Furnished Room RentalRental Operations Desk

Move-in photos: date-stamped, taken before or at the start of the tenancy. Required for any tenancy starting on or after July 1, 2025. This is your baseline.

Move-out photos: taken after the tenant vacates but before you do any cleaning or repairs.

Post-repair / post-cleaning photos: taken after the work is done, showing before-and-after for anything you deduct for.

If you deduct from the deposit, you must give an itemized statement showing the issue, the cost, and the related before/after photos — within the same 21-day deposit-return window. No photos backing a deduction = deduction presumed invalid; bad-faith failure can forfeit your right to claim anything.

One month's rent is the standard cap. Small-landlord exception allows up to two months if you're a natural person (or an LLC of natural persons) owning no more than two residential rental properties totaling no more than four units — you qualify, though you collect one.

Return within 21 days of move-out with an itemized statement for any deductions. No "non-refundable" deposits exist in California; every dollar beyond first month's rent is potentially refundable.

Screening fee capped at actual out-of-pocket cost plus reasonable value of your time, under a statutory cap adjusted annually for inflation (~$62+ now). Can't collect a fee if you know no room will be available soon.

You must provide written screening criteria with the application, and process completed applications in the order received. When you decline someone: provide a copy of the screening report automatically (not just on request), give a receipt with the fee breakdown, and refund any unused portion of the fee.

Shared-facilities exemption (1946.2(e)(1)): tenant shares bathroom OR kitchen with you, and you keep the home as your principal residence. It's an "or" — sharing the kitchen alone triggers it, even with their own bathroom. Exempts from just-cause eviction.

Owner-occupied, two-bedrooms-or-fewer exemption (1947.12(d)(5) / 1946.2(e)(8)): you (a natural person, not a REIT/corp/corporate-member LLC) occupy the home as primary residence and rent no more than two bedrooms. Exempts from BOTH the rent cap and just-cause. You only get it if the exact statutory notice is in the rental agreement.

The exemption notice is generated per tenant on their record. Nobody sends it to you — you generate it and hand it to them.

A contract doesn't prevent vandalism, non-payment, or squatters — it gives you standing to act after. For squatters specifically, classification is the biggest factor:

Lodger (single room, owner-occupied, you retain access to the space): Penal Code 602.3 can let you remove them as a trespasser after a short written notice, potentially with police help, without a full court eviction.

Standard tenant: you're forced into the full unlawful detainer court process — slow and expensive.

Your setup leans lodger. The private bathroom is the one weak spot, but your genuine retained access (contractors using it periodically) supports lodger status. This is the specific question worth a flat-fee consult — a wrong DIY guess is what turns a squatter into a 3-month problem.

Entry (Civil Code 1954): only for emergencies, agreed/necessary repairs, initial inspection, or showing the room. Generally during normal business hours; written notice stating date, approximate time, and purpose; 24 hours presumed reasonable.

Ending it — lodger: written notice matching the rent period, at least 7 days. Standard tenant: 30 days if under a year, 60 days if a year or more. Which applies depends on classification.