Cios is a financial technology company that gives you back the flexibility to move any time for any reason with no hidden fees.
You have the ability to cancel your Netflix subscription or phone plan when you want to, so why can't you do that with your apartment? Landlords shouldn't get to charge you crazy fees just because you changed jobs or transferred schools.
Saving renters money is important—life is already expensive enough as is. That's why we built a solution for any and every renter with Lease Flexibility Coverage. Because everyone deserves the flexibility to move when they need to.
We're glad you asked — "Cios" is definitely a bit of a strange name! It's an old Irish word that means "to rent" and pronounced just like the word "keys".
As avid travelers and frequent movers ourselves, it stays true to our personality, and as a homophone (two words that sound the same but are spelled differently), we love the idea of opening new doors with a new set of "Cios".
We charge a monthly or upfront membership fee for you to be enrolled in Lease Flexibility Coverage. If you decide to use your coverage and move out before the end of your lease agreement, we'll charge you a $500 flat fee to cover your rent while we re-lease your vacant apartment to a new replacement tenant using our software platform.
We use your membership fee and the flat fee to cover the costs of operating the software platform, to cover the costs of capital if we are unable to re-lease your apartment, and to provide the best customer experience to our members. Any remainder, we retain as profit to reinvest into making the experience better for everyone.
You can buy a membership and get enrolled right here online through our website if you live in an eligible state and your apartment is eligible for coverage.
If you've already found the apartment of your dreams, you can check if your landlord is eligible before you buy a policy.
If you're still looking for an apartment and you want to make sure it's eligible for Lease Flexibility Coverage (smart decision!), you can also do so through our website.
Cios is available in select apartment buildings and communities in Washington, Illinois, and Missouri. If you live outside of these states, don't worry though — we're working hard to bring Lease Flexibility Coverage to your state.
To stay in the know when we're available in your state, sign up here for updates.
If you're a Cios member and need help now, you can reach us by email at help@getcios.com or get in touch with our team through our website.
If you want to recommend us to your landlord, we're happy to help — just send us an email at hello@getcios.com.
Lease Flexibility Coverage membership fees are calculated for each lease based on the number of people on the lease (adults who are on your lease agreement as co-signers, usually you and your roommates) and a number of different factors.
These factors affect your membership price, and include:
Your membership fee is determined mostly by how long your lease is, and what city you live in. Since you probably can't change these things, you can also get a discount by paying annually or by purchasing a membership from one of our partner apartment communities.
You can cancel your membership at any time through our website and receive a refund for the remaining months you've already paid for. However, please keep in mind that you can only buy a membership within 30 days of moving in.
What that means is that if you cancel your membership midway, you most likely won't be able to come back before you renew your lease.
A Cios Lease Flexibility Coverage policy covers you for rent and lease break fees owed to your landlord if you need to move out before the end of your lease.
For example, if you pay $1000 per month for your apartment and have a $2000 lease break penalty in your lease agreement, you could be on the hook for $8000 if you need to break your lease 6 months before the end date in your contract.
However, if you are a Cios Lease Flexibility Coverage member, this entire $8000 could be covered, saving you thousands of dollars in potential unexpected costs.
Yes! When you become a Cios member, we require you to add your roommates' names to your membership. This covers you (and them) if any of you need to move out early.
This does not apply to by-the-bed student housing and other by-the-bed lease agreements where each roommates has a separate lease agreement with the landlord.
Yes! Similar to roommates, we require you to add your spouse and the rest of your immediate household's names to your membership when you purchase. What this means is that your policy covers all residents in your immediate household who are related to you by marriage, blood, or adoption.
For example, if your spouse is relocated for their job, your membership would cover you both, even if their name was not on your lease agreement.
Your membership covers rent and lease break fees owed in case you need to move out before the end of your lease.
This coverage broken up into two pieces:
Unfortunately, a membership can't cover you for every situation where you might move out before the end of your lease. For example, we can't cover you if your apartment is deemed uninhabitable because of damage.
Since your membership details may differ based on your specific lease agreement, the best way to get an exhaustive list of covered and excluded moves is to contact us directly or upload your lease agreement in our signup process. Before you pay anything, you'll have the opportunity to review in full all the membership details, including what is and isn't covered.
You can pay for your Cios membership using a credit card through upfront or monthly payment plans. We also offer discounts for upfront payments.
If you decide to choose a monthly payment plan, we will automatically charge your card each month.
Yes you can! You can choose to pay for your Cios membership together with your rent through our online portal.
Not only do you save time, you also make yourself eligible for policy discounts and free perks like credit building and rewards points.
For now, Cios memberships are only available in certain apartment communities and buildings that have been enrolled and eligible.
If you live in one of these buildings, there's no need to ask. Your landlord has already partnered with Cios to make Lease Flexibility Coverage available to you.
If you don't live in one of these buildings, don't worry! Our team is working hard to partner with landlords and roll out coverage to more buildings. If you want to help us by recommending us to your landlord, we'd love an introduction!
We're happy to help. After buying a Cios membership, we'll automatically sync your membership status with your landlord.
You're in the right place! We'd love to work with you to enroll your properties for Cios Lease Flexibility Coverage, whether you're a private landlord or a property manager.
To get started, visit our "For Property Management" page on our website to get started and chat with a member of our team.
It's super simple, just sign into your account on our website. Go to the "Move Out" page and press the "New Move" button.
We recommend that you request a move before moving out of your apartment, at least a week before you intend to move out. This gives us time to process your request and for you to provide supporting documentation if it is not approved instantly.
Once your move is approved, you will need to pay a flat $500 non-refundable service fee to finalize the move. Once this is complete, we'll issue payments directly to your landlord and send you both a confirmation.
Our goal is to approve your move as close to instantly as possible. However, based on the documentation you are able to provide, this may take longer to manually assess. In this case, we will get in touch with you for further review.
Yes, you will need to complete a short checkout form before moving out to confirm that you have vacated your apartment and there is no significant damage. If you have left the apartment uninhabitable as deemed by your landlord, we will be unable to approve your move.
