After the handover of the flat, a damaged door remains disputed. You are waiting for a quote, the former tenant is waiting for your explanation. Weeks become months. For the landlord’s side it is now not only the amount of damage that matters: the correct legal step must also be determined in good time.
Record handover and asserted damage concretely
Secure the actual sequence of the return: appointments, keys, protocol and communication. Separate that from when a particular damage was noticed by you. Your own discovery date must not be used uncritically as a new start of the limitation period. The precise legal classification of the time of handover belongs in advice if there is uncertainty.
Describe the alleged damage with location, condition and comparative evidence. A sentence such as flat left in poor condition neither explains the individual item nor its cause. Previous signs of wear, current damage and observations not yet examined must remain distinct.
Check the claim before it becomes a demand
§ 1111 ABGB concerns damage or wear through misuse and links the said liability to fault; accident is expressly excluded. [FRIST] A worse impression after long-term use is therefore not sufficient as a complete claim assessment.
Put together existing move-in and move-out evidence, repair history and the alleged cause. Ask the expert which facts are needed for responsibility and the compensable extent. A quote for complete renewal is information about costs, not yet a legal confirmation that the former tenant owes precisely that amount.
Our editorial recommendation: List each item with a clear status. For example, proven is a visible damage in a dated photo; unresolved may be causation and the compensable amount. A cause that is still open does not become a certain fact by repeating the demand.
Do not treat the statutory limitation period as a mere calendar date
For compensation under the liability described in § 1111 the provision requires that it be claimed in court at the latest within one year after handover; otherwise the right is extinguished. [FRIST] The text therefore does not refer only to a timely private notification.
Have it examined early which claim exists, how the limitation period runs in the concrete case and which action preserves it. This article does not calculate a deadline and does not assert automatic equal treatment of all claims arising from a tenancy. Nor is the effect of negotiations, acknowledgements or a deduction from the deposit finally assessed here.
Hypothetical case: A quote arrives too late for a convenient procedure
Jonas waits a long time for a joiner’s appointment after the handover. The former tenant disputes that the door damage occurred during their occupancy. Jonas wants to wait for a final invoice amount first.
Instead of postponing the legal assessment until after the repair, he presents the current status immediately: handover documents, comparison photos, objections and the cost estimate so far. The consultation clarifies what is needed for a sufficiently substantiated further assertion and which limitation period must be observed. That does not yet make the claim justified; but the decision on whether to pursue it further is not left to the chance arrival of an invoice.
Document a deliberate decision
In the end there can be a reasoned settlement, a professionally prepared court claim or the abandonment of an unfounded item. Crucial is that evidence, legal assessment and timetable converge.
Treat the deposit separately as a security and accounting matter to be examined. From an open damage allegation neither a blanket permission for full retention nor a universal accounting deadline is derived here. The result should be a concretely examined item in good time, not a dispute continued for as long as possible.