Your handover report.
On your phone.

Why you should document your flat

Moving is stressful enough without a fight over your security deposit. Still, most tenants know the drill: on handover day the landlord wants to hold back part of the deposit because of scratches on the floor or marks on the walls. You know those defects were already there when you moved in. But without a proper handover report with photos, it's your word against theirs.

With Kaution Sichern you build your handover report straight from your phone. On move-in day you photograph every room and record existing damage to floors, walls and windows. The app logs meter readings for electricity, gas and water along with their serial numbers, documents the key handover by count and type, and lets tenant and landlord sign right on the screen. On move-out day you export a polished PDF report with every photo, timestamp and signature.

All your data stays on your device. No account, no server, no cloud. Tenancy details are sensitive, and they are nobody else's business but yours.

What belongs in a handover report

A handover report is only worth as much as it is complete. Leave out one key detail and a solid piece of evidence turns into just another thing to argue about. For your report to actually hold up on move-in and move-out day, each flat should have at least the following on record:

• Address and date of the handover, plus the names of tenant and landlord
• Condition of every room — floors, walls, ceilings, windows and doors, each with a photo
• Existing defects described and pictured as precisely as possible (scratches, stains, cracks)
• Meter readings for electricity, gas and water, including the meter numbers
• Keys by count and type (front door, flat, cellar, letterbox)
• Signatures of both parties — ideally right there during the walkthrough

A printed paper form covers these points, but the sheet is rarely to hand when it counts, and loose photos are hard to match up afterwards. Kaution Sichern walks you through the very same fields — only with photo, timestamp and signature straight from your phone, each cleanly assigned to a room.

Getting your deposit back — what actually matters

A security deposit is a form of security, not a gift to the landlord. Its size is capped by law: under § 551 BGB (Germany) it may not exceed three months' net cold rent, and the landlord must hold it separately from their own assets and with interest. Once the tenancy ends you are, as a rule, entitled to have it paid back — minus any legitimate outstanding claims.

When you move out, § 546 BGB (Germany) obliges you to return the flat in its contractual condition, but without being liable for normal wear and tear. The landlord's claims for changes to or deterioration of the property lapse under § 548 BGB (Germany) six months after the flat is handed back. It is precisely in that window that a gap-free handover report with photos from move-in and move-out becomes your strongest argument: it shows in black and white which condition is down to you and which was already there before.

Whether and how much of the deposit may be withheld depends on the individual case — the landlord has to accept ordinary signs of use, but not genuine damage. In a dispute, the legal assessment is a job for a tenants' association or a lawyer; the app simply gives you the ordered body of evidence to build on.

How to handle move-in and move-out properly

A proper flat handover is not a five-minute formality. Go about it in a structured way and you spare yourself the argument later on:

• Keep the appointment together: tenant and landlord (or a representative) walk through the flat side by side — so any point can be sorted out on the spot.
• Photograph room by room: capture every room in daylight, record defects in detail, skip nothing.
• Read the meters: note electricity, gas and water with the meter number and reading, ideally with a photo of the meter.
• Count the keys: record every key handed over by type and number.
• Sign straight away: both parties sign the report right during the walkthrough — anything added later carries less weight.

When you move out you repeat the same walkthrough and compare it against the move-in report. That way every change is traceable — and you hand the flat back with a clean record instead of relying on your memory.

More help around your rental flat

The flat handover is only one piece of the puzzle. Anyone who has to document noise from the neighbours, document mould in the flat or check an owner-occupancy eviction notice faces the very same task: in the end, only clean, timely documentation protects your rights as a tenant.