Illinois lease signing checklist

Listing scams copy real apartments and collect deposits for homes the scammer doesn’t own. Look the address up on the county assessor or property records site and check that the owner matches the landlord or management company you’re dealing with. If a company is managing it, its name should appear on the lease.

Watch out for: They can’t show you inside, say they’re out of the country, push you to decide today, or the rent is far below similar units nearby.

FTC: rental listing scams

The FTC treats these as the same as sending cash: once sent, it’s usually gone. Pay fees and deposits by check or another traceable method, to the business named on the lease, and get a receipt.

Watch out for: Anyone who insists on one of those payment methods, or asks for money before you’ve seen the unit and the lease.

FTC: rental listing scams

Ask the exact fee, what it pays for, and whether it’s refundable if you’re turned down or the unit goes to someone else. With several applications in a hot market, these add up fast.

A rejection after paying is money lost. Ask the minimum credit score, the income requirement (usually a multiple of the rent), whether co-signers or guarantors are accepted, and whether they’ll take a screening report you already have.

Ask: “What would cause an application to be denied, and do you accept a recent screening report I already have?”

Whether a landlord may refuse a voucher, and how an income test must treat it, depends on your state.

A holding deposit takes the unit off the market for you. Before paying, get in writing: the amount, how many days it holds the unit, whether it’s credited to your first month or deposit, and what happens to it if you back out, the landlord backs out, or your application is denied.

Watch out for: “Non-refundable no matter what,” paid before you’ve seen the lease.

You can’t judge a lease you first see at the signing table. Ask for a PDF of the lease plus every addendum, rules page and policy it mentions.

Watch out for: “We’ll go over it when you come in to sign,” or only a one-page summary.

Model units are staged and often newly renovated. Ask which unit number will be on your lease and tour that one. If it’s still occupied, get its condition and any promised work written into the lease.

Weak pressure, slow drains and a long wait for hot water are rarely fixed after you sign. Look under every sink for stains, warping, buckets or fresh patches.

Electric baseboard heat, old windows or window AC units can push bills far past what the rent suggests. Find the thermostat and the heat source. In a cold climate, ask when the building turns the heat on.

Ask: “Is heat included, and what did the last tenant pay for it in winter?”

Brown rings, bubbling paint and a musty smell point to leaks or mold. One freshly painted patch on a ceiling is worth asking about.

Look inside kitchen cabinets, under the sink and behind the fridge and stove for droppings, traps or bait stations.

Ask: “Has this unit or building been treated for pests in the past year, and for what?”

Plug your charger into outlets in each room. Every window should open, close and lock, and the entry door should have a working deadbolt.

Ask: “Will the locks be changed before I move in?”

Missing or dead detectors are a safety problem and a preview of how maintenance is handled.

Thick walls and basement units can kill reception. Look the address up on the FCC broadband map to see which providers and speeds are actually available, especially if you work from home.

FCC National Broadband Map

A quiet weekday tour hides bar traffic, a busy upstairs neighbor, a lit parking lot or a dark walk from the bus. Walk the block after dark.

If something promised at the tour (new carpet, a repaired window, an appliance) isn’t done at move-in, your photos show what you were shown.

You want a name or portal, an after-hours number, and a sense of how long routine repairs take.

Ask: “If the heat or water stops on a Saturday night, who do I call and how fast does someone come?”

Watch out for: Only a personal cell number with no backup, or “just text me.”

Amenity, trash, technology, pest, parking, pet and “utility billing” fees can add hundreds a month. Get every recurring charge listed in writing so you can compare apartments on total cost.

Ask for recent bills or monthly averages. If your meter also serves common areas or other units, ask in writing what it covers.

The renewal increase is often the biggest cost of staying a second year. In New York City, also ask whether the unit is rent stabilized.

Ask about the lease-break fee, notice required, and whether you can sublet or find a replacement tenant. Get the answer from the lease, not a verbal promise.

Compare the answer with your state’s notice rule and with what the lease says.

Move-in and moving-elevator fees, quiet hours, guest limits and package rules often live in a separate document the lease says you agree to.

Ask for the move-out checklist and any standard cleaning, painting or carpet charges before you sign, not after.

You’ll need the owner’s or manager’s legal name and mailing address for repair requests in writing, your forwarding address, deposit disputes and any formal notice. Make sure it’s in the lease.

First month, last month, deposit, broker fee, application and admin fees, pet deposit, parking, key fobs, moving-elevator deposit. Then check the deposit against your state’s limit.

Rent plus every mandatory fee, average utilities, renters insurance, parking and pet rent. Two apartments with the same rent can be hundreds of dollars a month apart.

“One month free” is usually a discount spread over the lease, while the lease itself states the full rent. Renewal increases, late fees and lease-break charges are often calculated from that full figure. Ask how the concession is applied and get it in writing.

Ask: “Will the lease show the full rent or the discounted rent, and what will my renewal be based on?”

Some buildings split one shared bill among units by a formula based on square footage or number of occupants (often called RUBS, ratio utility billing), not on what you use. Conserving won’t lower it. Ask how it’s calculated and what a similar unit pays.

Many leases require a minimum liability amount and naming the landlord as an “interested party.” Get a quote before you sign so it’s in your budget.

Standard renters insurance usually doesn’t cover flood damage to your belongings. Look the address up on FEMA’s flood map. Flood coverage for renters is sold separately through the National Flood Insurance Program and generally takes effect 30 days after you buy it.

FEMA Flood Map Service CenterFloodSmart: flood insurance for renters

Find the due date, grace period and late fee in the lease and compare them with your state’s rule.

Every adult who’ll live there should be on the lease, the unit number should be the one you saw, and the start date should match when you can actually move in.

Ask: “What happens, and what do I pay, if the unit isn’t ready on the start date?”

That phrase usually means each of you can be held responsible for the full rent and any damage, not just your share. If a roommate leaves, you may owe their part. Agree in writing among yourselves how you’ll handle it.

Watch for clauses making you responsible for “all repairs” or appliances, or saying you accept the unit “as-is.” In many states a lease can’t take away the landlord’s duty to keep the home livable.

Lease clauses Illinois law won’t enforce

Compare it with your state’s notice rule.

Watch out for: “At any time,” “without notice,” or “with or without Tenant present.”

Some leases renew automatically, or switch to month-to-month at a higher rent, unless you give notice 30, 60 or 90 days before the end. Miss that date and you may be committed to another term.

Look for a fixed lease-break fee, how much notice you must give, whether you keep paying until the unit is re-rented, and whether you may sublet. Several states limit these fees or require the landlord to try to re-rent.

Lease clauses Illinois law won’t enforce

Late, returned-payment, lockout, key replacement, “administrative,” pet, guest, parking and move-out charges. Any fee you didn’t hear about at the tour is worth asking about before you sign.

Flat cleaning, painting or carpet charges apply no matter how you leave the place. Several states don’t allow deposits to be kept for normal wear and tear.

Lease clauses Illinois law won’t enforce

Clauses excusing the landlord’s own negligence, waiving a jury, making you pay the landlord’s legal fees, or letting the landlord lock you out are among the most common terms a state’s law won’t enforce.

Lease clauses Illinois law won’t enforce

A line like “Tenant agrees to the Community Policies” makes another document part of your lease. Ask for each one: house rules, parking, pet, amenity and move-in or move-out policies.

Guest limits, bans on nails, painting or mounting a TV, and pet restrictions are common sources of fines and deposit deductions.

A blank can be filled in after you sign. Anything promised at the tour (painting, an appliance, a repair, parking) belongs in the lease or a signed addendum with a completion date.

Our free scan reads every clause, including addenda, and flags the ones your state’s law doesn’t allow, with the statute behind each flag.

A copy with only your signature isn’t proof of what the landlord agreed to. Keep a PDF and a printed copy.

Check or bank transfer to the business named on the lease. If you pay cash, insist on a written receipt showing the amount, date and what it was for.

Federal law requires the landlord to disclose known lead paint and hazards, give you the EPA lead pamphlet, and include a lead warning statement in the lease. It matters most if a child or pregnant person will live there.

Get a receipt, ask how the deposit is held, and note the return deadline in your state.

Lost key and fob charges are common at move-out. A dated note of what you were given settles it.

Walls, floors, appliances, inside cabinets, windows and bathrooms, with timestamps. Email them to yourself and the landlord so there’s a dated record.

Note every scratch, stain and broken item, sign it, and keep a copy. In some states it carries legal weight: in Washington, for example, a landlord can’t keep a deposit at all without a signed move-in checklist.

Put every problem in one email or portal request in the first days, so there’s a dated record that it was there before you.

A day-one meter reading keeps you from paying the last tenant’s usage.

Not the day you remember to buy it. (Flood coverage, if you need it, takes 30 days to start.)

Knowing where these are turns a midnight leak from a disaster into an inconvenience.