How to avoid the pitfalls of renting

Coming to an understanding with your rights as a renter

By Jim Torbit
Staff writer

Escaping a seemingly mundane existence in the dorms and moving into your own apartment can provide you with freedoms absent from the residence hall. Imagine the triumph of coming home to your place, collapsing on your couch, seeing yourself reign mercilessly over your domain, and letting freedom pump through your veins with the intensity of sugar-coated, Saturday morning cereal.

This sort of liberation certainly doesn't come without a price. Once you've found the perfect digs, you have to sign the lease, pay the rent and take responsibility for your decision.

Signing and understanding your lease is crucial. Your lease completely defines the relationship between you and your landlord. The more intimately familiar you are with your lease, the more equipped you will be to handle any problems that may arise during your tenancy.

Steve Davis, the Director of Student Legal Services at Eastern, has four key pointers for students that are apartment bound:

1. When several students move into an apartment, understand that each student is responsible for all the rent and all the damages.

This means that if you move into an apartment with two friends and they bail out halfway through the semester, you will be responsible for finding some way to pay the total rent. You will also be wholly responsible for any damage regardless of whether or not it was your fault.

2. Take the time to complete "an exhaustive condition report" upon moving in and make sure everyone has a signed and dated copy.

This practice will help safeguard your security deposit and provide you with a document that can be used as leverage against any potentially evil landlords.

3. If not present, request that a provision be added to the lease that insures the premises will be cleaned prior to move in.

To hopefully avoid moving into a filthy apartment and to help further safeguard your security deposit, request that this provision be added to your lease. You can then list any filth in the condition report and bypass any potential deposit deductions.

4. "Roommate problems are not landlord problems."

Be sure that you sign a lease only with people you can trust. Once you have moved in, you are stuck with your roommates, and the landlord can do little about it if a problem arises.

Following this advice will help make your apartment experience easier and more enjoyable.