NIU’s Student Legal Assistance office is holding seminars to help students deal with landlord/tenant issues.

The seminars are held each year for people renting apartments for the first time, said Lynn Richards, legal assitance attorney. What to look for in an apartment, lease clauses and housing ordinances are topics covered.

One seminar was held Jan. 27 in Douglass Hall and more are scheduled next week, said Student Association Vice President Cam Davis.

Students’ questions will be answered at the seminars. This year, the seminars are being conducted earlier to catch people before a lease is signed, Richards said. “The seminars have been pretty successful,” she said.

Monday’s program will be in Gilbert Hall’s lower lounge, and Tuesday’s will be held in the formal lounge of Stevenson Towers South. Lincoln Hall will host Wednesday’s seminar, and the formal lounge in Grant Towers South will host Thursday’s. All will begin at 9 p.m.

For the past several years, landlord/tenant disagreements have dominated over other types of cases NIU’s Student Legal Assistance handles.

Legal Assistance Director Don Henderson said, “Year in and year out, the statistics have remained very close.” Each year landlord/tenant disputes make up between 33 percent and 40 percent of the cases legal assistance sees, he said.

Nearly 875 cases concerned landlords and tenants last year, Henderson said.

Henderson said legal interactions represent a larger area of concern which is one reason for landlord/tenant cases being at the top of the ladder.

Students spend a lot of money each month, and they have questions about the legal relationship between them and their landlords, Henderson said.

NIU Law Clerk Jim Snyder said, “I see cases similar to what the office does.” He said several of the cases are referred elsewhere, such as to a public defender.

Snyder said he is a paid employee from the law school, and he has three-fifths of the credits to have a law license to work for an agent of the state under supervision.

As long as Henderson or Richard’s overlooks Snyder’s work, he is able to work on cases, Snyder said. He said after he sees new clients, he makes sure the client is receiving proper representation by having Henderson or Richards review the case.

“The legal assistance is an immensely valuable service,” Davis said. When a legal situation appears, paying a lawyer can be expensive because college students normally do not have much money, he said.

“Don and Lynn go out of their way to do more than their job,” Davis said.