Dated move-in photos

Make it clear what it shows

• One photo from a distance with something recognisable in the room (the window, the door), and one close up of the damage.
• Something next to it for scale: a pen or a coin.
• Good light: switch the lights on and open the curtains. On shiny surfaces, skip the flash.
• A short note per photo: what it is and where. “Damp patch above the bedroom window” explains itself.
• Photograph before you unpack: furniture and boxes hide exactly what gets argued about later.

The camera date: what it says and what it does not

Your phone stores the date inside the photo file (the EXIF metadata). That date comes from the phone clock, it can be changed, and many messaging apps strip it when you send the photo. It is a clue, but the other side does not have to accept it.

The full comparison of options is in how to prove the date of move-in photos.

Get the date recorded off your phone

The idea is that someone other than you records the date:

• Send the photos the same day to your landlord or agent by email or message: the send date stays, and so does their reply if they answer.
• Upload them to a folder shared with your landlord.
• A sealed record, such as DepositSeal: the server writes its own time and the fingerprint (SHA-256) of every photo, signs it, and your landlord gets a link to confirm.

What no photo proves

None of these proves where a photo was taken or how old a mark is. They show that those photos existed at a point in time and, if the other side answered, what they said. How much weight that carries is up to whoever settles the dispute where you live.

What to keep until the deposit is back

• The original photos, not only the compressed copies you sent by message.
• A copy somewhere else (another account, a computer), in case you change or lose your phone.
• Messages and emails with your landlord, the lease and the inventory.
• If you edit a photo to show it (crop, brightness), keep the untouched original too.