By now you are hopefully serenely settled in your new living accomodations and finding they meet or exceed your expectations. Realize that when problems arise, they usually begin early on in the tenancy or housing contract period. The following are steps you can take immediately to help prevent hassles and to be prepared for them should they occur.

Keep records. If you don’t have a copy of your lease and/or room condition or check-in report, get one. Be persistent. If oral requests to the landlord or manager don’t do the trick, write a letter and keep a copy requesting the document(s) in question.

Also keep records of all rental and other payments related to the tenancy. If you pay rent in cash, be sure to get and keep a monthly receipt. Finally, you need to give thought on how to preserve your records—a file or file box should be used.

2. Document the condition of the apartment. More tenants lose ground by neglecting to make out and keep a room condition or damage report than any other act or omission.

Your legal duty as a tenant is to return the premises in as good or better condition as you found it, except for ordinary wear and tear.

If you failed to make out a condition report when you moved in two weeks ago, don’t despair; a condition report made out now is much better than none at all. Forms are available in our office. Take pictures as appropriate, particularly when structural damages are involved.

3.Contact your landlord about promised repairs and improvements. If your landlord has promised to make improvements, but hasn’t done so, contact him and get a commitment about when the improvements are to be made.

The same advice holds with damages. If it becomes apparent that your landlord is evading his responsibilities, you need to confront the issue.

Depending on the problem, it is advisable to write a letter detailing your complaints. Make a separate written record of any work order you submit to your landlord or management.

Finally, the city of DeKalb has a housing code which specifies minimum conditions of health and safety which lessors of residential property must provide for their tenants.

A complaint to the city will lead to the inspection of the premises by a code enforcement officer and if violations are shown to exist, a directive to the landlord to make repairs.

4. Check with your parents’, homeowners, or rental insurance to determine property you brought up to school is covered in the event of loss by fire, theft, etc.

If not, consider getting renters insurance, especially if you are keeping a stereo, color TV, or other valuable items in the apartment. The landlord is not necessarily responsible for such losses, unless he contributed to the loss through his own negligence.

5. Try to establish common ground with your roommates. Having roommates is a little like sharing a lifeboat in the middle of an ocean, survival dictates that the ruling principle should be one for all and all for one.

The applicable legal doctrine is “joint and several liability,” meaning that in the standard lease situation each tenant, both individually and as a member of a group, is fully liable for all the obligations continued in the lease for payment of rent, observance of rules and regulations, etc.

Our office is prevented from taking one student’s side against another, since this constitutes a conflict of interest.

A mediation service is offered, however, provided both parties agree to participate in a good faith effort to resolve their differences.

Don Henderson

Lynn Richards

Students’ Legal