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 your Total Unpaid is $0
Check your balance on the portal! 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. Making sure all payments are made BEFORE THE DAY OF MOVE-IN will make your own move-in go MUCH smoother.
For partial renewals, there are situations where the total unpaid will not be zero. Contact us if you are in this situation.
TOTAL UNPAID is the key number
If you are in your portal, you will see two numbers. A balance due as of TODAY and a total unpaid. Generally, the total unpaid needs to be $0 to move-in. The balance due only reflects charges due through the current date, so depending on when you look at it, it likely will not include the August charge BUT that charge is included in the Total Unpaid. Please remember, this amount due is for the entire unit and not you personally unless you live by yourself. It’s the entire amount due on the account. Note, for a few complicated accounts (e.g. renewals, partial renewals, and special circumstances) the amount due will vary, and you can contact us for a bit of help!
Making a Payment
Payments may be made via electronic bank ACH on your tenant portal, or by a check payable to Elkins Apartments and with your name and the new apartment address in the memo (mail it to us at 940 N Walnut, Bloomington, IN 47404, or stop in, we’d love to see you, or use our dropbox outside the door after hours too!). You can setup automatic monthly electronic payments as well. That’s a VERY good idea! No late payments for you!
Charge and payment notifications, and your tenant account
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. On multi-party leases, these will often be addressed either to you specifically, even if you aren’t the one who made a payment, or more often it will be addressed to the “Primary Lessee” but still is about your jointly and severally liable lease. You are all in it together.
Installments, Delinquency, and more
Remember, your monthly installments are NOT exactly the same as monthly rent payments. And the entire account is subject to additional rent for delinquency if the account is ever past due. This delinquency charge is $4 per person on the lease per day (it’s the account that is delinquent, not individual payees, so this means a 5 person lease would be looking at $20 for 1 day delinquency ($4.00 * 5 people * 1 day). Be on time, or set up autopayments to never be late!
Want to be sure? Check your Elkins Apartments tenant portal—you can make a payment here too!
3. Be sure Utilities are Turned 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?
- Water and/or Sewer?
- 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. Pickup Your Keys, 2pm-5pm, on move in day
Keys may be picked up after 2:00 p.m. but before 5 p.m. on the move-in date specified in your lease (or on an APPROVED early move in request) and only after all payments have been received. Again, no keys will be given out if there is any balance due on your account when you try to move-in. One roommate can pick up the keys for all roommates once all payments are received. It does not matter if the person showing up has paid THEIR portion. The entire balance must be paid for the place. We’ve had too many experiences releasing homes and having to run down and sort out payments afterward, which is… not okay… so all balances on the shared account must be paid in full.
Everyone wants to be first. We get it! But… if you are flexible about timing, coming a little later than 2pm, 3, or 4 or whatever, you will flow through a LOT quicker. Things can get SUPER backed up right at 2pm. We appreciate your patience!
BONUS Suggestion: Trailers and big rental trucks! Don’t do it…. You do not want to bring these to the office on move in day. If anyone in your group has a regular vehicle, bring that, and leave the big stuff at your place or elsewhere while you get checked in. It will work much smoother for you. If you only have the big stuff, we highly recommend you temp park it on 14th street past our office, with someone in it (the city is righteous about ticketing/towing unattended ones, but pulling over there and having someone in it should be okay).
WHERE? The Elkins Apartments office, at 940 N. Walnut St. Bloomington. As long as the weather is okay, we will be set up OUTSIDE behind the office, with tents (Go IU!).
5. Inspect your place. Move-In Inspection Form and any followup reports.
All checked in? You will be provided a move-in inspection form. Do this form FIRST thing on arrival at your new place. This is your opportunity to note any damages or something that isn’t right. If we do not come along, you can drop them back at the office, or we will swing by to grab them later in the day. Please leave them on the kitchen counter. We will use these to document the state of your place at move-in and to generate tickets for any ‘go back’ or maintenance you may need, and we will get to those as soon as possible.
Two common and really important things: AC. It is not uncommon for AC units to ‘freeze up’ during move in day, especially if it’s hot! This is not an issue with the AC units in most cases but with behavior: what happens is… ACs are cranked down, doors are left wide open (to move stuff!), and this is super hard on the air conditioners… they work hard, ice up, and then won’t work again until they defrost. So… never set it lower than 68-72. Lower is not faster or better. But equally important, try to minimize leaving the doors open! Here’s more on ACs and freezing up.
And BOXES…. move in means… boxes… Don’t dump them in the trash, please be green and recycle! There are several recycle centers in Bloomington.
How do I report damage or things that I would like fixed from move in?
Easy! First, you will have a move-in inspection form, as noted above, just fill it out with anything you notice! Drop it by the office, or leave it on your kitchen counter. We will get it soon after you move in, so this should be the first thing you do when you get to your new place.
What if I find something AFTER I turn in my move in inspection form?
No problem! Of course, we understand this can happen too. You can report anything else you run across by sending in an email. Please do not create work orders in the portal. Work orders are for all things you run across later in the year. It is, for move in, more efficient to email your list. Everything we do here is to try to ensure we don’t miss something you report. Bunches of work orders… like one per item… very easy to miss them. Bunches of emails, 1 per item… phone calls… all easier to miss things. Instead… email a list… even include pics if you like!
We want to make sure that we can track and address your items rapidly, and efficiently, so we ask they be sent in in email.
How do I report them in email? Easy.
- Pick ONE person from your group to collect ANY and all items and have them email your list to helpme@elkinsapartments.com. We ask you make one person the communicator on these. If more than one person has things they would like to report, please relay them to the primary person. It is very easy to miss items if several people are emailing/reporting in a thread or in multiple threads, and we don’t want to miss anything for you!
- Please title the email with your unit address and number along with “Additional Inspection Items”
- Please number your list of items if it’s more than 1 thing.
- For each item, please include a brief description of WHERE it is specifically in the home (which room, area of room, etc) and a brief description of the issue. Please include photos if you can. That can help us understand and also be sure we are in the right “place” in your home!
- Please DO NOT include anything you already included on the move in inspection. We got you on those already!
- Do your best to include everything in one email. Don’t rush. Don’t feel like you have to send a few things, then more. We will get to everything, and the most effective way to do it is to have a clear and complete list, in a way where it is easy to track things for you.
- What if you send your list, and then find something else you would like to report? No problem. Have the primary person find your previously sent email and REPLY to the thread. That way everything is all in one place!
What’s next?
We will assess everything and, for items that require work, will get them on tickets with any other items from your original inspection and assign them. Things are, of course, super busy right at move in so we appreciate your patience on any items if it takes a little time to get to them. We will take care of you. And we will communicate back to let you know we received your email too!
BONUS: Review the FAQs! They cover almost anything you can think of to make a smooth move!
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?
My fridge is warm… my fridge isn’t cooling…
No AC?! Stay cool. Troubleshooting Air Conditioner Problems, no problem!
And much more!