"Check with the local courts to see which specific courts have jurisdiction of eviction cases. The plaintiff-defendant indexes are public records. See if the landlord has a high volume of evictions. If so, the landlord may not screen tenants well and that could mean potentially bad neighbors or a landlord who is very aggressive in enforcing the lease," said Attorney Goodman.

10.  What does the lease say?

Attorney Goodman said, "Most landlords use a form lease. Every form is different. Be sure that everything you have been promised is included in the lease. If the landlord won’t write something that was discussed into the lease, it is possible that the landlord will not honor the verbal promise."

Source: http://www.networx.com/article/ten-questions-to-ask-before-signing-a-le