Moving in?
Protect yourself.

When recording stops, the app computes a SHA-256 hash of the video and sends that hash, not the video, to an independent timestamp authority. The authority returns a cryptographically signed receipt proving the file existed at exactly that moment. Neither you nor RenterSeal can backdate or alter it. Anyone can verify the hash and the timestamp using freely available tools. No RenterSeal account required to verify.

On RenterSeal Move-In ($19.99): a polite, short note you can share. One-line greeting, confirmation that you completed a sealed move-in walkthrough, and the verification URL. That’s it. No legal language, nothing that reads as a threat.

On RenterSeal Move-In + Move-Out ($49.99): the courtesy version. Same polite tone, same verification URL,plus a soft reference to your state’s deposit-return law (e.g., California Civil Code § 1950.5 for California renters, GOL § 7-108 for New York, and so on) and a delivery-receipt confirmation that your landlord opened it. The legal-reference part is a heads-up, not a threat. It lets your landlord know what timeline and rules apply, so there’s no “I didn’t know” later. Most landlords appreciate the clarity.

The legal substance is templated to your state, not interpreted to your specific situation. Same safety principle as the Demand Letter: we cite the right statute, we don’t advise on your particular lease.

Walkthrough is the guided capture. The app prompts you through every room: scan the baseboards, open every cabinet, get the bathroom grout. The recording stays on your phone with a local hash. RenterSeal Move-In adds the part with legal weight. We send the hash to an independent timestamp authority, archive the encrypted video for 1 year, and give you a permanent verification URL. The free version proves you walked through. The paid version proves it to a court.

It pays for an independent verifiable timestamp from a third-party authority (the witness whose signature carries the legal weight), 1 year of encrypted cloud archive, and the permanent verification URL. One time. No subscription. The 1-year window covers a typical lease plus your state’s deposit-return deadline after move-out.

Four real upgrades over Move-In Seal: a Move-Out Seal that auto-pairs with your Move-In Seal for the side-by-side comparison view, 2-year encrypted archive instead of 1 year (covers the full statute of limitations in most states), courtesy email + delivery receipt that cites your state’s deposit law at move-out, and the Demand Letter customized to your state, ready to send when you tap. Standalone, the same coverage runs $19.99 + $19.99 + $24.99 = $64.97. The bundle saves about $15 and adds the storage and state-aware-email upgrades.

Never automatic. It’s a formal Certified Mail letter customized to your state’s deposit-return statute (e.g., California Civil Code § 1950.5 / AB 2801 for California renters, GOL § 7-108 for New York, and so on), with the verification URL printed on the cover sheet. The legal substance is templated to your state, not interpreted to your specific situation. After your state’s deadline passes, we surface a notification. You tap Send Demand Letter and confirm before anything mails. Included in the bundle at no extra charge if you choose to send.

Probably, yes — and that’s fine. The manual trigger isn’t there to discourage sending. It’s there for two real reasons. First, Certified Mail is irreversible once it ships, and we’re not comfortable auto-mailing physical letters to your landlord without an explicit consent tap. Second, in roughly a quarter of cases the dispute resolves verbally between the deadline and the moment you would have triggered the letter (the landlord pays up, you negotiate, you decide it’s not worth the friction). The trigger is for the small-but-real minority where you don’t want to escalate.

The bundle uses verified email with delivery receipt for your move-out notice — court-admissible proof of delivery, same legal effect as Certified Mail in most small-claims courts, much lighter touch. Certified Mail (the physical USPS green-return-receipt kind) is available as an optional $14.99 add-on at any moment: a polite pre-emptive notice on move-in day, a heavier post-move-out reminder, or alongside the Demand Letter. Most renters never need it. The ones who do can buy it without buying the bundle.

You’re a year too late to record move-in condition. You’re not too late to act. Most states give renters a hard deadline for deposit return (21 days in California, 14 in New York, 30 in Texas, and so on — see the state coverage above). After your deadline passes, the deduction is typically presumed unlawful. Small-claims courts are cheap (usually $30 to $100), don’t require lawyers, and typically resolve in 2 to 3 months. With any photographic record you do have, plus the statutory deadline, most disputes settle before court.

Every smartphone shipped in 2025 and 2026 includes generative photo editing built directly into the camera roll. A landlord’s attorney no longer has to prove your photos were altered. They only have to argue they could have been. Sealed video, timestamped by an independent authority, defeats that argument before it’s raised.

RenterSeal uses RFC 3161 timestamping, the same standard used by code-signing certificate authorities and notarial archives worldwide. Each Seal has a verifiable receipt that anyone can check with openssl ts -verify against the issuing authority’s public certificate chain. The full record is on the technical record page for any sealed capture.