The move-in inspection report
In the urban centre, the Biéreau or the Hocaille neighbourhood, your kot has already seen other students come and go. The move-in inspection report, compulsory in Wallonia, keeps their traces from becoming your problem: it is what decides, at move-out, whether you get your deposit back. Thanks to Kotalouvain, you can easily fill it in on your phone.
Why it matters
At the end of the lease, the landlord compares the condition of the housing with its condition on the day you moved in. A stain on the wall, a hob that no longer heats, a damaged mattress: if there is no record of their condition at the start, the discussion quickly turns into "it was you" against "it was already like that".
The move-in inspection report settles that discussion before it exists. It protects both sides. The landlord can withhold from the deposit the damage you caused, and only that. You do not have to pay for the wear left by previous tenants.
What the law says
- Compulsory for every residential lease, so for your kot, your studio or your flatshare too. A clause of the lease cannot set it aside.
- Detailed and joint: both parties do it together, room by room. "The tenant declares having received the premises in perfect condition" is not a valid inspection report.
- When: with the housing empty, or during the first month of occupation.
- Its content: the date, the parties, the condition of each room, the equipment and whether it works, the meter readings, the keys handed over, the smoke detectors, the signatures. Photos can be attached.
How to do the inspection
Allow a good half hour, in daylight, with the landlord or their representative. If you are alone, do it anyway: see below.
Room by room. For each item, note a condition (as new, normal wear, damaged, missing or broken) and, as soon as something is wrong, a precise remark: where, what, what size. "Damaged wall" is useless; "2 cm hole left of the window, at desk height" is useful. Look at the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the windows, the door and its lock, the sockets, the heating, the lighting.
Be thorough. In a standard inspection report, what you do not report is deemed in good condition. A defect you did not note on the day you moved in becomes, at move-out, damage you can be charged for. The half hour spent looking at everything protects your deposit.
The common areas too. Bathroom, kitchen, corridors, bike room: what you share is part of the housing you rent. Note their condition and cleanliness on the day you move in.
The furniture and the equipment. Bed, mattress, desk, chair, wardrobe, fridge, hob: everything provided, with its condition. Check that the appliances work.
The meters. Read the electricity, gas and water meters on the day you move in, with the meter's EAN code (18 digits, on the meter or on a bill). If your charges are a flat rate ("charges included"), your consumption does not change what you pay: no reading needed.
The keys. How many, for which doors. A lost key gets billed.
The photos. Photograph the defects, the photos are added to your inspection report.
Sign together, in two copies. Each one keeps theirs.
If you are handed a ready-made paper
Read it before signing. If it is detailed and matches what you see, sign. If it boils down to "received in good condition" or leaves out defects you can see, add your remarks by hand, dated, before your signature, or offer to complete it with the document you prepared.
If nothing is planned
Many kot landlords offer nothing. In that case, make your own record, within the month of your arrival:
- Fill in the inspection report room by room (the generator above does exactly that), read the meters, take your photos.
- Email the PDF and the photos to the landlord, the same day or in the following days, with a simple message: "Here is the move-in inspection report of the housing, recorded on [date]. Please let me know of any remark."
- Keep the sent email. Its date is the proof.
A document the landlord did not sign does not carry the same weight as a joint inspection report. But a detailed record, dated, sent in time and left unanswered weighs heavily in a dispute, and above all it avoids the dispute: a landlord who received it without reacting rarely argues over the deposit on those points.
At move-out
At the end of the lease, a move-out inspection compares the housing with its condition on the day you moved in. Normal wear (paint that ages, a mattress that sags after years) is not damage. The damage you caused is.
Do it together, after emptying and cleaning the housing and before returning the keys, going through your move-in report point by point. Insist that the landlord or their representative be there: a move-out inspection done alone does not bind the other party. If they do not come, send them dated photos on the day you leave, by email, as at move-in.
The generator's document is made for that: every line has its "at move-out" columns, to tick and fill in with a pen, and its last page holds the deposit settlement, signed by both. What you do not report there is deemed returned in its move-in condition: it is up to the landlord to be thorough that day, as it was up to you at move-in. Signed on both sides, that settlement is the written agreement that releases the deposit, whether it sits on a blocked account or with e-DEPO. In a flatshare, an annex is drawn up each time a flatmate leaves or arrives.
In case of disagreement
In case of disagreement on the inspection report or on the deposit, the justice of the peace of the judicial canton of the housing is competent, and the procedure is simple and inexpensive. Before getting there: Infor Jeunes or your school's student support service know how to answer these questions.