Move-Out Checklist
Hi,
Your move-out process and deposit return will go smoother if you take a moment to read over the following basic items. Let us know if you have any questions. Good luck with your move!
Marketing Process
There will be a sign and lockbox placed on your property, as stated in your lease, and we will begin efforts to locate the next tenant after we receive your notice to vacate. We will, with advance notice to you each time, be showing your unit to tenant prospects. Ideally, a new tenant will be found soon and this process will be a short one. Anything you can do to make the property show better will increase the probability that the process will end sooner. If you have pets, you agree to remove or kennel them if they interfere in any way with our access to the property. This will be strictly enforced, with no exceptions. If your yard needs attention, please tend to it at once. The "curb appeal" and interior appearance of a property is extremely important to our success in finding a new resident quickly. When we work together, the leasing process usually has a win-win result. We find someone fast and you endure minor, if any, disturbance.
Move-out Date vs. Lease End Date
Although your lease most likely ends the last day of your final month, we know that tenants often move sooner than the actual last day. In other words, your move-out date may be sooner than your lease ending date. If so, you are welcomed to drop off the keys at the office. Please note that you will still be responsible for rent until your lease end date. Otherwise, you must be finished, out of the property, and have the keys to our office by no later than 12:00 PM of the last day of your lease. No extra or holdover days will be allowed beyond your move-out date.
Carpet
We will have your carpet professionally cleaned upon your move-out and the actual cost will be deducted from your security deposit, per your lease. Do not clean the carpets yourself or hire someone else to do it, we will handle it.
Pets
If there is or ever was a pet in your property, we will have the property treated for fleas, whether you think there are fleas present or not, and the actual cost will be deducted from your deposit along with the carpet cleaning cost, per your lease agreement. Please pick up all pet droppings from the yard before you leave, otherwise, we hire a “pooper scooper” service to do this and deduct the cost from your deposit.
Utilities
Pursuant to your lease agreement, leave all utilities on through the end of your lease term. Please schedule your service to terminate either the day of or the day following your lease expiration date. If management has approved an earlier move-out date, please have the utilities terminated either the day of or the day following your move-out date. Otherwise, we will have the service reinstated and you will be charged turn-on fees, the cost of which will far surpass any savings you may realize by turning utilities off too early.
Cleaning
Moving is a very tiresome event. Please consider carefully whether you will have the time and energy, after moving, to properly clean your place. Most commonly, tenants have every intention of leaving the property clean, usually boasting to us, "it will be cleaner than when we moved in". But then they simply run out of time or are too exhausted after hauling boxes. They blow off the final clean and walk away figuring their deposit will cover the cleanup costs. This leaves us scrambling to get things handled at the last minute before the new tenant moves in.
The problem is compounded when utilities have been turned off. You will suffer financial consequences if this happens. Nothing will consume your deposit more than your failure to return the property good and clean.
Please consider hiring a cleaning service if you don't know for sure that you are going to be able to return the property to us in a good and clean condition. We will charge a minimum $100 coordination fee, plus $75 per trip for re-inspections, meeting vendors at the property, etc. on top of the actual costs of cleaning and repairs if you leave unfinished cleaning and trash hauling.
Walls, Painting, Picture Hanger Holes
Please consider hiring a professional to fill small holes in your walls with spackle and to touch up paint. We have had to completely repaint interiors that were otherwise in good shape after tenants created white polka dots throughout the entire house by filling numerous small holes with spackle. If you have caused excessive wear and tear to the walls such that they will need to be touched up or prematurely repainted, call and talk to us about that before you spackle or paint yourself.
Trash and Debris
You must take all of your trash and belongings with you. Do not leave your trash can full. Do not leave trash stacked at the curb. If you do, we will send a hauling company to remove it and you will be charged for the cleanup. Make sure that if you are placing trash or household items on the curb you first verify that the city will pick it up. There will be a minimum $75 hauling charge to remove any trash or items that you leave behind.
Keys and Forwarding Address All keys must be returned to our office by 12:00 PM on your move-out date. If you were provided with a mailbox key, garage door openers, parking passes, community pool passes, etc., please remember to return those as well. Returning the keys constitutes the formal act of “surrendering possession” back to us, which, along with providing a written forwarding address, is required by the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act for your deposit return. We do not meet you at the property to collect the keys. You will not be provided a “second chance” to re-enter the property to correct items you forgot or missed. If the office is closed there is a drop box on the left of the door that you can drop your keys off. Please label the keys with the property address. If you wish to be present for the move-out inspection email sevahello@renterswarehouse.com and the inspector will reach out to you with a time and date that the inspection will be scheduled for. The inspections are completed within 72 hours of Renters Warehouse receiving keys. Please leave all items larger than an envelope on the kitchen counter as it will not fit in the dropbox.
Deposit Return The security deposit disposition can take up to 45 days to process. In cases where the property needs little to no repairs/cleaning, the disposition is completed faster. Once it has been completed you will receive a full accounting at that time via us mail, please don't call and ask us to give you a partial or early accounting over the phone. You may not pick up the security deposit from the office so ensure that you provide us with a forwarding address. We are often asked, "How much of my deposit am I going to get back?" The answer is, "As much as you want!" If you fulfill the terms and conditions of your lease and you follow these move-out instructions, we will be delighted to make no deductions for repairs or cleaning (other than prior agreed to amounts). If you leave a damaged and dirty property with trash for us to deal with, your deposit return statement will reflect that. So it's entirely up to you. If you have not already provided us with your forwarding address in writing, please do so immediately..
Charges The following is a list of the most common charges that are taken from the security deposits of our tenants after they move out. Our hope is to return the maximum amount to you, less carpet cleaning (and flea service if pets).
Cleaning - Actual Cost of Cleaning Service plus Coordination Fee
Utilities - Actual cost for turn on and consumption plus Coordination Fee
Lawn - Actual Cost of lawn care plus Coordination Fee
Repairs - Actual cost plus Coordination Fee
Trash Hauling – Actual cost, minimum $75. DO NOT leave trash at your curb or in your garage plus Coordination fee
Fireplace Inspection & Cleaning - Actual cost, plus Coordination Fee
Coordination Fee - Minimum $100 Admin fee for contracting any cleaning, repairs, utilities, hauling, etc.
Trip Charge - $75 for each extra trip to the property to let vendors in or to re-inspect repairs.