Can a Landlord Charge for Cleaning in California? What §1950.5 Allows (2026)

The Short Answer

Yes, with limits. California Civil Code §1950.5 lets a landlord use the security deposit for four things only: unpaid rent, repair of damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, cleaning necessary to return the unit to the same level of cleanliness it had at the start of the tenancy, and — if the lease says so — restoring or replacing the landlord’s furnishings. Cleaning is the third item, and the standard is the unit’s condition on the day you moved in, not spotless and not “professionally cleaned.” Since 2025 the landlord also has to prove the deduction with before-and-after photographs. Leave the home as clean as you received it, document it, and the cleaning line should be zero.

What a landlord can deduct for cleaning

The test is the gap between how the unit was handed to you and how you handed it back. If the oven was clean at move-in and greasy at move-out, the cost of cleaning the oven is a legitimate deduction. If the carpet was steam-cleaned at move-in and stained at move-out, the stain treatment is legitimate. The landlord can charge what it actually costs to close that gap — a cleaner’s invoice, or, if the landlord or their staff does the work, a reasonable hourly rate and the time it took, both of which have to be itemized. For any single deduction over $125 the itemized statement must come with the receipt or invoice, or a description of the work with the hours and the rate.

What a landlord cannot charge you for

Ordinary wear and tear. Faded paint, worn carpet in a walkway, minor scuffs, small nail holes, a shower that looks its age — none of that is cleaning or damage, and the statute excludes it by name.

Cleaning that was already needed at move-in. If the unit was not clean when you got it, the landlord cannot charge you to bring it to a standard you never received. This is why move-in photos matter, and why the law now requires the landlord to take them for tenancies that began on or after July 1, 2025.

An automatic fee. A lease clause that charges for professional cleaning or carpet shampooing regardless of the unit’s condition is not enforceable on its own. Professional cleaning can be charged only when it is reasonably necessary to restore the unit to its move-in condition, and only for what that actually cost.

Upgrades. The deposit restores; it does not improve. A landlord cannot deduct for repairs or cleaning that go beyond returning the unit to the condition it was in when you moved in.

The photo rule and the 21-day statement

AB 2801 amended §1950.5 and the new rules have applied to units vacated on or after April 1, 2025. The landlord must photograph the unit immediately after you move out and before any cleaning or repair they intend to charge for, then photograph it again once the work is done. Within 21 days of your vacating, they must send an itemized statement of every deduction, with those photographs, a written explanation of the cost, and the receipts for any item over $125, along with whatever is left of the deposit. A landlord who withholds money for cleaning without that documentation risks losing the right to the deduction; one who withholds in bad faith can be liable for up to twice the deposit in statutory damages on top of the amount itself.

The same evidence standard now works for you. Photograph every room, every appliance interior, and every open cabinet and drawer of the empty home the day you return the keys, with the date visible. That set of photos is what settles most cleaning disputes before they reach anyone else.

Carpet cleaning and “professional cleaning” clauses

These are the two charges tenants see most, and the law now treats them the same way as any other cleaning: they are deductible only when reasonably necessary, and only for the actual cost. A carpet that needs a stain treated can be charged for the treatment. A carpet that is merely lived on cannot be charged for a whole-unit shampoo because the lease says every tenant pays for one. If you want the carpet question off the table entirely, have it cleaned before you leave and keep the invoice — a two-bedroom apartment’s carpet is a fraction of a typical deduction; the ranges are in the carpet cleaning cost guide.

The pre-move-out inspection

The statute gives you a right most tenants never use. When you give notice, the landlord must tell you in writing that you can request an initial inspection — a walk-through no earlier than two weeks before you leave, at which the landlord identifies, in a written itemized list, everything they would deduct for if the unit were returned in that state. You then have until move-out to fix or clean those items yourself. Ask for it in writing, attend it, and treat the list as the scope of your move-out clean: whatever is on it is what the deposit will be judged on. The room-by-room version is the move-out cleaning checklist.

The clean vs. the deduction: what the numbers look like

A landlord’s cleaning deduction is priced at whatever their cleaner or their own staff charges, after the fact, with no competition and no incentive to keep it low. A move-out clean you book yourself is priced before the work, and you choose who does it. In Los Angeles and Ventura County a deposit-ready move-out clean at Maid VIP’s published tier runs $650–$1,000 for a three-bedroom house, $1,000–$1,400 for a four-bedroom, and $550–$650 for a two-bedroom condo, quoted flat — it is built for houses and higher-value rentals; a flat-package apartment service at $225–$375 is the right tool for an empty studio in average condition — the full table by unit size is in the move-out cleaning cost guide. The scope that clean covers is the same list a landlord inspects against: oven and refrigerator inside and behind, every cabinet and drawer, tile and grout, window tracks and blinds, baseboards, closets, floors edge to edge. Done and photographed, it removes the cleaning line from the itemization, and the dispute along with it.

Since July 1, 2024 the deposit itself is generally capped at one month’s rent (with a narrow exception for small landlords), which means a single unjustified cleaning charge can be a large share of the money at stake.

If you disagree with a deduction

Write to the landlord first, cite §1950.5, attach your move-out photos, and ask for the photographs and receipts the statute requires them to have. Most disputes end there. If it does not, small claims court in California hears deposit cases up to $12,500 for an individual, no lawyer required, and the bad-faith penalty of up to twice the deposit is available to the judge. Tenant-rights organizations in Los Angeles and Ventura County will review the itemization with you for free.

This is general information about California’s security-deposit statute as amended by AB 2801, not legal advice. For a specific dispute, contact a tenant-rights organization or an attorney.