Tenant Resource Guide
Moving In and Out
215 articles9 sections10 state guides
Planning the Move
- Move-Out Timeline: Planning Your Move From Notice to Move-InStart here Start about 60 days before you move: check your lease's notice terms, give written notice, book the move, forward your mail, and leave a forwarding address.
- Hiring Movers vs. DIY Moving: How to Compare Costs and Protections Compare a mover's estimate with a truck move, check the mover's license, and know free interstate mover coverage pays up to 60 cents per pound per item.
- How Much Money Do You Need to Move Into an Apartment? Plan on about three times the monthly rent. Our worked example for a $1,500 apartment totals $4,288 in fees, rent, deposits, utilities, and movers.
- Setting Up Renters Insurance When You Move Start coverage at your new address by the day you get keys or move items in. Renters insurance covers listed perils in transit, such as theft, but not breakage.
- Transferring Utilities: A Complete Guide for Renters Start service at your new rental on move-in day, set the old stop date with your landlord under your lease, and ask the new utility to waive its deposit.
Moving Out
- Rental Abandonment: When Is a Unit Considered Abandoned? Usually when rent is unpaid and your absence shows you left. Arizona uses 7 days away with rent 10 days late; California does not always require abandonment notice.
- Breaking a Lease for Job Relocation A job transfer usually does not end a lease. Military orders, Delaware's 30-mile rule, or a lease clause can; otherwise cut the cost with a buyout or replacement tenant.
- Move-Out Cleaning Requirements: What Landlords Expect Leave the unit as clean as it was at move-in, minus normal wear and tear. California, Colorado, and Washington limit automatic carpet or professional cleaning charges.
- Notice to Vacate: How Much Notice to Give and What to Include Month-to-month tenants usually owe 30 days' written notice (20 days before the period ends in Washington). Name your move-out date and forwarding address.
Finding a Place
- Apartment Hunting: How to Find the Right Rental Start before you give notice, set a rent limit from landlords' income rules, verify the owner before you pay, and check pet policies and state caps.
- The Rental Application Process: What to Expect Expect to give ID, income proof, and rental history, pay a screening fee where allowed, and wait for checks. A denial based on a report triggers a notice.
- What to Inspect Before Signing a Lease Test heat, water, power, locks, and alarms, look for leaks, mold, and pests, get lead and flood disclosures, and put promised repairs and dates in the lease.
Moving In
- Can You Change the Locks When You Move Into a Rental? It depends on your lease and state. Texas bars it without permission but requires a rekey within 7 days of move-in, and some states let abuse survivors demand new locks.
- The Complete Move-In Checklist for Renters Get the lease and receipts before you pay, record the unit's condition on key day, test alarms and locks, start insurance and utilities, and report repairs in writing.
- Move-In Fees vs. Security Deposits: Know the Difference A deposit is refunded minus lawful deductions; a move-in fee is not. Massachusetts and New York ban most upfront fees, and California counts processing fees as deposit.
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