Condition reports: compare check-in and check-out item by item
Thirty departures in a month, and three end in the same conversation. You deduct €150-400 from a deposit for a broken desk lamp, a missing chair and a stained mattress, and the tenant answers: "That was already like that when I moved in." The move-in condition report is a paper checklist with ticks, no photo of the lamp, and the chair was never counted. Now it is your word against theirs, and the deposit stays in limbo for weeks.
VIVIN's Room Inventory and Condition Reports give every stay a record both sides signed off on. The tenant checks each item of the room at check-in and at check-out, in the tenant portal, with photos. Your team compares the two reports side by side, and every problem reported becomes a maintenance ticket on its own.
Why paper condition reports fail at check-out
- No real baseline - "OK" for the whole room proves nothing about the lamp in October.
- Photos with no home - pictures live on a staff member's phone, not on the booking.
- Problems that never become work - a wobbly wardrobe door is mentioned on day two, and nobody opens a ticket.
At 30-45 minutes per inspection, 30 arrivals and 30 departures cost 30-45 hours a month, and the result still does not settle a dispute.
How room inventory and condition reports work in VIVIN
1. One item list for the account, with icons
In Settings > Inventory, the Default item list holds every item your properties and units can use, each with an Icon, an Item name, an optional Description and Reference, and an Active switch. It starts with 15 everyday items such as bed, mattress, wardrobe, desk and smoke detector. Item display sets what tenants see and the Submission deadline (days), 7 by default.
2. Each unit and property gets its own list
In Listings, the unit's Inventory tab lists what the room really has: pick an item in Choose from the account list, click Add item, set the Quantity and, if useful, Details such as the model. The property's Inventory tab does the same for the kitchen and the other common areas.
3. Two reports for every stay
Each booking on a unit with a list gets a Check-in inventory and a Check-out inventory. A pending report moves with the booking's dates, is rebuilt from the new unit's list if the booking changes room, and disappears if the booking is cancelled.
4. The tenant checks each item in the portal
On the Room inventory page, items are grouped under Your room and Common areas. The tenant marks each one OK or taps Report to flag it as Missing, Damaged or Wrong quantity, with how many items it affects, a comment and photos, videos or PDFs. Confirm the rest as OK speeds up a room with no issues, and once the tenant presses Send inventory the report can no longer be changed. At check-out, the tenant only reports what changed since arrival. With digital check-in and check-out on, both reports also appear as steps of the arrival and departure phases.
5. Every problem opens a ticket
The Ticket rules card in Settings > Inventory sets the Category, Priority and Responsible of the ticket for Missing, Damaged and Wrong quantity, with One ticket per problem or One ticket per report. The responsible can be a specific person or the booking's check-in or check-out responsible. Each ticket carries the tenant's photos and links back to the report. A problem in a common area opens its ticket on the property, and a property can use Customise for this property.
6. Review, approve or dispute
In Operations > Inventory, reports move from Pending to Submitted, then Approved or Disputed, and With problems keeps only the reports with issues. Approve or Dispute each item, or use Approve report and Dispute report for the whole thing. The tenant is emailed and sees your verdict in the portal, and your team can add what it finds with Report a problem.
How to compare check-in and check-out condition reports
On a check-out report, switch from Items to Check-in vs check-out and both reports appear side by side, item by item and by area. Changed items are flagged, including quantity changes such as Quantity 4 → 3, and Changed only hides everything that stayed the same. If the stained mattress was reported at check-in, you see it at once; if it was not, you have the tenant's own report saying so.
Digital condition reports vs paper checklists: the numbers
An illustrative month for a 120-room operator with 30 arrivals and 30 departures, with staff time at €20-25 per hour:
| Item | Paper checklist | VIVIN room inventory |
|---|---|---|
| Time per report | 30-45 min on site | 10-15 min review |
| Baseline at check-out | A sheet of ticks | The tenant's own report, with photos |
| Tickets for reported problems | Typed by hand, if at all | Opened when the tenant sends the report |
| Deposit discussions | Your word against theirs | Two reports, side by side |
| Team hours per month (60 reports) | 30-45 | 10-15 |
That is roughly €400-750 of staff time a month, before counting the deductions you can now defend.
How to set up room inventory in VIVIN
- Turn on Enable room inventory in Settings > Global Settings. The module stays off until you do.
- Review the Default item list and its icons in Settings > Inventory.
- Add each unit's items, with quantities, on its Inventory tab in Listings.
- Set the Ticket rules, and decide on Resident checks the common areas and Accept check-in inventories automatically.
- Remind late tenants with an Inventory not submitted rule in Settings > Emails.
A disputed item usually ends in a deposit decision, which our post on the security deposit lifecycle covers. Book a demo to see a check-in vs check-out comparison on a real stay.
Frequently asked questions
What is a condition report in a rental?
A condition report records the state of each item in a room or apartment at a given moment, usually at move-in and at move-out. In VIVIN, the tenant fills it in the portal, item by item, with photos, and your team approves or disputes each line, so both sides work from the same record.
Who fills in the check-in inventory, the tenant or the team?
The tenant, in the tenant portal. Your team reviews the report in Operations > Inventory and can add problems with Report a problem. If your team records the room before every arrival, Accept check-in inventories automatically treats a check-in report that was not sent in time as accepted at its deadline.
How do condition reports help with deposit deductions?
At check-out, the comparison view shows both reports side by side and flags every item that changed during the stay. A deduction then rests on the tenant's own check-in report and photos, not on memory, and the dispute and the tenant's reply stay on the report until the deposit is settled.
A deposit dispute is won at check-in. With two reports per stay and the tenant's own photos in both, the conversation at check-out starts from facts.
