TenantRenting and deposit protection
Deposit held on Flat 3B, Vaduvur Residency
₹1,50,000
Claimed at move-out₹18,000→₹7,500
It comes back because you photographed the flat on the day you got the keys.
9:41
Deposit held since 1 November 2025
₹1,50,000
₹1,42,500
coming back
₹10,500
disputed
₹7,500
agreed cost
What the owner claimed₹18,000 of ₹1,50,000
Repainting, bedroom 1₹6,000
Clause 7 · owner's quote from Sriram Painters
Move-in photo, 2 Nov 2025
Floor tile, bathroom 1₹4,500
Chip on the second tile from the door
Move-in photo + written note
Deep cleaning at exit₹3,500
Clause 9 · you agreed to this when you signed
Invoice shared 14 Sep
Electricity, 12 Aug to 16 Sep₹2,800
400 units at ₹7.00 · read with the owner
Meter 41,192 → 41,592
Kitchen window mesh₹1,200
Torn in June, not reported at the time
Your message, 9 June
Balance due back to you₹1,42,500
Send the statement with photos
Flat
Photos
Agreement
2Deposit
Log
35 dated photos·18 clauses in plain words·A Goat Scale concept
Meera Balaji, 29, Thoraipakkam · two weeks from handing over the keys
A wall she never touched is about to cost her ₹10,500.
Deduction statement
Flat 3B, Vaduvur Residency · handed over by the owner
Painting, bedroom6,000
Tile, bathroom4,500
Cleaning3,500
Current bill2,800
Window mesh1,200
Total deducted₹18,000
No photographs attached. No dates. Handed over on 14 September.
Clause 7 of the agreement she signed on 26 October 2025
“The Lessee shall, at the time of vacating the demised premises, bear the entire cost of repainting the same, irrespective of the condition thereof at the time of handing over.”
₹18,000
claimed from a ₹1,50,000 deposit
₹10,500 of it is for a flaking patch and a chipped tile that were already in the flat on the day she moved in. The argument is not about the money. It is about who can prove what.
Twenty minutes on day one, signed by both sides.
Thirty-five photographs, one room at a time, each stamped with the date the camera took it.
The two things already broken are written down in the owner’s presence, not argued about later.
Both signatures and both timestamps sit under the set. Neither side can add to it afterwards.
Kitchen, 6 photos
Bedroom 1, 7 photos
Bathroom 1, 6 photos
Balcony, 3 photos
9:41
Move-in inventory
Flat 3B, Vaduvur Residency · photographed 2 Nov 2025
Hall and dining8 photos
No damage noted · lights and taps checked
Kitchen6 photos
Chimney filter greasy, agreed as is
Bedroom 17 photos
Paint flaking left of the switchboard, about 30 cm
Bedroom 25 photos
No damage noted · lights and taps checked
Bathrooms (2)6 photos
4 cm chip, second floor tile from the door
Signed by both sides
Meera Balaji
Tenant · 2 Nov, 6:40 pm
R. Ganesan
Owner · 3 Nov, 10:12 am
Start the move-out set
Flat
Photos
Agreement
Deposit
Log
9:41
Your agreement
11 months · 1 November 2025 to 30 September 2026
Costs you money · 3All 18 clauses
Lock-in — 11 monthsUp to ₹1,50,000
You cannot leave before 30 September 2026. If you do, you still owe the rent for every month left in the term.
Notice — two calendar months₹50,000
Tell the owner in writing two whole months before you leave. To leave on 30 September, that means by 31 July.
Painting when you leave₹6,000 to ₹12,000
You pay to repaint the flat when you move out, even if the walls are fine. This is the clause owners lean on for damage that was already there.
Tenant explains clauses. It is not legal advice.
Before you sign, or if the owner disputes one, have a lawyer read it.
Talk to a rent lawyer₹500 for a reading
Flat
Photos
Agreement
Deposit
Log
Three clauses in this lease decide what your deposit is worth.
Plain language first, the wording it came from underneath. Tenant never paraphrases the lease away.
What this lease can take from you
Clause 3Leaving before 30 SeptemberUp to ₹1,50,000
Clause 4Going without two months’ notice₹50,000
Clause 7Repainting, whatever the walls look like₹6,000 to ₹12,000
The other fifteen clauses cannot cost you anything, so the app leaves them folded away.
9:41
Deposit held since 1 November 2025
₹1,50,000
₹1,42,500
coming back
₹10,500
disputed
₹7,500
agreed cost
What the owner claimed₹18,000 of ₹1,50,000
Repainting, bedroom 1₹6,000
Clause 7 · owner's quote from Sriram Painters
Move-in photo, 2 Nov 2025
Floor tile, bathroom 1₹4,500
Chip on the second tile from the door
Move-in photo + written note
Deep cleaning at exit₹3,500
Clause 9 · you agreed to this when you signed
Invoice shared 14 Sep
Electricity, 12 Aug to 16 Sep₹2,800
400 units at ₹7.00 · read with the owner
Meter 41,192 → 41,592
Kitchen window mesh₹1,200
Torn in June, not reported at the time
Your message, 9 June
Balance due back to you₹1,42,500
Send the statement with photos
Flat
Photos
Agreement
2Deposit
Log
Every deduction has to face a photograph.
What the owner said in August is stored with its date, so it cannot quietly become what the agreement says.
02 NOV 2025
16 SEP 2026
Two lines are struck through, not deleted. Tap either one and the pairing behind it opens.
The owner is sent the same statement, with the photographs attached to the two lines he claimed.
₹1,50,000
held since 1 Nov 2025
less ₹7,500
cleaning, current bill and mesh — agreed
less ₹10,500
painting and tile — answered with photos
₹1,42,500
due back to Meera
The date you have to write the letter by, worked out for you.
31 Julthe last day to give notice for a 30 September handover
Term11 months, 1 Nov 2025 to 30 Sep 2026
Notice requiredTwo calendar months, clause 4
So notice was due by31 July 2026
Sent and acknowledged28 July 2026, 11:06 am
Three days of slack, with ₹50,000 riding on them
Notice after 31 July means either staying into October or paying two months’ rent in lieu under clause 4.
Rent receipts, FY 2026–27₹1,50,000
Six receipts, April to September, each with the owner’s PAN — which your employer asks for once the year’s rent passes ₹1,00,000.
If the owner disputes the notice, the letter, its delivery time and his reply are all in the log.
9:41
Moving out
Last day 30 September 2026 · 14 days left
Two months’ notice, clause 4Given in time
To leave on 30 September 2026 you had to give notice by 31 July 2026. You sent it on 28 July 2026, three days early.
July 2026
MTWTFSS
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
Rent receiptsFY 2026–27 · 6 of 6
September 2026Paid 3 Sep · UPI₹25,000
August 2026Paid 2 Aug · UPI₹25,000
July 2026Paid 4 Jul · UPI₹25,000
Download all six for HRA₹1,50,000
Every receipt carries the owner’s PAN, which your employer needs above ₹1,00,000 a year.
Flat
Photos
Agreement
Deposit
Log
One patch, two dates, and the deduction falls.
Evidence pairingshown at twice its size in the app
1
Both frames carry their date
The camera burns it in, and the app stores the time, the room and who was present.
2
The same spot is ringed twice
Not two photos of a room. One patch, in one place, before and after.
3
The claim sits under the proof
The amount asked for, struck through, with the sentence that answers it.
The second pairing, bathroom 1
02 NOV 2025
16 SEP 2026
Floor tile, bathroom 1₹4,500₹0
Tenant
Six months of your rent is sitting in someone else’s account.
Photograph the flat the day you get the keys. Ten months later that is the only thing standing between you and a deduction someone invented.
02 NOV 2025 18:24
Bedroom 1, the day she moved in. The patch the owner later charged ₹6,000 to repaint.
Renting and deposit protectionA Goat Scale concept
One flat. The same five claims, read twice.
What a dated photograph is worth.
Owner’s word
aloneWith the
move-in photos
aloneWith the
move-in photos
Repainting, bedroom 1₹6,000₹0
Floor tile, bathroom 1₹4,500₹0
Deep cleaning at exit₹3,500₹3,500
Electricity, 400 units₹2,800₹2,800
Kitchen window mesh₹1,200₹1,200
Deposit returned, of ₹1,50,000₹1,32,000₹1,42,500
₹10,500
the difference, on one tenancy
Thirty-five photographs, taken in twenty minutes on the day the keys changed hands, signed by both sides. Tenant keeps them dated, with the agreement beside them.
TenantDesign system v1 · Renting and deposit protection
Deposit ₹1,50,000
Newsreader 500 · headings, money, the wordmark. Plain zeros, tabular figures.
“The Lessee shall bear the entire cost of repainting the same, irrespective of the condition thereof.”
Newsreader 400 · every word quoted from the agreement, never reworded.
You pay for painting when you leave, even if the walls are fine.
Inter 450–650 · every explanation. 14 px floor in the app, sentence case, short verbs.
Costs you moneyGiven in timeEvidence attachedAll 18 clauses
Send the statementTalk to a lawyer
Repainting, bedroom 1₹6,000₹0
Twelve icons on a 24 px grid · 1.8 px strokes, round joins
White on navy13.1:1
Ink on paper17.0:1
Amber on tint5.3:1
Rules the app does not break
Never a verdict
Tenant explains what a clause usually means and what it has cost people. It does not say who wins.
A lawyer is one tap away
Every disputed line carries the fallback: have a rent lawyer read it before you sign or send.
Nothing undated
A photo without a date, a room and a witness is not evidence, so the app will not file it as one.
The owner sees it too
The move-in set and the statement are shared and acknowledged, not sprung at the end.
8 pt grid · hairline rules, no drop shadows in app · 44 px targets · every text pair checked, never under 5:1, because people read this on a bad dayDesigned by Goat Scale
Concept 107 · Renting and deposit protection
Concept 107 · Renting and deposit protection