LearnThe lifecycle
Move-out and the deposit return
Most tenancies end the way most disputes start: with a deposit no one can quite account for. Haven ends a tenancy the way it ran one, with a documented condition check, final accounts both sides can read, and the deposit released from escrow against a clear record.
Giving notice and scheduling move-out
An ending begins with notice. When a renter or owner gives notice, Haven records the date, the party who gave it, and the notice period the lease actually requires. There is no ambiguity about when the tenancy ends, because the terms were fixed at e-signature and travel with the record.
From that notice, Haven proposes a move-out date and a condition check that fits within it. Both sides see the same timeline: the last day of occupancy, the check-out appointment, and the window in which final accounts and the deposit will be settled.
Nothing here is a surprise. The obligations were agreed when the lease was signed; move-out simply reads them back and puts dates against them.
The condition check, documented by both sides
A deposit is only ever fair if the condition it protects is recorded fairly. Haven treats the check-out inspection as the mirror of the check-in one done at the start of the tenancy: the same rooms, the same items, compared side by side.
The inspection is a field task, so it happens on the phone in the property, not on a desktop afterward. Whoever is present captures the state of each room with photos and notes; the web console displays the result but does not stand in for being there. What check-in recorded is shown next to what check-out finds, so the difference between them is the only thing under discussion.
Both parties confirm the record. Fair wear and tear is expected and is not a charge. What both sides sign is a factual account of condition, not a verdict on money yet, and that separation is deliberate: agree the facts first, then discuss what, if anything, they cost.
Settling final rent, charges, and any deductions
With condition agreed, Haven closes the accounts. Rent is prorated to the last day of the tenancy. Any outstanding balance, agreed charges, or documented deductions for damage beyond fair wear are entered as line items, each tied to evidence from the condition check.
Every figure is a journal entry in double-entry books. Nothing is a balance quietly adjusted in a column; each amount moves as a posting you can trace to what caused it, in whole cents, never rounded away. The final statement shows rent due, credits, charges, and the resulting deposit position on one page.
Deductions are proposals until they are accepted. A charge the owner raises is shown to the renter with its basis attached; it becomes part of the settlement when the renter agrees or a rule resolves it. Haven does not let one party silently draw down the other's money.
Releasing the deposit from escrow
Throughout the tenancy the deposit sat in escrow. It was never the owner's money to spend and never a number Haven could touch; it was held apart, waiting for this moment. That is what makes the return honest rather than hopeful.
When final accounts are settled, Haven releases the deposit from escrow: the agreed deductions, if any, are paid to the owner, and the remainder returns to the renter by SEPA transfer to the account rent was paid from. Each movement is posted to the ledger, so the escrow balance always reconciles to zero against what left it.
If the two sides cannot agree, the deposit stays in escrow. Money does not move on an unresolved dispute, which means neither party can force an outcome by holding the funds. The record is the arbiter, and until it is complete, nothing is released.
Closing the tenancy record
Once the deposit is settled, the tenancy closes. The lease, the signatures, the payment history, the condition checks at both ends, and the final statement are sealed as an immutable record. Nothing is deleted; a closed tenancy is append-only, and any later correction is a new entry that references the old.
For the renter, the tenancy moves into their history as a documented, completed lease they can point to. For the owner, the property returns to the portfolio, clear and ready to list again, with the full account of how the last tenancy ended attached to it.
An ending should be as legible as a beginning. When both sides can read the same record and agree it is true, move-out stops being the part people dread and becomes simply the last thing the system did well.