The last week of a lease is the worst possible time to discover what your landlord expects. Boxes are stacked by the door, the truck is booked, and somebody is about to walk the unit with a clipboard. This is what Illinois actually requires, what landlords actually look at, and what is worth your time.
Do you have to clean your apartment before moving out?
Almost every lease requires the apartment to be left clean, and in Illinois the standard the deposit is judged against is normal wear and tear rather than a professional finish. The full answer is in our guide to whether you have to clean an apartment before moving out.
How clean does an apartment have to be when you move out?
Broom-clean plus surfaces: floors swept and mopped, appliances emptied and wiped, bathrooms and kitchen cleaned, and nothing left behind. The full answer is in our guide to how clean an apartment has to be when you move out.
What counts as normal wear and tear, and what counts as damage?
Wear and tear is what time does to a unit you lived in reasonably. Damage is what an event does. Faded paint, worn carpet in a hallway, minor scuffs and loosened fixtures are wear. A burn, a stain, a hole, a broken blind or a missing appliance shelf is damage, and it comes out of the deposit.
Dirt sits awkwardly between the two, which is exactly why it causes arguments. A grimy oven is not wear and tear, because ovens do not get dirty by sitting there. Neither is a bathroom that was never cleaned. Both are read as a cleaning cost the landlord now has to pay for, and that cost comes from your deposit.
The reliable way to keep that argument short is evidence. Illinois Legal Aid Online recommends taking clear, dated photos or video of every wall, room and closet before you move, and keeping them somewhere safe. If you have photographs from the day you moved in, put the two sets side by side.
What do landlords actually check at the move-out walkthrough?
Landlords check the expensive things first: appliance interiors, bathroom fixtures, floors, walls and anything missing. They are pricing a turnover, not grading a housekeeper, and the checklist is short because the costly items are few.
Ask to be there for it. Illinois Legal Aid Online recommends walking the unit with your landlord, room by room, discussing any damage on the spot. If your landlord will not do a joint walkthrough, its advice is to have a friend go through the unit with you as a witness, write up the list of any problems, and both date and sign it.
What gets noted, in the order it usually gets noted:
- Oven, refrigerator and dishwasher interiors
- Bathroom fixtures, grout, and mineral film on shower glass
- Floors, carpet edges and the strip inside the front door
- Walls and doors for holes, anchors and unpainted patches
- Blinds, screens, light fixtures and keys
- Anything left behind, including bagged trash in the unit
Mineral film is the one to be realistic about. In the well water that supplies much of this area, shower glass builds a haze that will not come off in an afternoon, and no reputable cleaner will attack it with an abrasive pad because that etches the glass permanently. Photograph it on move-in day and the argument is over before it starts. Our guide to what a move-out clean includes and what it does not covers how that buildup is handled properly.
Do you have to clean the carpets when you move out?
Many leases require professional carpet cleaning at move-out, and it is a separate trade — Happy Maids vacuums carpet but does not shampoo or steam-clean it. The full answer is in our guide to whether carpets have to be cleaned at move-out.
What happens if you do not clean before you move out?
The landlord cleans it and bills you from the deposit. That is the ordinary outcome, and it is legal as long as it is documented. Under the Security Deposit Return Act a landlord who withholds part of a deposit must supply an itemized statement of the damage with paid receipts within 30 days of the date you vacated.
The practical trap is that turnover cleaning arranged by a landlord is rarely the cheapest version of the work. You have no say in who does it, no say in the rate, and no opportunity to do the easy parts yourself. What it costs you is decided after you have lost any leverage.
The comparison is worth doing before the last week rather than after. We break down the drivers in our guide to what a move-out clean costs, and how long the job takes and how to compare two quotes covers the rest.
What can you do if your landlord keeps your deposit for cleaning?
Ask for the itemization first. Under the Security Deposit Return Act a landlord who withholds any part of a deposit must give you an itemized statement of the damages, with paid receipts, within 30 days of the date you moved. No statement and no receipts is the weak spot in most claims.
The Attorney General's fact sheet is direct about the consequence. If a court finds that a landlord violated the security deposit law, that landlord could be liable for damages equal to twice the security deposit, plus court costs and attorney's fees.
Practical order of operations, before anyone talks about court:
- Put the request in writing. Ask for the itemized statement and the paid receipts, and keep a copy of what you sent and when.
- Line up your photographs. Dated move-in and move-out images of the same rooms settle most disagreements without a third party.
- Check your municipality. Some suburbs have their own landlord and tenant ordinances layered over state law, with their own deadlines.
- Get advice if the amount matters. Illinois Legal Aid Online publishes free plain-language guides, and this article is general information rather than legal advice.
Should an apartment be clean when you move in?
It should be, and often it is only habitable rather than clean, which is why the empty window before the furniture arrives is worth using. The full answer is in our guide to whether an apartment should be clean when you move in.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to clean my apartment before moving out?
In Illinois, effectively yes if you want the whole deposit back. The Illinois Attorney General's tenant fact sheet lists cleaning the apartment before you moved as one of the conditions for a full return under the Security Deposit Return Act, alongside owing no back rent, leaving no damage, and living in a building or complex of five or more units. Your lease may require more. This is general information, not legal advice.
How clean does an apartment have to be when you move out?
As clean as you received it, minus normal wear and tear: empty, dusted, kitchen and bathrooms cleaned properly, and floors done. Illinois Legal Aid Online specifically names all floors and surfaces, the refrigerator, the freezer, the oven and all bathrooms. You are not required to repair age, repaint for scuffs, or make old fixtures look new.
Do you have to deep clean an apartment before moving out?
You have to clean it thoroughly, which in an empty unit amounts to the same thing. The parts that matter are the ones only an empty apartment allows: inside cabinets, drawers and closets, inside the oven and refrigerator, bathrooms completely, and floors done wall to wall. Dusting the middle of a room is not what a walkthrough is looking at.
What counts as normal wear and tear when you move out?
Wear and tear is what time does to a unit you lived in reasonably — faded paint, worn carpet in a hallway, minor scuffs, loosened fixtures. Damage is what an event does: a burn, a stain, a hole, a broken blind, a missing appliance shelf. Dirt is treated as neither, because a grimy oven is a cleaning cost the landlord has to pay, and that cost comes out of the deposit.
Do you have to clean the carpets when you move out?
Only if your lease requires it. Many Illinois leases ask for professional carpet cleaning with a receipt, and that obligation comes from the lease rather than from state law. If it applies, schedule the carpet specialist after the rest of the cleaning. Happy Maids vacuums carpets with sealed-HEPA machines but does not shampoo, steam-clean or extract them.
Is it illegal for a landlord not to refund a security deposit?
Not automatically — a landlord may keep part of a deposit for unpaid rent or damage. But under the Illinois Security Deposit Return Act a landlord who withholds must furnish an itemized statement of the damage with paid receipts within 30 days of the date you vacated, and a court that finds a violation can hold the landlord liable for damages equal to twice the deposit, plus court costs and attorney's fees. This is general information, not legal advice.
What happens if you do not clean before moving out?
The landlord arranges the cleaning and bills you from your deposit, supported by an itemized statement and receipts. It is a legal outcome, and usually the most expensive version of the work, because you have no say in who does it or what they charge once you have handed back the keys.