Checklist
Apartment move-out checklist for renters
Enter the day your tenancy ends or you hand back the keys. The checklist dates each step and adds tasks for a furnished apartment, roommates and pets. Your lease decides the details; the list tells you what to look up in it.
Read the paperwork
Give notice and book
Put it back as you found it
Services and mail
Handover day
Tips for this list
- The check-in report is the comparison everyone will use. If you have it, clean and repair against it; if you do not, ask the landlord for their copy now.
- Put requests and agreements in writing, even after a friendly phone call. A short message saying what was agreed is enough.
- Ask to be present at the inspection. Small things can be fixed on the spot if you are there with a cloth and a screwdriver.
- This is an organising checklist, not tenancy advice. If you and your landlord disagree, look for a local tenants' advice service.
Questions
How much notice do I need to give before moving out?
It depends on your lease and the rules where you live, so the checklist cannot give a number. It dates the notice task 45 days before handover as a reminder and tells you to send it earlier if your lease asks for longer.
Do I have to repaint or fill nail holes?
Leases differ. Read the clause on decoration and ask the landlord before doing anything; the checklist only reminds you to check and to fix what was agreed.
Why does the list change for a furnished apartment?
A furnished let usually comes with an inventory, so the checklist adds finding it, putting furniture back where it is listed, checking each item and washing the things that belong to the flat.
Related lists
Move-out cleaning checklist
Room by room, top to bottom, with supplies counted from the size of the home.
Change of address checklist
Everyone who holds your address, grouped by type so you can work through them in one sitting.
8-week moving checklist
The full two-month plan: enter your move date and every task from booking to handing over keys gets its own day.