Leases, landlords and legal services

Avoiding roommate drama and legal battles, one step at a time.

By Jeremy Bookmyer, Assistant Copy Chief

September 26, 2008 | 2 p.m.

It’s that time of year again. The leaves are beginning to fall, midterms are creeping up, and leases for next year are already being signed. Don’t fret, though. There is still time to find a great place to live.

Roommates

The first thing a student should consider before even looking for a place to live is with whom he or she is going to live. A bad roommate can ruin an entire year, and there cannot be quarterly room changes once one is living off-campus. Students need to choose their roommates wisely and for the right reasons, such as if their study habits are compatible.

Pat McGee, head attorney of the Center for Student Legal Services (CSLS) on Court Street, has some advice. “Make sure you know the person you’re going to room with,” he said. “Just because they’re cool doesn’t make them a good roommate.”

It is also important to be sure that multiple students who want to live together will work well together and share some of the same study habits, because students are at Ohio University primarily to learn. Roommates should be able to live comfortably with each other for upwards of nine months. Students should not think that just because they get along during class that they will be able to live together. They should sit down and talk with one another to get an idea of expectations and desires for the room.

It is equally important to understand that both roommates will be jointly responsible for the room. For instance, if one roommate decides to have a party that gets out of hand, and suddenly there’s a fist-sized hole in the wall, then both of the roommates will have to deal with the consequences. Also, if the rent is late, each person living in the house or apartment could be charged extra fees.

Location

Now that one has a roommate or two whom he or she can tolerate for a school year, it’s time to find a place live. Once again, make sure everyone has an idea of what he or she wants and that everyone is prepared to compromise -- no one is going to get exactly what he or she wants.

Make sure to consider the location carefully. If students are looking at an apartment on Court Street over a bar, they should not be surprised if the weekends get noisy. Also, students should consider how far they want to be from campus, and if they need parking. Equally important as location is cost. Students should try to get a feel of the average cost of what they are looking for and look around. It can’t hurt to see more places.

Landlords and leases

Once students have found their perfect place with roommates who they can get along with, it’s time to look into the landlord and the lease itself. Students should pay careful attention to their potential leases and do some research before even going to sign a lease in order to save themselves a great deal of time and headaches down the road.

McGee pointed out that, while landlords seem to make signing a lease imperative and do it as soon as possible, “there’s still almost as many places in May as there is in September.”

It doesn’t hurt to start looking, though.

If a student has the name and address of his or her potential landlord, he or she can visit the Athens County Municipal Court to see if anyone has taken the landlord to court. If one’s potential landlord has been taken to court a number of times, it would be a good idea to try to get more information. One way to do this is to talk to previous tenants of the house or apartment. One should remember that if he or she is looking at an apartment in September, the current tenants may have only been living there for several weeks. Also, a student should use his or her best judgment when meeting the landlord for the first time and not be intimidated.

Students need to use common sense when it is all said and done, and they are ready to sign on the dotted line for their house or apartment. They should read every word of the lease twice. If a student signs a lease and it says something he or she didn’t agree with, the student could be stuck with the house or apartment, anyway. Sit down with the landlord and ask all the questions that come to mind. One should remember that verbal agreements will not hold up in court, and the best way to prevent any misunderstandings would be to have clearly written documents signed by both parties.

“Keep copies of any correspondence you have had with the landlord,” McGee said.

Students should be certain that there are no strange, potentially illegal or compromising clauses in the lease. While most landlords will be fairly agreeable, some may have strange rules. McGee said one lease listed “refusing renting to the opposite sex.”

In that example, the landlord wouldn’t rent to a coed group interested in the apartment.

Some other lease elements students need to approach with caution are due dates for rent and what is and is not included in utilities and parking. They need to make sure they ask if their utilities’ cost does or does not include things like water, cable, Internet and heat. If a student intends to bring a car, he or she should be sure to ask about parking. Some landlords may assume students want a parking place, and the landlord will charge extra.

Legal help

If a student does have a problem with his or her landlord in the future, the best option would be to go to the Center for Student Legal Services on Court Street. The center helps students who have conflicts with their landlords. McGee states that their goal is to “help students through small claims court, but we [CSLS] work to prevent.”

On move-in day, the landlord may give a student a paper and ask him or her to list in detail anything wrong with the house or apartment. Not filling out this paper or taking an inventory of problems with a student’s new home may allow the landlord to blame problems on the student that were caused by previous tenants. Also, students need to be sure to take pictures of everything. If the landlord were to attempt to get the student to pay for something that was either unnecessary or not his or her fault, a photo can get a case against you thrown out of court.

Students should make sure they understand their rights and obligations with their new house or apartment. They will be living there for an entire school year, and it is their responsibility to keep the place in the best condition that they can. Any damage caused will probably be taken out of the student’s security deposit. “Try to avoid basement apartments at all costs,” McGee said.

To help students in their search for housing next year, below are some numbers for apartments near campus:

Apartments on Court (740-594-4771)
Best of Athens Rentals (740-594-3112)
Cornwell Apartments (740-592-1279)
Court Street Apartments (740-592-1649)
Kleintenny Rentals (740-594-6900)
L'Heurreux Properties (740-592-4215)
Skyview Apartments (740-594-9193)
TSI Housing (740-592-4422)
Apartments on Court (740-594-4771)

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