Senior Jennifer Birk knows firsthand the pressure that off-campus students feel to sign leases early.
| “You’re going to have a better chance at finding a nicer place if you wait (to sign a lease).” –Jess Pinch Student Senate student services director |
For as long as Birk has been out of the dorms, she’s always signed her lease in the fall. She was afraid that all the decent houses and apartments would be taken if she waited, she said.
This is a common misconception, said Jess Pinch, Student Senate student services director. She recommends waiting for House Day, an annual event sponsored by Student Senate.
During Tuesday’s House Day, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., students can stop by the Council Fire Room in Davies Center and meet with about 60 local landlords, Pinch said.
Some landlords actually wait until House Day to start showing their rental properties, she said.
“You’re going to have a better chance at finding a nicer place if you wait (to sign a lease),” Pinch said. “Many landlords only have a few properties, so they keep them nicer.”
City council health and consumer protection representatives and attorneys will also be on hand to help students make informed decisions, Pinch said.
For the first time, local police will also attend House Day, Officer Brian Schneider said. Schneider and his partner will be there to recruit landlords for a new training program, he said.
The program aims to help landlords manage their rental properties more effectively, Schneider said. This includes training landlords to identify illegal behavior, screen tenants, effectively enforce leases and make safety-related improvements to their properties.
The program begins Feb. 15 with a five-hour session. A second session is scheduled for March 29, and police hope to add more dates to the list, Schneider said.
The program is designed to benefit both landlords and tenants, he said.
“(Landlords) will take more of an active role in managing their properties,” Schneider said. “This will decrease problems and make neighborhoods healthier.”
Birk thinks House Day is a good idea, but she doesn’t think it will stop the pressure students feel to sign leases early.
Perhaps the only way to solve the problem is for the city to enact an ordinance prohibiting tenants from signing a lease before a certain date, Birk said.
Birk knows just how difficult dealing with landlord issues can be.
“I feel bad for students,” she said. “I can’t wait to graduate.”
