Your lease has a beginning and an end. You need to be prepared for both.
A little documentation at the beginning of your lease can save you a lot of trouble later. When it’s time to leave, knowing your lease requirements and keeping good records can help you close out your tenancy responsibly.
Document everything
Record the property’s condition.
Keep your records
Save leases, receipts, and messages.
When You Move In …
Your first days in a new place are busy. Take time to inspect the property, understand the household setup, and save the information you’ll need throughout the year.
Document the property’s condition
Walk through every room. Take dated photos or video of existing damage, stains, broken fixtures, worn flooring, and other concerns. Check doors, windows, appliances, faucets, toilets, and visible safety equipment.
Use a checklist and send a written list of existing damage to your landlord as directed, and keep a copy. Don’t assume a photo alone satisfies every inspection or reporting requirement.
Review your lease and move-in instructions
Confirm the official move-in date, key pickup, parking arrangements, access codes, and any required inspection forms. Know how to report maintenance issues and what to do if something isn’t working when you arrive.
Set up your household
Confirm who will arrange electricity, heat, internet, and other services as applicable. Learn the trash and recycling schedule, parking rules, and any responsibilities for shared areas or outdoor spaces.
Save important information
Keep your signed lease, landlord or property manager contact details, roommate agreement, payment records, inspection photos, and important emails or messages in one secure place.
When it’s time to move out
Moving out involves more than packing boxes. Review your lease and the instructions from your landlord or property manager well before the end date. Make a plan with roommates so everyone knows who is cleaning, returning keys, and completing any other required steps.
Know your lease requirements
Confirm the required notice, move-out date, cleaning expectations, inspection process, and key-return instructions. If you’re leaving before the lease ends, review the early-termination or subletting provisions and obtain appropriate guidance before making arrangements.
Leave the property in the required condition
Remove personal belongings and follow the cleaning and property-care requirements that apply to your tenancy. Coordinate with roommates to divide shared cleaning tasks fairly. Take photos after the property is cleared and cleaned.
Return keys and provide forwarding information
Follow the landlord’s key and access-card return procedure. Provide a forwarding address for important correspondence and security-deposit matters, and keep a record of when and how you returned possession of the property.
Keep your records
Save your move-out photos, communications, payment records, cleaning receipts if applicable, and proof of key return. Retain the information needed to address any later questions about your tenancy or deposit.
Understand your Security Deposit
Rhode Island’s security-deposit law includes rules about the amount a landlord may collect and how a deposit must be handled at the end of a tenancy.
Under R.I. General Laws § 34-18-19, the statute generally limits a residential security deposit to one month’s periodic rent. It also addresses permitted deductions and the return of the remaining deposit with an itemized written notice within 20 days after the latest of the specified events: termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession, or the tenant’s provision of a forwarding address for deposit purposes.
This is why documentation matters. Your move-in and move-out records can help establish the condition of the property at both ends of the tenancy.
Read the full statute and the Rhode Island Landlord-Tenant Handbook for details, including the rules and exceptions that may apply to your circumstances.
A smoother move starts with a plan.
Document the property, understand your responsibilities, and keep your records from the first day to the last.