Caution fees: what a landlord can fairly keep when you move out
Normal wear isn’t damage. Here’s how to protect your caution fee from the day you move in.
The caution fee is meant to cover real damage or unpaid bills when you leave — not to repaint a flat that has simply been lived in. Disagreements usually come down to one thing: nobody wrote down what the home looked like on day one.
Record the home when you move in
Take photos of every room, the meters and anything already broken. In the Vaqnt app these are saved to your lease, dated, so neither side has to rely on memory a year later.
Wear and tear versus damage
Faded paint, light scuffs and worn grout are normal. A cracked sink, a broken door or a hole in the wall are damage. A fair deduction covers the cost of fixing damage, not upgrading the home.
Do the move-out check together
Book the inspection in the app and walk through it with your landlord. Agree any deductions there and then, with photos attached to each one.
If you can’t agree
Raise a dispute in the app. Both sides add evidence, and a Vaqnt mediator suggests a fair amount. Most disagreements settle at this stage.
“Photos on day one save arguments on day 365.”