A checklist to run before you publish a rental listing
Before a listing goes live, check seven things: every fact matches your lease and records, fees and deposits are stated and lawful, photos show the unit as it is, the wording describes the home and not a person, the links and forms work, someone will answer within hours, and you know the date you will review it. It takes ten minutes and prevents the corrections that make a listing look careless.
1. Facts
- Rent, deposit, available date and lease length match what you will put in the lease.
- Bedrooms, bathrooms and square feet match your records, not your memory.
- Utilities, parking, laundry and pet rules are stated.
- The address or area is right, and you have decided how much of it to show.
2. Fees and deposits
State every charge a renter will pay before move-in: the application fee, the security deposit, the first month and any pet fee. Many states cap application fees and deposits, so check yours (see application fee limits by state). A fee that appears for the first time after the application feels like a trap, and in some states it is not allowed.
3. Photos
- Every room is shown, in daylight, in a sensible order.
- Nothing is edited to hide damage or change a room. If an image is staged, it says so.
- No people, no tenants' belongings, no documents in view.
- Each photo has a short, factual description. See photo order and alt text.
4. Wording
Read the title and description once as if you were a renter in a protected class. Under 42 U.S.C. 3604(c), a rental ad may not state a preference or limitation based on race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin or disability, and many places add more (see the statute and HUD's overview). Remove "perfect for" and "ideal for" phrases, references to families, age or religion, and any "no Section 8" wording. See words to avoid. Include the Equal Housing Opportunity statement.
5. Links and forms
- Open the listing on a phone and tap every link.
- Send yourself a test showing request and check that it arrives.
- Open the application link from a private window and confirm it works without signing in.
Example a made-up owner tests the form, and the email lands in a spam folder. The owner adds the sender to contacts before publishing, and the first real request is not missed.
Small things that make a listing look careful
Use the same spelling of the street and neighborhood everywhere, say the rent once and the same way each time, and write numbers as numbers. Put the most important fact, the rent or the available date, where the eye lands first. Check the listing again after any edit, because an edit is when a stray old line or a wrong date slips in. If you share the listing in other places, make sure each copy shows the same facts, or better, point to one page. See sharing one link.
6 and 7. Who answers, and when you review
Decide who replies to inquiries and by when, ideally within hours. See answering inquiries fast. Then put a date in your calendar, two weeks out, to review views and requests, and decide in advance what you will change if nothing comes. See lowering the asking rent.
How DoorKeeping handles it
In DoorKeeping, rent, deposit, beds, baths, square feet and the available date are prefilled from the unit and its last lease. The title, description and pet notes are checked for fair housing wording on save. A published listing needs a description of at least 40 characters. Publishing is an approval you accept yourself, so you do the final read, and an unpublished listing returns the not found page within a minute or two. The page carries the Equal Housing Opportunity statement. In Claude or ChatGPT you can list your listings and prepare one to publish. See the connect page.
Sources
- Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604 (Cornell Legal Information Institute), read Oct 30, 2026
- HUD: Fair Housing Act overview, read Oct 30, 2026
- DoorKeeping: Connect Claude or ChatGPT (steps and tools list), read Oct 30, 2026
Questions
- What should I check before publishing a rental listing?
- Facts, fees, photos, wording, links and forms, who answers inquiries and when you will review it.
- Should the listing show all fees?
- Yes. State every charge due before move-in, within your state's limits.
- How do I test a showing form?
- Send yourself a request and check that it arrives and is not in a spam folder.
- When should I review a new listing?
- About two weeks after publishing, with a plan for what you will change if there are views but no requests.