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Review Your Lease Before You Sign – A Quick Checklist

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You’ll probably have a million things on your mind when you’re moving into your new place. Probably one of the most important things you need to do, and one that gets lost in the shuffle, or just gets rushed, is to thoroughly read through your lease before you sign it.

Here we’ve provided you a quick checklist to print off and take with you when you review your lease. Make sure you review all these items to ensure a happy and stress-free stay in your new place.

  • Check to see when the rent is due.
  • Find out where to go to pay your rent, who it should be given to, or where it should be sent.
  • What are the late charges for rent not paid on time? -When do these charges begin?
  • Exact amount of deposit needed.
  • When is this deposit returned?
  • How can you lose this deposit?
  • Is there a pet deposit? If so, how much is it? When can it get refunded? Can you get this deposit back if you no longer have your pet?
  • How soon after you move out is the deposit returned?
  • Can you have roommates and what is the building’s policy on adding someone to the lease if necessary?
  • What exactly does the rent include?
  • Does the rent include any utilities? If so which ones?
  • What appliances and/or furniture, if any, are included in the apartment rental fees?
  • Is parking included in the apartment rental or is there an additional charge?
  • Are there any additional charges for the use of any building amenities such as the gym or community center? If there are additional fees, what are they and if you don’t use the amenities will you still be responsible for those fees?
  • What repairs are covered within the lease? If something happens and repairs need to be made by building management, who needs to be called? Are there any charges for repairs not covered in the lease? If so, what are those costs? How quick is the turn around for something to be fixed that is covered in the lease?


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  Comments  
     
 
ragan


are some of them unfurnished? I wasn’t sure.

 
errwds


this junk sucks!

 
Tesla


If you are under 18 and moving into an apartment with a friend who has already been there awhile, do you have to be on the lease? Can you even be on it if you are under 18?
Thanks!

shantay


If at anytime someone else is moving into an apartment with some1 else their name must be added onto the lease no matter how old they are.

 
 
Chrisi


No, you cannot be on the lease until you are 18,
but you can be listed as a resident, the only difference being that you will not be responsible for any payments or late fees

 
scott


i moved into a new apartment and been living there for about 3 months. now i never signed a lease yet and the landlord keeps threating for money. i pay the other bills. what should i do? i have been trying to get a lease.

Octavia


Hey scott, you should got lease from the landlord or the landlord dont know give one to sign then your to taking to the housing authority,he/she threating you they are trying to scary you to pay them. But see you the sheff, says first about that.

 
 


Oh, and did not know about it. Thanks for the information …

 
Robert Phillips


I’m looking for an apt me i think i had friend but i’m should he is comming i’m under dr care they say no working to me but i’m on gau &i’m to be moveing too a gax or on gov money soon my ref.are with T.H.A.they were i have done work for them.plase let know.i’m trying find place soon THANK YOU have nice day.

 
Patricia


Are there any apartments for rent in the Springfield Mo area that are on a month to month or a six month lease?
Also one that will accept small dogs.

 
Susan


this is helpfull

 
ashley


i am only 15
how can i be prepared for moving out
i am really interested because i dont want it to be all a stupid rush
thanks!!

 
Natalie


I have been living in an apartment for 2-3years now. When I got the place the landlord refused to give me a lease.I was told that everything was included, but after 2weeks, I woke up to go to work and the cylinder of gas was gone. I called the landlord and her brother,but they pretended not to know what had happened to it.Anyway,after a year and a half. Thay moved a girl in with a 7year old. And then the gas appeared.

 
Aimee


Alrighty the rental story I have for you is very long and complicated but I could really us some advice. Say you have a new couple and they decide to move in together. They sign a one year lease agreement, and then about three to four months later they brake up and he walks out on the lease. Landlord lets her stay and he takes him off the lease but he gives her permission to move in her daughter and her family to help pay the rent. Then a couple months after that she decides to walk out on the lease but she hasn’t told the landlord. Is the daughters family responsible for her half of rent? If yes do they have to go?

 
Mom


My son recently dropped out of college and left the apt he shared with another college student. His roommates mom signed the lease and I’m committed to pay my sons share of the rent,and will do so, till the lease expires. Do I still,have to pay 1/2 the cable ,water and the rental fee on the washer & dryer?

 
Ana, from Spain


Hi Apartments.com,
I am a spanish girl and I am looking for leasing in NY via internet (I am still in spain, and I would like to have it done before arriving USA). I have found a nice apt, but I am not sure how to deal the first month and deposit. Is it safe to send it in advance by Money Gram? Wont´the landlord runaway with it and I´ll lose the money? What´s customary in these cases? I have already receive a leasing contract and it appears to sound good.
I am looking forward to hearing from you
Best, Ana

Patricia Desmarais


I would use great caution in sending anyone money before having a lease, being in the USA, the city you wish to live in….ect. The fact that the landlord wants the first months’ rent and the deposit when you are not even in the country, is a red flag to me. I know that moving here is scary, and you would like to have an apt before you make the move, but it is far easier to find a good apt. once you are here. If you can leave your furniture and other things (if you have any) with someone, come to NY and find a place, and then send for your stuff you will be ahead of “the game”. And I am afraid it is a game. Best of luck.

 
 
sabah


I am planning to move to a new apartment across town at the end of next month. To make sure I have a place locked in before I give a notice to my present landlord, I asked that I sign the lease with my new apartment way before hand. When I went to sign my lease the apartment agent had me sign two copies and told me that he will not be signing it because the management company has to sign. I asked if he would be sending me a copy of the signed lease in the mail after it is signed by the management company. He said he will keep a signed copy for me at the time when I move in. Is this something I should be concerned about?

 
Lynne


my daughter is signing a lease on a new apt. but spoke to the new landlord about a couple of issues and he agreed to repair. Should we add that to the lease, since they haven’t been completed yet and he wants her to sign the lease?

 
Elle


I recently moved into an apartment in New Orleans. I am only 17 and they had me sign the lease but had no one cosign it. Now I want to move out but I don’t know if I would be able to get my security deposit back or if I could get out of it?

 
Sonja


I moved in with my boyfriend and me and my daughter were occupants on the lease…he left after 4 months and we had no place to go and i could not afford to pay the rent there can they sue me for the rent? I tried to talk to the managers there but no one would contact me or talk to me what can i do…now they are sueing me and i cant get a place to live because they have it showing me being evicted on my background check…please give me some advice

 
helen


i am a owner and i would like to know how do i stop the tenet from parking in my drive way when she was told not to do that

 
helen


will i get in trouble if i keep telling the tenet to stop parking in the drive way even though is not included in the lease

 
Lisa


Can I be taken to court for being 10 days late on paying my rent when its my first time late, and I called and explained the situation prior to its being late? (No, I didn’t get it in writing, and upon my giving them the check, they said they wouldn’t take it because it’s already begun to have legal action taken…unless I pay $600.00 in legal fees which I do not have…)

 
 

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