Society Move-in / Move-out Checklist: Approvals, Deposits & Handover

Society move-in and move-out checklist

A move is the single most disruptive routine event in a housing society. A lift is occupied for four hours, the lobby fills with cardboard, six strangers get access to the building, and — if the process is loose — a flat changes hands without the society finding out until the maintenance bill bounces.

Most societies have a process. It usually lives in the secretary's head and a WhatsApp message to the guard. This page sets out a process worth writing down: what to collect, what to charge, what the guard needs at the gate, and how to close the record cleanly afterwards.

Get the sequence right

The most common failure is doing things in the wrong order. Approve before the truck arrives, not when it is blocking the ramp.

1. Resident or owner raises a move request, with a date.
2. Committee reviews and approves or rejects it, in writing.
3. Documents and deposit are collected.
4. Gate is briefed; movers get passes for the day.
5. Move happens; lift and lobby are protected.
6. Handover checklist is completed on the day.
7. Deposit is refunded or adjusted; records are closed out.

A request raised the evening before a Sunday move gives the committee no time to check anything. Ask for seven days' notice and enforce it; make the reason explicit so it does not read as obstruction.

Move-in checklist

Documents to collect

• Registered leave-and-licence agreement (for tenants) or sale deed / allotment letter (for owners)
• Police verification acknowledgement for the tenant — mandatory in most states and the item committees most often skip
• Photo ID for every adult occupant
• Passport-size photographs where your bye-laws require them
• Vehicle details and registration numbers for parking allocation
• Emergency contact for the flat
• Details of household help who will have regular access

Society actions

• Issue the NOC or move-in approval in writing, from the committee, not verbally from one member
• Collect the refundable deposit and any non-refundable shifting charge
• Allocate parking and record it against the flat
• Register occupants in the directory so gate and billing records are correct
• Add the flat's new contacts to the notice and billing lists
• Brief the guard: date, expected mover names, vehicle number, time window

On the day

• Protect the lift — padding on walls, floor covering — and inspect it before and after
• Restrict the move to agreed hours (commonly 9am–6pm, never on a festival or a general body day)
• Log every mover at the gate as a visitor, with ID
• Confirm debris is removed the same day, not left in the lobby for the housekeeping staff

Move-out checklist

Move-out is where societies lose money, because the leverage disappears the moment the truck leaves.

• No dues certificate first. Maintenance up to date, including the current month. This is the entire point of holding a deposit.
• Return society property: access cards, gate remotes, intercom handset, amenity keys, parking tags. Count them against what was issued.
• Inspect common areas for damage caused during the move, before the deposit is released.
• Close the parking allocation so the slot can be reissued.
• Deactivate access: app account, gate cards, and — the one everyone forgets — the household help registered against that flat.
• Remove occupants from the directory and from notice distribution lists.
• Settle the deposit within a stated number of days, with an itemised deduction note if anything is withheld. An unexplained deduction is how a routine move-out becomes a dispute.
• Record the forwarding address for any correspondence, especially if an assessment is pending.

What you may and may not charge

This is where committees get into trouble, so be careful.

A refundable deposit against damage during the move is normal and defensible. A reasonable non-refundable charge covering lift wear, extra housekeeping and staff overtime is also common.

What is not defensible is a charge with no basis in the bye-laws, a figure set by one office-bearer, or a "shifting charge" that is really a penalty for letting the flat to a tenant. Non-occupancy charges in particular are capped in several states — in Maharashtra, co-operative societies have long been restricted to a fixed percentage of service charges, excluding municipal taxes — and societies levying more than the permitted amount have repeatedly been ordered to refund it.

Three rules keep you safe:

1. Every charge must trace to a general body resolution and your registered bye-laws.
2. The amount must be the same for every flat in comparable circumstances.
3. Issue a receipt, and account for it in the society's books like any other income.

Refusing an NOC because the committee dislikes the incoming tenant's profession, food habits, marital status or religion is not a charge question at all — it is discrimination, it has been struck down repeatedly, and it exposes individual committee members personally.

Closing the record properly

The administrative tail is what keeps the society's data trustworthy. A month after any move, these should all be true: the directory shows current occupants, billing goes to the right person, the guard's list matches reality, parking reflects who actually parks there, and no deactivated resident still has gate access.

If your society cannot answer "who legally occupies B-402 today, and are they up to date on maintenance?" in under a minute, the move-out process is not closing properly.

How this works on Plinth

A resident raises a move request — move-in or move-out — against their flat, tagged as owner or tenant, with the intended date.

The committee reviews it and approves, rejects, or cancels; the decision and reviewer are recorded. Once approved, the move carries a checklist whose items are ticked off as they are completed, so the state of a move is visible to both sides rather than living in one person's memory. Completion closes the request.

Every transition is written to the society's append-only audit log, so at the next AGM the committee can show how many moves were processed, and no approval can be quietly rewritten afterwards.

Frequently asked questions

Can a society refuse permission for a tenant to move in? It can refuse on legitimate grounds — incomplete documents, dues outstanding on the flat, no police verification. It cannot refuse on grounds of religion, caste, food habits, marital status or profession. Those refusals have been consistently struck down.

How much notice should we require? Seven days is reasonable and gives the committee time to verify documents and brief the gate. Publish it in advance so it is not seen as an obstacle raised at the last minute.

Is police verification the society's job or the owner's? The obligation sits with the landlord, but the society is entitled to ask for the acknowledgement before permitting occupancy, and a sensible committee does.

Can we hold the deposit until the tenant clears their electricity bill? Only against dues the society is owed and damage to common property. A utility bill in the tenant's own name is between them and the utility.

What if a flat is let without informing the society at all? Common, and worth acting on. The occupant is registered, documents are collected retrospectively, and the applicable charges are levied from the date of occupation — not treated as an unresolvable grievance.

Step-by-step guides

• Admin: Set Up Move-in / Move-out
• Resident: Use Move-in / Move-out

Related: household help police verification · resident directory for housing societies · visitor gate management