Check-out: record wear, do not presume it
Updated on October 24, 2026
At the end of the lease the tenant returns the property. Normal wear from use in accordance with the contract is not damage the tenant must pay. The Code of Obligations does not prescribe one national inventory form. A record signed by both parties is the usual way to fix what was seen at the start and at the end. A landlord who keeps the security under article 257e must still prove the loss. Minor maintenance owed by the tenant is in article 259 CO.
Refusing to sign
The tenant may note reservations on the document before signing, or refuse to sign a record they consider inaccurate. The lack of a signature does not erase defects the landlord proves another way, and it does not create defects nobody recorded.