The twenty minutes at move-in that save your deposit
Photograph everything and note every reading, before you unpack a single box.
The fight over your deposit does not happen when you move out, even though that is when the money fails to come back. It is decided on the day you move in, by what you bothered to record before the boxes went down. Twenty minutes with a phone camera wins it in advance.
Most unfair deductions are for damage that was already there: the chipped tile, the water stain, the geyser that never worked. None of it is yours. All of it becomes yours if there is no dated record saying otherwise, because the owner holds the money and gets to propose the deductions.
The twenty-minute record
- Photograph every room, wall and appliance before unpacking, and shoot the flaws deliberately, close up. A narrated video walkthrough is even better.
- Write down the meter readings, electricity, water, gas, and the state of society dues, so a previous tenant’s bill never becomes yours.
- Send it all to the owner the same day, on the channel you normally use, and get a reply. A folder on your own phone is evidence. A message the owner answered "noted" to is a verdict.
Two years later, when deductions are proposed, you are not arguing from memory against someone with every reason to remember differently. You are pointing at a dated photo of the exact chip they want to charge you for. Most arguments end right there.
Your deposit is protected on move-in day, not move-out day.