The tenant reports that the agreed key shipment has been delivered. There is indeed an envelope on your desk. Only when you compare it does it become clear: the notification announces a different scope than what you find. Now a concrete clarification of receipt is needed before a brief reply such as everything received would produce an incorrect conclusion.
Take the shipping agreement as the starting point
This guidance assumes that the parties have already agreed on the dispatch. For this, note the confirmed recipient, the agreed scope and the feedback channel together. It does not recommend a particular method of shipping and does not decide whether the specific method is legally sufficient.
§ 546 BGB obliges to return after termination of the tenancy. [RUECKGABE] Whether this obligation is fully fulfilled in an individual case is examined on the basis of the entire process. A shipment notification is neither declared here to be a complete return of the dwelling nor categorically considered meaningless.
Record receipt and contents with your own findings
Note who actually accepted the shipment and who recorded the contents. Describe the packaging and the keys found factually. Assign the items received to the agreed list as far as that is reliably possible. An unclear assignment receives an open status.
Our editorial recommendation: the receipt reply names the items actually received and the specific discrepancy. If you have not yet inspected the contents, you initially confirm only this limited receipt. A status indicator in the shipping process does not replace the content record in your own documentation.
Hypothetical case: a key appears in only one of the two lists
Ralf expects, according to the agreed list, two apartment keys, one front-door key and one basement key. In the envelope are two apartment keys and one front-door key. The tenant states in response to the query that the basement key was already handed in at an earlier appointment.
Ralf therefore looks for the earlier receipt note and contacts the person named there. He does not immediately start a claim for loss. The earlier issue-and-return list is merged with the current receipt. If the alleged earlier handover cannot be substantiated, precisely that point remains open for further clarification; the three keys now received are nevertheless recorded as received.
Check other access separately
Check with the tenant whether the agreed list includes further keys, chips or other access means. A reply concerning a mechanical key is not read as confirmation of all other authorisations. For digital rights a separately documented change may be required; its technical implementation is not the subject of this shipping process.
In case of differing information a responsible person is named with a concrete next feedback step. Uncertainty about loss, liability or legal return is examined by experts. It is not concealed by a subsequently smoothed receipt date.
Close with a precise result
The conclusion states the actual receipt, additionally clarified earlier returns and remaining open accesses. The parties receive the same comprehensible status. Whether rooms, items or other return questions are also open remains visible as a separate check. This is how you close the shipping process with a verified content and preserve the necessary limits of the receipt confirmation.