The problem
A security deposit is the largest sum most renters hand to a stranger, and the argument over getting it back happens months later, from memory, against a landlord who keeps better records than the tenant does.
The move-in walkthrough is where that argument is won or lost, and it is usually a checklist on paper that nobody photographs, signs or keeps. By the time the deduction arrives, the renter has no evidence and no idea what a reasonable deduction would even be.
What the product does
- Documents condition at move-in and move-out with timestamped photos, video and notes.
- Estimates what should come back, so the renter knows what they are owed before the landlord tells them.
- Logs maintenance requests and landlord communications as they happen, which is the half of the record that is always missing later.
- Produces a shareable report a renter can put in front of a landlord or an attorney.
The company, and what exists today
DepositGuard is a formed company with a defined business model: freemium, with premium at $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year, a per-property add-on, and an attorney directory line for the disputes that go further.
It carries a finished brand system: style guide, quick reference, logo family, shield mark and photography, from the same group that built the brand systems for GateTracker, CarArt and Jellybean.
Said plainly, because the alternative is letting a reader assume: what exists today is the company, the product definition, the pricing and the brand. It is on this sheet as part of the founder record rather than as shipped software.
What we can start on
A consumer product taken from an idea to a defined product, a pricing model and a brand that is ready to launch behind. Or a hard look at the business model of a venture before anyone writes code for it.