Hi @Michelle Bottorff, I'm not a landlord just yet but I work for them. Here is their policy:
Tenant writes down a move in date on the application. (We don't typically accept more than a month out.)
After they get approved (takes about 2 business days), I schedule a lease signing date right away. The sooner the better to prevent "buyers remorse" or maybe they've applied for multiple places. They know they can forfeit the application fee anytime before they sign the lease if they find a better place.
With that said, at lease signing we only accept certified checks or money orders for the 1st month rent and security deposit. Personal checks are allowed every month after that. Right after they finish signing the lease, I give them the supers phone number for them to schedule a specific time to meet with him on the day they selected to start their lease. (Sometime before that the locks are changed)
The day they selected for their lease to start is the day the go pick up the keys with the super and do a final walk through to make sure everything is okay. (If they change their mind and want to pick it up any day sooner then their lease start date, they get charged a prorated amount). Specifically we only allow key pick up on weekdays (bc that's when super is on duty) but they can do the actual move any day they want.
Lease gets returned to landlord for them to sign as well. (There's two original copies of the lease, 1 for tenant and 1 for landlord).
Long winded but hope it helps as a detailed guide.
