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For owners of student and young-professional rentals

Fair and transparent deposit management.

The deposit is held in escrow from day one. Every deduction rests on move-in and move-out inventories signed by both sides. The balance goes back to the tenant within 7–14 days, with an itemised statement. The owner is covered, the tenant gets their money — with no fight.

Move in with confidence. Move out without conflict.

Talk to salesSee the 5 steps
  • Deposit in escrow — in nobody's pocket
  • Deductions only with evidence from both sides
  • No charge whatsoever for the tenant
Deposit in escrow42 Analipseos St, Apt 3 · Volos
€1,200
  1. Move-in · deposited
  2. Exit inventory
  3. Both signed
  4. Release · day 9
Deduction: wardrobe hinge repair (evidence #14)−€60
Released to the tenant€1,140
Exit inventory compared with move-in148 items · 1 damage
Living room · Wooden floorSame as move-in — normal wear
OK
Bedroom · Wardrobe doorsHinge broken — at move-in: "slightly loose"
Damage · €60
Already running atHIVE HOUSEEvery Hive House tenant deposit in Volos is deposited, settled and returned through Arcana.
Built withstripeHetznerDeposit escrow & secure evidence storage
How it works

Five steps from key handover to deposit return

Most deposit disputes start in the same place: nobody recorded the condition at the start, so nobody agrees at the end. Arcana does one thing and does it properly — it builds a shared, signed record around the deposit.

Today

Why the deposit turns into a fight

  • There is no handover inventory — or it is one page with no photos. Old scratches become "damage" three years later.
  • The deposit sits in the owner's account and comes back late, in half, or after an argument. It is the number one reason for bad reviews.
  • Damage is discovered after the tenant has left. There is no chance to repair it, and no way to prove who caused it.
  • The handover is "a quick look". Nothing is compared with anything, so every deduction looks arbitrary.
  • Notice is given by phone. Nobody knows the exact date, and the keys change hands on a random evening.
With Arcana

The five steps we cover

  1. 1

    Move-in handover inventory

    Key handover day

    Room by room, item by item, with time-stamped photos and video. Both sides sign from their phones. The deposit goes into escrow the same day. From day one there is a single reference record for the whole tenancy.

  2. 2

    Digital notice & move-out scheduling

    When the tenant decides to leave

    The tenant gives notice in the app; the contractual notice period, the inspection date, the key handover and the deposit-return timeline lock in automatically. The owner knows the exact vacancy date weeks ahead.

  3. 3

    Pre-move-out inspection

    2–3 weeks before handover

    A certified Arcana partner inspector visits the flat and sends the tenant the list of what would cost them — while there is still time to fix it. The owner gets the flat back in better condition; the tenant avoids surprise deductions.

  4. 4

    Exit inventory compared with move-in

    Handover day

    Handover is the move-in inventory walked in reverse. Every item is compared side by side — "before" photo and "now" photo — and the differences are classified as normal wear or chargeable damage. Deductions become evidence, not opinions.

  5. 5

    Fast, transparent deposit return with escrow

    7–14 days

    Once both sides sign the exit inventory, the agreed deductions go to the owner and the balance is released to the tenant within 7–14 days, with a line-by-line statement. If a line is disputed, only that amount stays in escrow until it is resolved — not the whole deposit.

The deposit

What "fair and transparent" means in practice

Four rules that apply to every tenancy on Arcana — the same for the owner and for the tenant.

Nobody holds the money

The deposit is placed in an escrow account on Stripe's infrastructure, separate from the owner's and Arcana's funds. The owner knows the money is there on handover day; the tenant knows they will not have to chase it.

Deductions only with evidence

Every deduction points to a specific inventory item: move-in photo, move-out photo, wear-or-damage classification, amount. If it is not in the move-in inventory, there is no deduction.

Return within 7–14 days

The clock starts when the exit inventory is signed and is visible to both sides. The tenant receives an itemised statement: deposit amount, each deduction with its evidence, amount returned, date.

Dispute one line, not the whole deposit

If the tenant disputes a deduction, only that amount stays in escrow until the disagreement is resolved. The rest is returned as normal. The owner keeps the evidence — they do not reconstruct it.

Case studies

Both sides of the door agree

Owners and tenants on what changed when the deposit stopped being a matter of trust and became a matter of record. (Illustrative examples from the pilot programme; to be replaced with real testimonials.)

0 disputes
"We used to lose two or three weeks a year arguing about deposits. Since we put every flat on Arcana we have closed [N] tenancies with zero deposit disputes. The exit inventory speaks for itself — the tenant sees the 'before' photo next to the 'after' photo and simply agrees."
[Name]Property manager, Hive House · Volos
9 days
"At my previous flat it took four months and a lawyer's letter to get €800 back. This time we signed the exit inventory on a Tuesday and nine days later I had €1,140 of the €1,200 in my account. I knew about the €60 for the hinge three weeks before I left, so there was nothing to argue about."
[Name]Tenant, student · University of Thessaly
6 weeks earlier
"I own two flats and I don't live in Volos. The digital notice gave me the exact move-out date six weeks ahead, and the partner's pre-inspection caught a cracked tile while the tenant could still fix it. I signed the exit inventory from Athens and the deposit was settled without a single phone call."
[Name]Private owner, 2 flats · lives in Athens
Portfolio calculator

What Arcana costs for your portfolio

One fee: €199 per flat for each move-in/move-out cycle. The owner pays it; the tenant pays nothing.

12
3
€340

Rent is only used to estimate the deposits held in escrow (we assume a deposit equal to one month's rent). Arcana's fee does not depend on rent.

Fee per move-in/move-out cycle€199once per tenancy, per flat
Cost per flat / month€5.53€199 ÷ 36 months of tenancy
Portfolio total / year€79612 flats · ≈ 4 cycles a year
Deposits in escrow€4,080money that sits in nobody's account
Move-outs Arcana will handle for you every year≈ 4 handovers / year
You pay only when a tenant changes — no charge for flats that keep the same tenant.
Pricing
€199per flat, for each move-in/move-out cycle

One fee per tenancy, no subscription and no extras. The owner pays it when the tenancy starts. For a typical 3-year tenancy that comes to about €5.50 a month.

Tenant fee€0
Get started with your portfolio

What is included

  • Move-in handover inventory with photos and video, signed by both sides
  • Digital notice & move-out scheduling with an automatic timeline
  • Pre-move-out inspection by a certified partner inspector
  • Exit inventory compared with move-in, with wear / damage classification
  • Deposit escrow and return within 7–14 days with an itemised statement — via Stripe
  • Secure storage of all evidence for the whole tenancy and after

Finding tenants, maintenance and repairs stay with the owner. Arcana takes on only what concerns evidence, money and the move-out.

Owners' frequently asked questions

What owners ask before they switch

If the deposit is in escrow, how am I protected if the tenant damages the flat?
Better than today. Escrow means the money is guaranteed to be there at handover — you are not chasing a tenant who has already left. Every damage that the exit inventory shows against the signed move-in inventory is deducted and paid to you before the balance is released. The record is time-stamped and signed by both sides, so if the tenant disputes a deduction you hold the evidence — you do not reconstruct it.
Who does the inspections? Do I have to be there?
No. The pre-inspection and the exit inventory are carried out by a certified Arcana partner inspector, to the same standard in every flat. You review and sign remotely, from your phone. You can do the move-in inventory yourself with the guided app — about 45 minutes for a typical one-bedroom — or hand that to the inspector as well.
What counts as "normal wear" and what as chargeable damage? I don't want to be told I can't deduct anything.
The decision stays yours. Arcana compares each item with its condition at move-in and proposes a classification based on its age, its condition at handover and the length of the tenancy, in line with Civil Code practice on ordinary use. You can accept, adjust or override every line with a note. Because the tenant sees the same comparison, justified deductions are accepted far more often — and far faster.
What happens if the tenant disputes a deduction?
Only the disputed amount stays in escrow; the rest of the deposit is returned as normal within 7–14 days. The dispute is reviewed on the same evidence both sides see — move-in photo, move-out photo, the inspector's note — and in most cases it is resolved without anything further. Nobody holds the whole deposit hostage over one line.
What does the tenant pay?
Nothing. The only fee is the €199 per move-in/move-out cycle paid by the owner. Tenants use Arcana because it is the fastest and safest way to get their deposit back — and that is exactly why they choose flats that are on it. No installation is needed: the move-in signature, the notice and the move-out signature all happen from a link on their phone.
Are the inventories legally valid in Greece?
The inventories are signed electronically by both sides, with the signer's identity, timestamp and device recorded, and every photo keeps its original metadata and a cryptographic fingerprint, stored on EU cloud infrastructure. You can export the complete signed file as a PDF at any time. In practice it rarely gets that far — the evidence settles it first.

Move in with confidence.
Move out without conflict.

Tell us about your portfolio and we will show you what a deposit looks like with Arcana — from the first inventory to the money landing in your tenant's account within 7–14 days.

No commitment · Reply within one business day

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