Apartment Return

Handing over or returning the apartment to the owner should take place on the day the contract officially ends, or another day mutually agreed upon with the owner. If you stay in the apartment after the end of the contract, the owner has the right to demand rent for the days you stay in the apartment after the lease agreement ends.

Before returning the apartment to the owner, it is important to prepare for the entire process sufficiently and not leave everything to the last minute, as you will have less time to prepare the old apartment for return when you are also dealing with moving into a new apartment. We have already written about how to prepare the apartment for return in one of our previous chapters on our Local Guide, and you can find the article and tips here. 

Apartment handover process

Together with the owner or property manager, you will agree on a date for the handover of the apartment, for which you should already have prepared an empty and cleaned apartment. You will then go through the entire apartment with the owner and record its condition in a handover protocol, based on which it will be possible to evaluate any changes compared to the condition in which the apartment was handed over to you. The handover protocol will also include information about the number of keys returned and the value of the consumed utilities measured by the apartment meters (water, electricity, gas, heating). It is also advisable to take many photographs as a supplement to the handover protocol. If any item is listed as faulty or damaged in the handover protocol, it is always advisable to take a photo of it as well. The apartment handover process takes about an hour to an hour and a half. Some owners, for example, do not fill out handover protocols or take photos. In such cases, ask the owners on the spot if they plan to deduct anything from your deposit.

Security deposit

At the beginning of your tenancy, after signing the rental agreement, you paid a security deposit which serves as a guarantee to the apartment owner in case you stop paying rent, damage the apartment, or leave the apartment without terminating the lease agreement. After returning the apartment, the apartment owner or its manager has the option to deduct from the deposit the costs of repairing things that were damaged or destroyed during your tenancy. The owner must be able to prove that such damage occurred during your tenancy, and this is where the photos from the apartment handovers and handover protocols come in. The most common deductions are for repainting the apartment, cleaning the apartment, damaging the floor, damaging parts of the kitchen, or damaging furniture and appliances. If there was a defect caused by normal wear and tear, and you did not cause it with your normal use of the apartment, you should not bear any financial responsibility for it. If the owner requests payment for something that you believe is not your fault, try to ask the owner for an explanation of their view, and then express your own perspective. The owner must provide an invoice for the repair performed, a receipt for the purchase of materials, or something similar for all items they want to charge you for. If you feel that the owner is requesting money from you for something that you did not cause, we are happy to help you find a solution! Don't hesitate to contact us at info@raguehomerepairs.com.

Energy

After returning the apartment and accounting for any necessary repairs, the only thing left to resolve is the settlement of consumed energy. Upon handing over the apartment, it is necessary to record the readings of all meters so that the calculation of how much energy you have consumed can be made. This calculation is done by the apartment owner or manager and should be detailed and presented to you as the tenant. If you have the energy in your name, you settle the bill directly with the energy supplier and not with the apartment owner. Tenants usually transfer gas or electricity to their name, while water and heating consumption usually remains in the owner's name, who then bills it to the tenants under the rental agreement.

Did you not find what you were looking for here? Are you missing any important information? Contact us, we will be happy to advise you and add any missing information! Thanks to you, we can improve! 

info@praguehomerepairs.com