. It's the least-known provision in the section, and it's the one that can keep a dispute from ever starting.
What the landlord must offer
The duty starts with notice. Once a tenancy is ending — with limited exceptions for certain terminations — the landlord must tell the tenant, in writing, that they have the option to request an initial inspection, and that they may be present for it:
Within a reasonable time after notification of either party’s intention to terminate the tenancy, or before the end of the lease term, the landlord shall notify the tenant in writing of the tenant’s option to request an initial inspection and of the tenant’s right to be present at the inspection.
The inspection is the tenant's to request, not the landlord's to impose. If requested, it takes place no earlier than two weeks before the end of the tenancy, at a time the two sides attempt to agree on, with at least 48 hours' written notice of the date and time unless both sides sign a written waiver of that notice.
What the inspection produces
The walk-through isn't the point — the paper is. After the inspection, the landlord provides an itemized statement of the repairs and cleaning that would be the basis for deductions if nothing changed:
Based on the inspection, the landlord shall give the tenant an itemized statement specifying repairs or cleanings that are proposed to be the basis of any deductions from the security the landlord intends to make pursuant to paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of subdivision (b).
That statement is a preview of the one that will matter: the deductions the landlord intends to take, written down while there is still time to do something about them.
The point: a window to fix things
With the proposed deductions in hand, the tenant may remedy the identified conditions before the tenancy ends — clean what's listed, repair what's listed — and the deductions the landlord may later take are limited accordingly. What the final statement can still include: conditions the inspection couldn't see because the tenant's belongings were in the way, and conditions that arose after the inspection. Which is why the same two habits that matter on day 22 matter here — photographs at move-out, and a copy of everything.
If it was never offered
A landlord who skipped the written notice skipped a statutory duty. That doesn't by itself decide what happens to the deposit — the 21-day rules and the documentation requirements still govern the final statement, and what weight a court gives the missing notice is the court's call — but it is a fact, and facts about what the statute required and whether the landlord did it are what every deposit dispute is made of.
If the keys are already back and the 21 days are running, the questions change: what did the law require of your landlord by day 21, and did they do it. The free check answers both from your dates and your answers, in about two minutes.
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Day Twenty Two provides self-help legal information for California renters, not legal advice. Statutory citations are to California Civil Code section 1950.5 as currently amended. For advice about your specific situation, consult a licensed California attorney.