Damage claims are won or lost at checkout, by whoever holds the photos. The STR Checkout Damage Photo Protocol Cards from DealShore were built to fix that evidence before anyone needs it: one photo standard, set once, that your cleaner or your own walkthrough follows the same way at every turnover — so any stay’s condition can be shown, compared, and found again in under a minute.
What the kit is, in plain terms, is a 10-page printable PDF system of protocol cards plus a photo log spreadsheet. You complete it from your own turnovers and your own properties. It states no platform evidence, claim, or deposit rule. Its job is consistency: the same rooms, in the same order, at the same angles, every time — with the gaps named honestly instead of hidden, because a protocol is only trusted if its gaps are visible.
It was created because checkout photos usually fail in predictable ways. Everyone photographs differently: one cleaner shoots close-ups only, another forgets the exterior, nobody captures the room as found before stripping the beds. Timestamps exist but the sets are unfindable, mixed across months of camera roll. When damage surfaces two stays later, there is no previous set to compare against — just an argument about when it happened. This kit prevents that by turning photography from a habit into a standard: set once, printed as cards, and logged per turnover.
Inside, the START HERE page explains where your files live in your account and which file is for what. The Moment This Solves states it in one line: claims follow the photos. Your Photo Standard is set once — wide, then mid, then close, the same order in every room, with a dated anchor frame opening each set and nothing edited afterward.
Four cleaner-ready cards carry the standard room by room. Card A covers entry, living, and kitchen shots. Card B covers bedrooms and bathrooms, photographed as found before stripping — the as-found frame is the one that matters later. Card C takes the high-value and high-risk close-ups, including a powered-on screen frame and serial plates. Card D closes the set with exterior, parking, and departure shots, so the property’s outside is documented as carefully as its inside.
When damage is found, the Damage-Found Escalation Card takes over: scale frames that show true size, a comparison against the previous set shot for shot, and the host notified — all before cleaning erases the evidence. The Photo Set Log and Filing Checklist then record counts and storage for every set, so any turnover can be located in under a minute. The final page is the honesty page: shots missed are named as missed, and retakes are labeled as retakes with their real dates.
Who is it for? Short-term rental hosts who rely on cleaners and want every turnover photographed to one standard, whoever is on shift. Hosts who have lost a damage discussion because the before-photos did not exist or could not be found. And property managers running several units who need sets that compare cleanly across properties and across months.
How to use it: set your photo standard once, print or send the four cards to whoever photographs the turnover, and shoot every checkout in the same order. Escalate any damage with the escalation card before cleaning, log each set’s counts and storage the same day, and name gaps honestly on the closeout page. The included spreadsheet keeps a photo set log — the demo rows show 3 sets logged and 2 marked complete; replace them with yours — plus a damage log and a gap log.
This pack is a general photo-protocol and filing tool you complete from your own turnovers. It is not legal advice, consult an attorney about your situation. It states no platform evidence, claim, or deposit rule as applying.
Same shots, same order, every turnover — make your photos ready before a claim is:
Get it on DealShore: https://dealshore.com/str-checkout-damage-photo-protocol/ Get it on Etsy: https://dealshore.etsy.com
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