Tenant Fees and Expenses When Signing a Lease:

  1. Application Fee

An application fee is one of the first and most common charges you will come across as a tenant looking for a new home. Every landlord is allowed to charge a small application fee to cover the cost of screening the potential tenant. This fee varies from $20 – $75 depending on the application. An application fee is non-refundable, even if the landlord decides to move forward with another applicant. Most of the time you can re-use an application with-in 30 days if you are working with the same realtor.

The application fee is used for checking:

  • Credit history, credit score, and factors that influence it
  • Previous addresses, rental history, and references from previous landlords
  • Employment history
  • Evictions, civil records, and criminal history
  1. 1ST Month Rent Deposit

A tenant is generally required to submit a payment for 1st months rent with application. This is to hold the apartment during the application process. Once application is approved security deposit (equal to one months rent) is due upon lease signing.

  1. Broker Fee

Landlord’s pay Broker fee in Rhode Island. There is no commission charge to a tenant unless they back out of the lease early. Then the tenant is responsible for replacement commission to the Brokerage to find a new tenant. This excludes Military orders.

  1. Pet Fee

Rhode Island does not allow owners to charge additional security deposit for pets, but they can charge “pet rent”. This is an additional monthly fee generally between $50 – $200 depending on type of pet and/or number of pets. If you are a renter consider smaller pets and less pets. This makes you more likely to get an application accepted.

  1. Renters Insurance

Buying renters insurance is yet another expense you might have to account for when renting a new apartment. The average monthly rental insurance cost will be about $15 to $20. So, it should not hit your wallet too hard, but it’s definitely worth it, even if it’s your first rental apartment and you don’t owe much yet.