Move-in and move-out inspections for a furnished rental: the owner's guide

In an unfurnished rental, the inspection report (état des lieux) covers walls and floors. In a furnished one, it also covers everything you put inside — and that is precisely where almost every end-of-lease disagreement begins.

An owner who rents out a furnished apartment in Paris often hands over several thousand euros’ worth of furniture, appliances, tableware and bedding along with the apartment itself. Eighteen months later, when the keys come back, the only thing that can settle the question between “it was already like that” and “it was damaged” is the document signed on day one. Done badly, it protects no one. Done well, it makes the exit almost mechanical.

What the inspection of a furnished rental must contain

Two documents coexist, and confusing the two is the first source of trouble.

The inspection report describes the condition of the property itself, room by room: floors, walls, ceilings, baseboards, windows, shutters, doors, sanitary fixtures, taps, visible electrical installations, heating equipment. It is drawn up jointly — that is, with the owner (or the owner’s representative) and the tenant both present — at move-in and at move-out, and attached to the lease.

The furniture inventory — sometimes called the detailed furniture statement — lists the furniture and equipment provided, with their number and condition. It is the document specific to furnished rentals, and it is almost always the one that gets rushed.

A useful inventory does not say “equipped kitchen.” It says: combination refrigerator, brand, in working order, door seal slightly yellowed; six dinner plates, one of them chipped; an oak coffee table, a 4 cm scratch on the top on the window side. The rule is simple: the more precise the description at move-in, the harder it is to contest at move-out.

The method, room by room

A thorough move-in inspection in a one-bedroom Paris apartment takes between forty-five minutes and an hour and a half. That is time invested, not time wasted.

1. Prepare the property before the appointment. Cleaning done, bulbs in place, appliances plugged in and tested. You cannot properly describe an apartment that is still under renovation or cluttered with boxes.
2. Follow a fixed order. Entrance, living room, kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom, toilet, ancillary spaces. The same order at move-in and move-out: the line-by-line comparison becomes immediate.
3. Describe, don’t judge. “Impact mark of 2 cm on the right-hand wall, 1 m above the floor” is better than “damaged wall.”
4. Test whatever can be tested. Taps, toilet flush, cooktop, oven, range hood, washing machine, heating, switches, accessible outlets, smoke detector, windows and shutters. Equipment noted as “in working order” without having been switched on is a promise you will not be able to keep.
5. Photograph systematically. An overview of each room, then a close-up of each defect noted. The photos are dated, attached to the document and handed to the tenant at the same time.
6. Record the meter readings (electricity, gas, water, depending on the installation) and note the exact number of keys, badges and remote controls handed over.
7. Sign both documents — inspection report and inventory — and give the tenant a complete copy the same day.

The special case of short leases

The faster the turnover, the more the inspection matters. On a mobility lease (bail mobilité) or a rental to employees away on assignment, the same apartment can see several move-ins and move-outs a year. Without an inventory updated at each changeover, wear becomes impossible to attribute, and the owner ends up absorbing everything personally.

Move-out: what can be withheld, and what cannot

At move-out, comparing the two inspections reveals the differences. Not all of them can be attributed to the tenant, and that is where the essential part is decided.

• Normal wear and tear (vétusté) remains the owner’s responsibility. A carpet that has lived three years, paint that has dulled, a silicone seal that has aged: that is part of the cost of renting.
• Damage — burns, breakage, holes, indelible stains, equipment put out of service through misuse, items missing from the inventory — can give rise to a deduction.
• Failure to carry out routine upkeep — apartment returned uncleaned, grease-clogged range hood, no servicing of the boiler where that is the tenant’s responsibility — is also handled by a deduction, on supporting documents.

A deduction from the security deposit cannot be improvised: it must be justified by documents — quotes, invoices, photos — and take into account the age of the item being replaced. Billing for a new sofa when the sofa was six years old is the classic dispute. Many landlords adopt a wear schedule (grille de vétusté) attached to the lease, which sets in advance a useful life and a reduction rate for each category of equipment. It is not mandatory, but it turns a tense negotiation into a simple calculation.

The mistakes that cost the most

• Rushing the inspection on the day the keys are handed over, with a tenant in a hurry and a moving truck double-parked outside.
• Settling for a generic inventory copied from a template found online, without adapting it to the furniture actually there.
• Not taking photos. A text without images can be contested; a text with dated photos, much less so.
• Forgetting the ancillary spaces: cellar, parking space, mailbox, bike room, number of keys and badges.
• Not having the inventory signed at the same time as the inspection report, or keeping only a single copy.
• Reacting at move-out without a comparison checklist, discussing each item from memory.

Should you delegate the inspection?

Three options exist: doing it yourself, entrusting it to a property management professional, or using a court bailiff (commissaire de justice) — this last route being used mainly when one of the parties refuses to attend or the atmosphere is already adversarial, and at a cost.

For an owner who lives far from Paris, who manages several units, or who simply doesn’t want to give up two hours on a Saturday morning, the question joins the broader one of delegation. We covered it from the angle of the questions to ask before handing over your keys in our article on the 7 questions to ask before delegating your rental management.

The checklist to keep at hand

Before signing anything, check that you have:

• a detailed move-in inspection report, room by room, dated and signed by both parties;
• a priced furniture inventory, noting the condition of each item;
• a dated set of photos, attached and handed to the tenant;
• the meter readings and the number of keys and badges;
• where applicable, a wear schedule attached to the lease;
• a complete copy kept on your side, in digital form.

That is six lines. They prevent almost every end-of-lease dispute on furnished rentals — and when a dispute does arise anyway, they make the difference between a ten-minute discussion and a file that drags on for months.

This article is for informational purposes and does not replace legal advice. The rules applicable to the inspection, the furniture inventory and the return of the security deposit change, and deadlines and procedures should be checked with a professional or the official sources before any decision.