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Refunding a security deposit

Return a tenant's security deposit after they move out, minus what they still owe, and record the refund in VIVIN. VIVIN does not move the money: you pay it from your own bank.

Before you start​

  • Plan: any plan.
  • Permissions, in Settings → Users → Role Permissions:
    • Bookings → Refund to mark a deposit refunded, change the refund date, revert or transfer a refund. Only Super Admin has it by default.
    • Bookings → Edit Items for Ready To Refund, Put on Hold and Release Hold. Super Admin and Admin have it by default.
    • Bookings → Dispute to mark a deposit disputed. Only Super Admin has it by default.
    • Finance → Approve Payments to open Finance → Deposits. Only Super Admin has it by default.
  • Check your deposit rules once:
    • In Settings → Global Settings → Charges & Payments: Use the "Ready to refund" status, Enable deposit disputes and Allow refund before contract end.
    • In Settings → Payments, the Deposit Refund Limit: how many days you have to refund. It counts from the contract end date or the check-out date, as set in Deposit Refund Limit Reference (Global Settings → Booking Defaults). A booking can have its own Deposit Refund Limit on Contract Info.
  • The check-out is settled: damage charged, payments approved, final utility shares approved. See Managing a check-out.

Steps​

1. Check what goes back to the tenant​

Portfolio → Bookings, then the booking's Deposit tab

The Security Deposit card shows the Initial Deposit and how much of it was paid, the Current Deductions (what the tenant still owes), the Cash back to tenant and the Total to refund.

Result: you know the amount to pay back. When the charges are larger than the deposit, the cash back is zero.

2. Flag, hold or dispute the deposit​

Deposit tab of the same booking

  • Turn on Ready To Refund to tell your finance team the deposit can go back. With Use the "Ready to refund" status on, the deposit status becomes Ready to Refund. It is only a marker: a deposit can be refunded without it.
  • Click Put on Hold to keep the deposit while you wait for final costs. You can still refund a deposit on hold. Release Hold removes the hold.
  • If the tenant contests the deductions, click Mark as Disputed. The refund stays blocked until someone clicks Resolve Dispute. Only a Fully Paid deposit can be disputed, and only when Enable deposit disputes is on.

3. Find the deposits to return​

Business → Finance → Deposits

  1. If you use the "Ready to refund" status, click Ready to refund under Deposit lifecycle status. Otherwise click Pending refund under Timeline: tenants who checked out and whose refund deadline has not passed. Overdue lists those past it.
  2. The date range starts on the last 3 months: clear or widen it for older move-outs.
  3. On each row, check Est. Refund, Refund Due Date and Tenant IBAN.

4. Pay the tenant from your bank​

Send the Total to refund to the tenant's IBAN from your own bank account. Note the date the money leaves your bank.

5. Record the refund​

Deposit tab of the booking, or Business → Finance → Deposits

  1. On the booking's Deposit tab, click Mark refunded. In Refund Security Deposit, set the Refund date (the day the money left your bank; it starts on today) and click Confirm.
  2. Or, on Finance → Deposits, click Mark refunded on the row. The refund date is then today; change it later with Edit date on the booking's Deposit tab.

Result: the deposit shows Refunded, and so does the Deposit Refund line on the payment plan. The deposit first pays whatever the tenant still owed. In the Tenant Portal, the Payments page shows the deposit minus what was applied to those charges.

If the tenant owes more than the deposit, the part the deposit does not cover is recorded as an Impairment loss (written off). Collect that money before you refund if you still want it.

6. Confirm the booking has ended​

Portfolio → Bookings

On its end date, the booking turns Ended by itself. By default that is the check-out date, or the contract end date when Booking Status - Preferred Dates in Global Settings is set to Contract Dates. Use the Ended chip to find it.

Done when​

  • The deposit shows Refunded on the booking and in Finance → Deposits, with the date the money left your bank.
  • No deposit is left in Overdue on Finance → Deposits.
  • The booking shows Ended.

Troubleshooting​

  • Mark refunded is greyed out on the booking. The contract end date has not been reached and Allow refund before contract end is off, the deposit is Disputed, or your role lacks Bookings → Refund. Wait for the end date, turn the setting on, or resolve the dispute.
  • Mark refunded does not show on Finance → Deposits. It appears only once the deposit is Pending refund or Overdue, from the day after check-out. Refund from the booking's Deposit tab instead.
  • The dialog says This refund is blocked by invoicing. The deposit sits on an invoice your provider cannot credit on its own. Follow the steps listed in the dialog (usually a credit note first), then click Mark refunded again.
  • You marked the wrong deposit refunded. Click Revert refund on the booking's Deposit tab. This only undoes the record in VIVIN, and it is not possible after a Transfer.

Tips​

  • A tenant staying on with a new booking? On a refunded deposit, Transfer moves the refund balance to another booking of the same tenant as a credit. A transfer cannot be undone.
  • The Refund Due Date on Finance → Deposits is your Deposit Refund Limit counted from the reference date. Work through Pending refund every week so nothing reaches Overdue.
  • For a tenant who overpaid and has no deposit left to return, the same button opens Refund overpayment.