Do I have to do a walk through with the landlord when I leave my apartment when my lease is up?

I will be giving my current landlord my letter in January telling her that I will not be renewing my lease in April 2011. Since this is the first time I have had a lease I don't know if I have to do walk through with this person when I leave especially since there is a deposit involved that I want back. I can assure her the apartment is and will be in MUCH better condition and cleanliness than when I moved in. I am just not sure if I have to do one.|||DO ONE! Have her sign a form when you do stating there are no damages. If you have ever read through the questions %26amp; answers in Y/A for this section you would see that many people get charged for damage after they leave because they didn't do a walk through.|||Your landlord should let you know if a walk through is required. Some landlords let you choose whether you want to participate in the walk through or have them do it after you leave. You will not receive the deposit back at the time you turn in the keys. It typically takes a month or so to get your security deposit. If you are concerned that they will try to charge you for the condition of your apartment, then do the walk through so that you can verify that the condition is due to normal wear and tear.





Your landlord will give you paperwork prior to your lease expiration explaining what you need to do. During a walk thru, they will take a look over the entire apartment and estimate any repairs that need to be made. This way, you can know what to expect as far as charges from your security deposit when you move out. Schedule this walk-thru as close to your move out date as possible. Be sure to take pictures or video of your apartment on the day you move out for further proof.





If you receive your security deposit back 30 days later and it is much less than what you expected based on the walk-thru, now you have a case and evidence to bring to court. The landlord has to reasonably abide by their estimates during the walk-thru.|||Most of the time, landlords don't do a walk through with you when you move out. What you can do is videotape or take pictures that clearly are dated or use a newspaper to show the date, that shows how you left the place.





It is always nice to get the landlord to do a walk through, but, usually the landlord will find things that need repair etc after you have moved out and they can get in there to clean etc.|||You'd better do a walk-through with the landlord unless you want to end up going to court to get your deposit back. Take pictures of the apartment including damage which the landlord might deduct later on. In court it is your word against hers. Always document things. If there is a checklist get a copy of it. Remember she has 21 days to return your deposit or 30 days to write you a letter explaining why she is not.|||A walk through is a very good idea. No matter how good you think your leaving the place, if you want your full deposit back the only way you'll know for sure is doing the walk through. Your landlord may see things that she wants corrected before she will refund your deposit.