When anthropology graduate student Jenn Howard moved into her apartment in August, she discovered a few unexpected surprises the landlord had not mentioned before signing the lease.

“When I first moved in there, there was a bug problem – like a roach problem – and it took them forever to fix it,” Howard said. Howard said her landlord showed her a model apartment, which was not the same as the actual apartment she leased.

The bug problem, rampant throughout the building, was just the beginning. Howard soon discovered the window panels did not fit the window, leaving a hole for mosquitoes to get in; the closet door was off track; the sink was warped from a leak. None of these problems were mentioned before signing the lease and none of these problems were getting fixed.

“I ended up having to tape the windows shut, because I’d been down there like three times, and they hadn’t fixed it,” Howard said.

Howard said if she had allowed for more time to search for apartments, she would have been more cautious about shopping around.

Resolving the stalemate

Bound by a rental contract, Howard sought the instruction of the Students’ Legal Assistance Office.

The Students’ Legal Assistance Office is on the sixth floor of the Holmes Student Center and provides legal assistance to all fee-paying students, pre-paid through student activity fees. Director Donald Henderson Jr. said about one-third of the cases the office sees are for landlord-tenant issues.

In addition to providing legal counsel, the office provides a variety of materials students can use in the search for an apartment, including a tenant’s “bill of rights,” checklists for pre-inspections and budgeting and roommate agreements.

The office also provides a variety of preventative services.

“We’d be happy to review leases just to let clients know what they’re walking into,” Henderson said. He said a lease evaluation usually takes about an hour.

Henderson said, even before Christmas, some landlords try to get students to commit to next August, and students getting a head start should keep options open when searching for student housing.

Weighing the alternatives

“I’ll take dorms; I don’t have to pay electricity or heating or anything like that,” said junior history major Cary Wolovick. Wolovick is among a variety of upperclassmen who choose the residence halls instead of dealing with apartment issues.

To compete, some landlords offer various arrangements on utilities.

“All I have to pay is electricity,” said Paula Fischler, educational psychology graduate student and literacy education instructor. Fischler said despite the possibility of legal disputes, apartments are a better choice for her.

“Most students in the class that I teach, they talk about roommate problems, and how their roommate did this, and some girl got crabs in the bathroom, and so they’re all worried about getting infected, and drugs in the dorms, and all these distractions they’ve had,” Fischler said.

Fischler said there is a risk in renting, but the sacrifice is worth the privacy of her apartment and the ability to have her own hours.

There are other trade-offs, however.

“The one thing about living in an apartment is I don’t know any of my neighbors,” Fischler said. “So it’s kinda lonely.”