For many students living on campus, dorm life can seem unbearable. With closet-size rooms, built-in furniture and community restrooms, students seek dorm independence off campus in nearby lofts, condos and apartments.
Yet, the dreadful stories of unbearable living conditions do not remain unique to those living in dorms. From ant invasions, leaving a biting trail, to air conditioning failure in 100 plus degree weather to “blind law” eviction notices before finals, SMU students renting off campus can testify to the horrors of living away from the Hilltop.
Sophomore Audrey Schlichenmaier, who rented in the lofts on Mockingbird Station, said she found the ant invasion after the foundation in her loft started spreading, and had to wait several days before her landlord took care of the situation. “They were biting ants,” said Schlichenmaier. “I started walking and they started getting all over me.”
Schlichenmaier isn’t alone.
Spending nearly two weeks in a house on Rosedale Ave. with a broken air conditioner during this summer’s 100-plus degree temperatures, Katie Reynolds, a sophomore at SMU, had trouble reaching her landlord. “She never answered the phone,” said Reynolds. “It was like 90 degrees in our bedroom.”
Medley Buttermore could clearly see problems ahead when she received an eviction notice stating she had to move out due to a “blind law” in University Park during December of this year-finals month.
“We moved into our apartment in May, and we did that so that we wouldn’t have to worry about moving in when school was starting up again and didn’t want to have added stress then,” says Buttermore, “but we have even more stress now!”
Many landlords around University Park feed off young tenants who don’t know the law. “I think because we’re college students they don’t take us seriously,” said Reynolds, who had her air conditioner repaired only after her father, an attorney, personally called the landlord.
Situations like these can leave student renters frustrated and apartment hunters hopeless. In Texas, housing laws seem to provide limited help for tenants faced with such problems.
Kervyn B.Altaffer, Jr., managing attorney of the housing division at Legal Aid of northwest Texas says, “Texas law is more favorable to landlords than it is to tenants.” But certain guidelines do exist to assist students when settling for an apartment or home outside the university.
According to the Texas Tenants’ Union, a nonprofit organization seeking to empower tenants through education and organization to protect their rights, potential tenants should consider the following points before signing a lease.
Check the inside.
Never sign a lease, or even put a deposit down on an apartment or house, until you have seen the exact place you will be renting. When you inspect the place you may rent, look it over carefully. Test the heating and air conditioning units. Make sure the place does not smell bad.
Reynolds learned this the hard way, reflecting on her experience when moving into the house she now rents. “Things were supposed to be done and they weren’t,” said Reynolds. “I still had to scrub the bathtub.”
Make a list.
Carry a pen and paper with you. Make a list of anything that is damaged, or that needs repair. Take a copy of your list to the landlord, and ask to have all the items repaired. Be sure to keep a copy of this list yourself. If the landlord promises to fix the items, get the promise in writing.
Check the outside.
Look over the outside of the building. Find out what the neighbors are like and what they say about the landlord. Ask whether they have ever had something that needed to be repaired by the landlord.
Check for security.
You should consider asking the landlord to provide crime statistics, or ask the local police department. If you are concerned about crime at the property or in the area, ask management and check with the local police department for any information it can provide about reported crimes or incidents. The law requires rental agents and managers to answer all questions truthfully.
According to the Texas Apartment Association, when you visit a place you’re considering, check to see that it has the security devices required by Texas law. All apartments, rent houses, condos and townhomes offered for rent must have these devices, provided at the owner’s expense:
– A keyless deadbolt or keyless bolting device on all exterior doors.
– A peephole or clear glass pane in all exterior doors.
– A keyed deadbolt or door handle lock on a main entry door.
– A pin lock on each sliding glass door.
– Either a door handle latch or a security bar on each sliding glass door.
– A window latch on each window.
Check out the landlord.
It is wise to check out the landlord before you agree to rent or put down a deposit. If the city has a tenant association, Better Business Bureau, or consumer protection agency, call and find out if other people have complained about the landlord, complex or management company. Ask if the landlord owns any other rental properties. If so, check into those, too.Attorney Altaffer recommends talking to other students who have rented from the residence.
“The point of it is if you talk to someone else that lived there you can find out what the landlord is like-is he a jerk or is he a nice guy,” said Altaffer.
Ask for a copy of the rules.
Before you sign the lease, ask for a copy of the rules. If the rules have not been written down, ask the landlord to write them down, and have the landlord sign and date the document. Having written rules will prevent the landlord from changing the rules in the middle of your lease.
“It was so inconvenient,” comments Schlichenmaier, after having the rules change during her stay at the lofts in an effort to make them more adult-friendly.
Check the lease for privacy terms.
Study the lease carefully to determine the circumstances under which the landlord may enter your home. Unless the lease agreement says that the landlord can enter your apartment or house, the landlord has no right to do so, except perhaps in emergencies and for repairs you have requested. This is because a tenant has exclusive possessory rights to the property.
“She would be in our house taking measurements,” said Reynolds who remembers her landlord walking in from time to time. Students should realize that just because the landlord owns the property, does not mean the landlord can come and go as he pleases.
Read. Read. Read. Read the lease for details.
Normally, a written lease will last for a fixed period of time, typically six months or one year.
“The first thing to do is read the lease. Read every single word, all the fine print, and if they don’t understand what it all means, go and ask somebody before they sign it,” stresses Attorney Altaffer. “That is the most important thing.”
Schlichenmaier agrees. “It sounds silly, but they go over the lease with you,” said Schlichenmaier. “You need to read the silly little details.” Students looking to escape dorm horrors should go apartment hunting with knowledge of their rights before what seems like independence turns into a binding lease with a preying landlord in a less-than-perfect apartment.
