Moving? Here's Your Checklist

Congratulations! You’ve found your next home & signed a lease. You take a deep breath of relief knowing that the apartment hunt is FINALLY over. Soon enough, your relaxation is stolen from you as you realize the inevitable…now you have to move. A majority of Americans have described moving as the single most stressful thing in life, ranking even higher than the stress of divorce. (source).  The number of steps it takes to move can be daunting and overwhelming. The good news is that moving doesn’t have to be the most stressful thing in YOUR life. With a little direction and a game plan, your move can be easy breezy. Don’t know where to start? You’ve come to the right place.                                                                                      Don’t panic.It’s so easy to get overwhelmed when you have to get all your personal items from location A to location B. It’s not as scary as it looks.  Do some spring cleaning!It’s simple: the less stuff you have, the less stuff you have to move. Take it room by room and separate what you want to keep and what you want to donate. Look into local charities that accept donations and what items they will and won’t accept. Get movers and/or a moving truckWhether this means hiring professionals or enlisting some friends in exchange for pizza, don’t go it alone. Moving services can be a huge time and energy saver if it's in the budget. They will help you coordinate everything you need for moving-day in advance so you can rest easy knowing that the heavy lifting (literally) will be taken care of. If hiring movers isn’t for you, renting a moving truck for your DIY move may be a good option as well.  Contact the parking authority to get temporary no parking signThe temporary no parking (TNP) signs will be put up in front of your new home with a period of parking restriction for your moving day. This gives you and your moving crew the ability to park as close as possible without the obstruction of neighbors’ cars parked on the street. Some moving companies will handle this themselves, but you may need to do it on your own. More info on how to get this permit can be found here. Apply for a parking permitUnfortunately, the TNP will not be your last contact with the PPA. If you’re moving to a street with permit parking, you’re going to need that little sticker on your back windshield. This is a $35 a year “park as long as you want” pass so you don’t have to keep moving your car every two to three hours to avoid a ticket. It’s important to note that in order to get this permit, your car will have to be registered to your new address (more on this later.) You can apply for this permit online with your registration and proof of address (photo ID, utility bill or lease.)Assuming your car isn’t registered to your new address yet, you can get a temporary permit for 30 days while you change everything over. This will have to be done in-person at PPA’s office at 35 N 8th Street. For this, you will also need to bring proof of address and your license plate number Set up mail forwardingUSPS Change-of-address - This will ensure that your important mail and deliveries make it to you instead of the new tenant in your old apartment. Just remember that this is a temporary forwarding service that only affects USPS mail, so make sure you take some time to change your address with every delivery service and anywhere that sends you mail. That means changing your amazon address before you hit “buy now!” Turn on utilities:Electric, gas, internet, cable (if you still do that), and water are the utilities you may need to set up prior to move. Make sure to check your lease to see which utilities will need to be in your name. You can set these all to start or transfer to your new home in advance so you don’t have to worry about it at the last minute. In Philadelphia, this is who to contact: Electric: PECO  Gas: Philadelphia Gas Works  Cable/internet: Verizon, Verizon Fios, Comcast (Xfinity) Water: Philadelphia Water Department(note: many landlords like to keep water in their name and collect payment from their tenants. Ask your realtor or landlord how water will be paid if it’s not included in the rent.) Get renter’s insurance Even if your lease doesn’t require it, you should never move into a rental property without insurance. Renter’s insurance will protect your personal items in the event that they are destroyed or stolen from your home. It may feel pointless because you’ll “never need it,” but the world is a crazy and unpredictable place. It’s always better to be safe than sorry. The best part is most plans cost around or under $10 a month and can be personalized to your personal insurance needs. Want some help finding that perfect rental insurance plan? Fill out this form.* Update your address You’ve already notified USPS that you’re moving, but now you need to make sure it’s official everywhere else. This means your photo ID, voter registration, and car registration. The first two can be done online here if you are already a PA resident. If you’re coming from out of state, this can be done in-person at the Drivers License Center with proof of identity and residency.  Get packing! And start early Just because moving isn’t fun doesn’t mean you should put it off. Get moving boxes as soon as you can and place one or two in each room. This way, as you move about your life ,you can start to put less used items in the boxes. With everything you were so kind to donate gone and the lesser used items put away before the final pack, that last haul will be light work.  MOVE IN DAY   Access your keys Find out in advance when, where, and from whom you are getting your keys. Most of the time, you’ll be able to get your keys the morning of your move. Your realtor or landlord will either give you access to the lockbox on the property, meet you to give you keys, or have you pick up keys from the leasing office. You will probably only receive one copy, so be prepared to make a copy for everyone in the house.   Document your new rental before you move things in Moving day is finally here and you absolutely cannot wait to get this over with. Pump the breaks for a moment! Before moving anything in, do a walkthrough of your new home. Make a list and take photos of any imperfections, damages, or repairs needed. If it looks like something they might charge you for when you move out, get it documented and send it via email to your landlord that same day. This will serve as your protection from unfair deductions at the end of your lease.   And finally… Enjoy your new home! Once the movers (or your friends and family) have done their thing, all your furniture and boxes have made it to their for-now homes, it’s time to relax and take in the fact that you did it! You moved and survived the process! Now all that’s left to do is to enjoy that pizza you bought to feed your helpful friends and unpack at your own pace.       

A Guide To Getting Your Security Deposit Back

Moving out is the WORST. There are absolutely no doubts about that. Packing all your stuff up while you’re still trying to live in the home, hauling heavy furniture, patching up all the holes you swore you wouldn’t make in your walls… It's just no fun. There are few silver linings, though. One is finding all the stuff you lost over the term of your lease (turns out your universe didn’t eat your favorite sweater behind your sofa). The other is that sweet, sweet security deposit check you get back after you’re all done. Depending on how much your rent is and what your landlord charged for the deposit at the beginning of your lease, that could be hundreds (maybe thousands!) of dollars in your pocket. Doesn’t that make moving out sound worth it? But before you can start making it rain, you have to pass the dreaded move out inspection (dun dun dunnn). Luckily for you, you’re about to learn exactly how to do that, and how not to get stuck unnecessarily cleaning and fixing things that aren’t your responsibility.                                                                          Leave it how you found it First things first, if you have photos of the apartment from the day you moved in, you are already off to a great start. The biggest rule of thumb when it comes to rentals is that you should leave it just as you found it. Documenting a rental when you move in for any imperfections that could be blamed on your once move-out comes around is a great way to protect yourself from unnecessary charges, unnecessary work, and added stress. If you don’t have photos but do have a checklist of imperfections that were there when you arrived, that will help too. Even better if that list and/or photos were shared with your landlord when you moved-in.                                                                      Know what is and is not your responsibilitySome deterioration in a home is a normal consequence of living in it. Landlords are held responsible for the upkeep of the property and repairs of any “normal wear and tear.” You, the tenant, are responsible for any damages outside of this scope. This can be a little vague, so let me break it down for you. Normal wear and tear: “expected deterioration of the dwelling and its fixtures resulting from ordinary and expected use.”                                                               Examples of normal wear and tear: Cracking, peeling or fading paint Floors needing new coating Sticking doors Faded carpet Loose grouting Worn bathroom enamel                                                              Examples of Damage:             Scratched, dented or removed paint Chipped, stained or burned flooring Doors off hinges Stained carpet Clogged toilet Chipped enamel Holes in the walls Damage will need to be repaired by you prior to move out. If you fail to do so, your landlord can deduct money from your security deposit for each repair they have to make. Oftentimes their repairs will cost you a lot more than if you DIY, so time to hit the Lowe’s for some touch up paint!                                                                                     Clean it up! Just like you don’t return a rental car with a big mess on the floor that wasn’t there when you picked it up, you can’t vacate your rental home and leave it totally dirty! Cleaning fees will also eat away at your precious deposit money. Make sure to vacuum, mop up any hardwood floors, put some elbow grease into your kitchen appliances and bathroom fixtures. It doesn’t have to sparkle, but it does have to be in good condition. As a bonus, the cleaner it looks, the more kindly it will be judged upon inspection.   It is important to note that under Pennsylvania law, landlords have a 30 day window to provide you with:A. Your full security deposit plus any interest (if it was in an interest bearing escrow account, that would have been noted on your lease)B. Partial deposit refund with an ITEMIZED list of repairs that were deducted and the cost of each. C. An invoice and itemized list of repairs that exceeded the amount of your deposit. If this is not done within 30 days, the landlord loses the right to take any amount of money from your deposit for any reason. The only exception to this is if you failed to provide your forwarding address and the date you moved out. If the 30 days have passed and you still don’t have your check, it’s time to contact your old landlord. You are entitled to those funds. You may be able to manifest your deposit return with the power of good vibes, but you’re even more likely to make it happen with the power of information that you now hold! You WILL survive this move and you WILL come out on the other side with money in your pocket! Now get yourself a paint sample and head over to the hardware store. Pick up some cleaning supplies while you’re there and show your landlord what a clean, completely responsible tenant you’ve been (who totally never scratched the walls while moving in a couch)! You’ve got this.