By Patti Widget, Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles & Widget’s Way

California housing providers know the feeling: a new requirement comes along, and suddenly an ordinary part of managing rental property seems more complicated. But some rules formalize practices professional property managers have done for years. Security deposit photographs and a well-documented California rental application screening process are two examples. Both help owners answer a question that matters when someone challenges a decision: What happened, and how can we show it?

Key Takeaways:

• California law now requires photographs be taken at specific stages of a tenancy under Assembly Bill 2801 (2025).
• When charging a rental application screening fee, landlords must use one of the processes described in Assembly Bill 2493 (2025).
• Documenting when a complete application arrives helps managers handle online and in-person submissions consistently.
• Good records help owners explain screening decisions. They do not replace consistent criteria or sound judgment.

When Photos Became Part of the Security Deposit Process

For decades, a careful property manager might photograph a rental unit before a resident moved in, after the resident moved out, and again once repairs were finished. Those pictures could answer an owner’s questions about the work and help distinguish between an existing condition or damage discovered later.

California’s Assembly Bill 2801 has made parts of this practice a requirement. For tenancies beginning on or after July 1, 2025, landlords must take photographs immediately before or at the start of the tenancy. Beginning April 1, 2025, they must also photograph the unit within a reasonable time after getting possession back, before addressing repairs or cleaning when they plan to take a security deposit deduction, and again within a reasonable time after that repair work or cleaning is completed. When taking security deposit deductions for repairs or cleaning, the law also requires providing documentary photographs along with an itemized statement.

The business value in this required process is easy to see. If a contractor starts cleaning before anyone documents the conditions in a rental unit, a useful part of the story is gone. A routine that assigns someone to take and organize the photographs helps the owner see both the condition of the property and the work performed. That is a broader security deposit topic deserving its own guidance, but the lesson here is simple: a good record is most useful when creating it is part of the workflow, not something remembered after the fact.

Why Application Timestamps Matter

Picture a leasing office in Southern California on a busy afternoon. One person submits a rental application across the counter. Another applies online at nearly the same time. Which application came first? A professional property manager needs a consistent way to answer this question. When an in-person application is complete, staff can record the date and time it was received. The online system can do the same. A shared record gives the team a reliable sequence to follow and gives the owner a clearer explanation of how an applicant was considered.

The word “complete” really matters. An inquiry, a partially filled-out application form, and an application ready for review are different things. Managers should establish what makes an application complete and use that standard across submission channels.

What California’s Application Screening Law Says

Assembly Bill 2493, effective January 1, 2025, changed the conditions for charging a rental application screening fee. California law describes two screening processes a landlord or agent may offer when collecting application fees. Under the first process, the landlord provides established screening criteria in writing to go along with the application. Completed applications are considered in the order received, and the first applicant who meets those criteria is approved. An applicant is not charged a screening fee unless or until the application is considered.

Under the alternative process, the landlord returns the entire screening fee to every applicant who is not selected, regardless of the reason. The refund is due within seven days after selecting an applicant or 30 days after the application was submitted, whichever occurs first. The second option is a change worth understanding, but this option is more about how the screening fee is handled. It should not be described as a blanket rule allowing owners to ignore fair housing obligations or change their standards from one applicant to the next. For managers, the practical question is which process they use and whether their records, staff instructions, and fee handling match it.

Why a First Come, First Served Process Still Works

Some owners hear “first come, first served” and worry that tracking applications will become a headache. For many professional managers, recording the sequence has long been part of a sound leasing process. Consider what a clear record can show:

• The screening criteria provided before applications are reviewed
• When each completed application was received
• When an application was considered
• How the applicant measured against the established criteria
• When a fee was collected or refunded

Having a record makes a decision-making process easier to explain. It also helps the team apply the same process when applications arrive through different channels or different staff members are working. A first-come, first served approach does not make discrimination allegation impossible. It gives a manager a consistent process to follow and a documented basis for explaining what happened. California’s Department of Real Estate identifies written criteria, the order of completed applications, fee timing, and refunds as important parts of the screening process.

A Recordkeeping Routine for Rental Property Owners

Owners do not need to run the leasing desk themselves, but they should know how their manager handles these decisions. A useful conversation can start with five questions:

• What written screening criteria do applicants receive?
• How are completed applications timestamped when one arrives online and another arrives in person?
• Which application screening fee process does the team use?
• Who takes the move-in, move-out, and post-work photos?
• Where are application records and property photographs stored so they can be reviewed later?

These are practical management questions. They help an owner determine whether the process depends on someone’s memory or on a routine the whole team can follow.

I understand why owners get frustrated when a familiar management task becomes a legal requirement. The security deposit photograph rule is a perfect example. We were taking pictures long before the law required them because owners wanted to know what happened to their property and whether the work was done. Applications seem similar to me. When someone handed us a complete application in the office, we recorded the date and time. We needed to know where it stood alongside applications coming in online. That was a sensible way to manage a busy leasing process and explain our decisions.

The current screening fee law gives managers a process choice that is worth paying attention to. Even so, I still value a clear first come, first served routine. Written criteria and a reliable application log give my team a way to be consistent, and they give an owner a better answer when someone asks why a decision was made.

Good property management often starts with doing careful things before anyone tells you that you have to. California’s photography and application screening rules address different stages of a tenancy, but they point to the same management habit: document important decisions as they happen. For Southern California rental property owners, that means asking how applications are logged, how property conditions are photographed, and how those records can be reviewed later. A repeatable process is easier for a team to follow and easier for an owner to understand.

Patti “Widget” has nearly 35 years of experience as a regional property manager and teaches a wide range of classes on property management topics. She is a keynote speaker on property management and housing issues and has published numerous articles for apartment associations. Patti is a repeat guest speaker at UCLA. She also holds various certifications in the industry related to her field, such as a CA licensed Real Estate Broker, CCRM, lead based paint certified renovator from the EPA, Fair Housing and more. During 2025, Patti joined the team at the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles as an Operational Advisor.