The Move-In / Move-Out Checklist Clients Should Sign Off On
Move-out cleans have three parties — you, the tenant, and a landlord you've never met. A signed scope is what keeps their deposit dispute from becoming your problem.
Why move-outs go sideways
The person paying you (the tenant) and the person judging the work (the landlord) are different people with different standards, and a security deposit sits between them. When the landlord finds one dusty blind, the tenant calls you.
Your protection is a signed checklist: exactly what was included, exactly what wasn't, acknowledged before you cleaned.
The kitchen
- Inside and outside of all cabinets and drawers
- Oven interior, stovetop, and hood degreased
- Refrigerator interior (emptied and unplugged by client)
- Sink, faucet, and backsplash descaled and polished
- Floors vacuumed and mopped, including under appliances if accessible
Bathrooms
- Tub, shower, tile, and grout scrubbed and disinfected
- Toilet inside, under, and behind
- Vanity, mirror, and fixtures polished; drawers wiped inside
- Exhaust vent cover dusted
Whole home
- Baseboards, door frames, and switch plates hand-wiped
- Interior windows, sills, and tracks
- Closets wiped, shelves included
- Vents dusted; cobwebs removed; floors finished last
The exclusions matter as much as the inclusions
State what's not included: walls beyond spot-cleaning, carpet shampooing, exterior windows, paint scuffs, and anything requiring a ladder beyond two steps. An exclusion the client acknowledged is a boundary; one they discover later is a complaint.
Send the whole thing — checklist, exclusions, price, deposit — as one proposal the tenant signs before cleaning day. If the landlord disputes something after the fact, you have a time-stamped record of exactly what was agreed.