Welcome to Elkins Apartments! Ready to Move-In?
We are happy to have you with us! We want you to be happy too!
Your move-in date is listed in your lease, and usually in your account portal.
Also if you are a partial renewal–some folks staying and some leaving–then several unique things happen but most of this still applies to the people who are leaving!
Complete the following checklist = smoother, happier move-in!
1. Sign in to your Tenant Portal
Your tenant portal is where you can check your balance, submit work orders, make payments, and even set up recurring payments. You need to sign up with the email you provided us when you leased with us. If you didn’t, or if you have trouble, just submit a request, and we will fix you up! Here’s a FAQ on logging in, just in case you have trouble.
2. Pay First, Last, and Deposit Installments and be SURE you Total Unpaid is $0
The first, last and deposit installments that were specified in the lease are due before you move in. Many of you may have paid them already. Even if you have paid your “share”; however, please make sure any other future roommates have too, because you are all jointly and severally liable for the payments. If any one of you happens to have missed a payment, none of you can move in, which would be a bummer…. The amount due is the TOTAL UNPAID not just what may be due today. That is, you should plan for a zero balance before you move in. This is the single most likely thing to cause a significant issue and delay for getting you into your home. For partial renewals, there are situations where the total unpaid will not be zero. Contact us if you are in this situation.
Charge and payment notifications, and your tenant account
You likely received a notice that a charge has been added to your account. This would be, in most cases, your “last month” installment (the 3rd of your 13 lease installments). Many of you have already paid it. Some haven’t. Everyone would have received a notice because its not about whether you’ve made a payment rather its a notice that the charge has now been put onto your ledger.
Want to be sure? Check your Elkins Apartments tenant portal—you can make a payment here too!
Remember, your monthly installments are NOT exactly the same as monthly rent payments.
3. Turn Your Utilities On
You want to take a shower, preferably a hot one! You want to watch tv? Maybe surf the net? Then make sure you have all of your utilities turned on and in your name (or one of your roommates).
- Electricity?
- Gas (where present)?
- Cable and Internet?
In most of our locations, you need to be sure to set these up, and it’s not a fun surprise to find you don’t have water, sewer, AC, or, in houses with gas service, hot water or heat! AND there’s really nothing we can do to help at that point, you have to call the utility company and sort it out, which can take days not hours…
Not sure? Section 1.12 of your lease will specify whether we handle a utility for you. If the “excepting only” section is blank, then you are responsible for all utilities. We generally only handle specific unusual situations like bedroom leases and some metered water at a couple locations. Read HOW to set up your utilities? for more information about getting hooked up.
4. Anything else? Check the FAQs!
When in doubt, check out our FAQs. Or send us a note. A few of the common questions covered include:
Can my roommates and I make individual payments, or do we have to pay in one lump sum?
How do monthly installments work?
Why can’t I stay a full year? Is my rent prorated?
Can I make an electronic bank payment?
And much more!
Hey, did you know that you will receive a notification of new charges and payments each month? Our property management system notifies all tenants on the lease of any charges and payments added to the lease. Everyone on the lease will be notified when anything happens, which is really nice for helping sort out the whole jointly and severally liable thing and it allows you to know up to the minute what is happening on your account.