For many college students, the first legal document they will ever sign is the lease for an apartment or rental house in their college town. Thousands of students at Ohio State University and Ohio University sign leases for student housing every year, and few of them understand, or care, what this legal document entails.
Once young adults leave the residential housing system at a university, they no longer have a university establishment looking after their interests. Their parents may or may not be able to step in and help them understand the leasing process and other “adult” issues of taking up a private residence in a community far from home.
Following are some tips for navigating the leasing and move-in process responsibly and safely.
Know What You’re Signing
We know; the last thing you want to do is read page after page of deadly boring legalese in a lease for that Athens or Columbus apartment or rental house. But it’s very important to understand your and the landlord’s responsibilities and obligations under a housing lease. It might help to jot down your own obligations so they’re better imprinted in your mind.
One big piece of information is when the lease goes into effect and when it expires. This actually should be something you determine long before signing an actual lease. Watch out for leases that require you to vacate the premises the day or day after your spring semester classes end. This can make for a very chaotic leave-taking from Athens or Columbus in the late spring. Or does the lease extend through the summer even though you plan to return home till fall semester? In this case, will the lease permit you to find a sub-leaser? Is this a process you want to deal with?
Other issues in a lease that it’s important to recognize include: Can you extend the lease another year? Does the rent include utilities, or do you have to set up and pay some or all of those yourself? Is the rental partly or wholly furnished? How much is the deposit and how can you maximize prospects of getting it back? Are pets permitted? What’s the process for getting repairs or maintenance at your student rental? Is renters insurance required in the lease?
Will You Need Renters Insurance?
If renters insurance is optional (which is most often the case), you should strongly consider getting it anyway. Don’t make the mistake of assuming the landlord’s insurance will pay for damages to personal property in case of fire, theft or some other adverse event; it won’t. If you don’t think you own enough stuff of value to warrant paying a renters insurance premium, you may regret not having the liability protections that are common in renters insurance policies. For example, you could be liable for someone being injured in your rental. It’s an unfortunate fact of life that in shared student housing, a tenant has less control over potential damages or losses than in, say, a single-family home.
Don’t Move in Before Inspecting the Rental
Yes, we know how exciting it can be for a student to move into their new apartment or rental house in Athens or Columbus. But don’t get so eager that you forget to give the place a careful look-over before signing the lease and then again before moving in. In the latter case, it’s important to document and photograph any existing damage or shortcomings in a rental dwelling. Employ a method that documents the date when the photos were taken, either with a date stamp or email. The last thing you need on move-out day is to learn that you’ve lost your deposit based on an issue that existed the day you moved in.