Finding a new apartment is hard enough, but getting the timing just right is a whole other story. It is not always just a matter of moving in on the first of the month and paying monthly rent. When moving into a new place or vacating an old one, many tenants have issues with paying the full month’s rent and the apartment move-in fees. This is because they don’t move in until a few days before or after the month’s end.

Just a few reasons for this happening could be school starting dates, the start of a new job, or even a leap year messing up schedules.

Paying the Full Rent for an Incomplete Month

When you sign the lease agreement for a rental property, the usual deal is that you pay rent on a monthly basis. When one thinks about it, though, this is really not fair on either one party or another.

For instance, if you move in on the 27th of the month and don’t pay rent for the remaining three days, the previous tenants have to pay a full month’s rent.

Another Example

If you move in on the 3rd of the month and have to pay the whole rent, that is not fair either.

Some apartments might also have a rental deal of a year or so (see: apartment lease options), but not everyone can always move in or move out by the beginning of any given year. The extra number of days then turn into months, which can be a problem if we stick with the original deal.

Prorated Rent Payment as the Solution

If your move-in date is a little awkward, this is where prorated rent comes in. Prorated rent is a kind of partial rent payment. Instead of the full month’s rent for the first month, the tenant only pays according to their move-in date. The exact way this plays out will be in the Michigan eviction laws and what they say about the rights of a renter.

What Does Prorated Rent Mean?

If the previous tenants of any property are leaving before the month end or any new ones are moving in just before the month starts, the property owner/landlord might decide to calculate prorated rent. This is also called prorate rent or pro rata rent at times.

More About Prorated Rent

It is all about the tenants not paying the complete first month’s rent, but making rent payments according to when they moved in. This could be a daily rent amount for a number of days, or a pre-decided portion of the first month’s rent.

You may want to consult a first time apartment renter guide for further information, but let’s first have a clarifying discussion about prorated rent:

How Prorated Rent Works

We have already covered the basic definition of prorated rent above. In a nutshell, it is about paying according to the number of days that a tenant occupies a place as opposed to the total monthly rent or yearly rent. This way, everything is fair and the tenants can start their lease term on a positive note with their new landlord. The previous tenants will also leave on a good note, so everyone’s happy.

Prorated Rent in Detail

There are several other factors to look at when we’re prorating rent. Let’s have a quick look at these:

Get it in writing

The lease agreement or some other contract should have proof of the prorated rent. A verbal agreement might work when all three parties are trustworthy, but it is always best to stay on the safe and legal side before renting an apartment based on prorated rent.

Calculating prorated rent

Discuss with your landlord before deciding upon the prorated amount. If you are going by days instead of a monthly rent, split it up according to the year. For a leap year, divide by 366 days instead of 365. Multiply the result by the number of days you will be renting the property.

If you are renting an apartment with other people, you can also learn how to split your rent with roommates.

Know your responsibility

If you have not discussed anything beforehand, you don’t get to have your rent prorated on the spot. If you sign the lease that begins on the first of a month, but have the move-in date later on, your landlord will charge you in full. The same applies if you choose to move out a bit before your lease officially ends.

Know the laws

Different states might have different requirements for landlords and tenants who want to prorate rent. One of the most common requirements is the flat 30 method. It means that the rent prorated is just divided by 30, regardless of the actual days in a specific month.

Is Prorated Rent Required?

Prorated rent is not a legal requirement in most areas. A lot of landlords will agree to prorate rent if a new tenant moves in early or late. For moving out, however, prorating rent might be a problem. This is probably because the move-out date usually is not specified in lease agreements. Learn how to review an apartment lease here.

What if a Tenant Wants to Move Out Earlier?

Even if a tenant notifies their landlord that they are moving out early well in advance, it will still be a loss for the landlord. If they give prorated rent at this point, they would need to line up a new tenant for moving in on the exact same day. If they can not manage this, they might suffer a loss of rental income.

How to Get Rent Prorated

Check your lease agreement for a prorated rent section and ask for one if it is not there. You can also ask about prorating rent when searching where to find apartments for rent online. Alternatively, check out the laws and by laws for your specific state.

In lieu of a proper section, you can ask for prorated pricing in writing. However, you can’t usually force a landlord to go for prorating rent.

Ways to Calculate Prorated Rent

If you have convinced your landlord to only charge rent for the number of days you have occupied the property, there is still a lot to discuss and calculate.

You can use an online tool for figuring out the exact rent per day. The law may require the flat 30 method, or your landlord may have a preferred system.

Calculate the Daily Rent

• Dividing the total monthly rent by the number of days in the present month
• Dividing total monthly rent by the number of days in an average month (30.437)
• Dividing by the days in a ‘banker’s month’ (the flat 30 method, where you take each month as having 30 days)
• Dividing the yearly amount by the number of days in a year

Prorated Rent for Each Method

For instance, if you have a monthly rent of $1,500, the prorated daily rent for each method will be as follows:

• Present month (January): $48.39
• Average month: $49.28
• Banker’s month: $50.00
• 365 days: $49.32

You need to choose the method that seems to be the most cost-effective.

The Best Method for Calculating Prorated Rent

We may see that the present month method works out to be the most cost-effective, but that is because the month (January in the example) has 31 days. With this method, February will be the shortest, yet most expensive month to pay prorated rent. The next best option in terms of cost is dividing by the whole year. However, that will probably require a commitment for staying on that long.

The Takeaway

When you are only occupying a space for a low number of days, prorated rent makes a lot of sense. However, all parties in question need to be on the same page so that there is a positive vibe all around. Get all of your agreement in writing – the number of days, how you calculate prorated rent, and the amount of the prorated rent. You should be reading all contracts carefully before signing.