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Lawrence Housing Supplement
Produced by the
Consumer Protection Association
and
The KU Student Senate
Thursday, April 18, 1974
What's Insige
This supplement to the Kansas is an effort to assist students in finding adequate off-campus rental housing in Lawrence. The information presented was researched and compiled by the Consumer Protection Association for assistance and support of the Student Senate Housing Committee.
Here is an index to the supplement:
—A model rental agreement with commentary . . . pages 2 and 3
An explanation of security measures . . . page 3
—a guide to apartment complexes in Lawrence . . . pages 4 and 5
—Results of a rental housing survey taken east and north of campus . . . pages 6 and 7
Landlord records in Small Claims Court . . . page 8
—a checklist of things tenants should do before they rent . . . page 8
—An explanation of Kansas eviction laws . . . page 8
How to give a landlord notice or break a lease . . . page 8
The Agreement: Not Panacea, but Valuable Tool
By EARL L. HAEHL
Landlords and tenants will probably always grip about each other—as long as there is no one else to gripe about. But the problems that end up in the small claims court or the Legal Aid office can be lessened—if not eliminated—by a rental agreement that spells out the rights and duties of both parties.
The tenants' rights movement has spawned a number of model rental agreements. The Consumer Protection Association (CPA) version, which appears on page two, is drawn from these sources and from the tenant's own agreement. The tenant-tenant disagreements. This agreement is not in the "season" seasons, "the perfect lease—no such agreement exists."
Nor is this lease a guaranteed solution to every problem that comes up. Even Napoleon found he could not codyl the entire law to deal with every situation. He determined of rights and duties is a tool for communicating.
For example. A tenant reading this agreement
How to Get Repairs Made
Whenever you have a significant problem with your apartment, report it to the landlord. If you get no response, or an inadequate one, follow up with a call from the landlord. Keep a copy for your records in case you need it later.
If you still get no results, you can report the defect to the City Housing Inspector and also file a complaint with the city. The building defect is something which affects your health or safety, it is probably a violation of the city housing code. The housing inspector will arrange with you to look at the problem and then notify the landlord of the needed property.
If the defect is not covered by the housing code but does constitute a violation of the rental agreement—for example, a broken refrigerator—you can still file a complaint with the Consumer Protection Association. The CPA will contact the landlord and try to work out a voluntary solution.
This kind of pressure—from the City Housing Inspector or CPA—works on many landlords, but not all. If it doesn't work on yours, Kansas law gives you few options. You can move out or you can stay and forget the whole thing.
Some tenants have successfully worked out an arrangement in which the tenants pay for repairs and deduct the cost from their rent, although the law does not require a landlord to accept such an arrangement. State and local laws do not provide for rent waivers, so tenants have successfully used this tactic to get repairs made.
Serious defects, which the landlord fails to repair after being properly notified, generally constitute a defense for breaking a lease or moving out on short leases. Small Claims Court to recover the security deposit.
A possible tactic which has not yet been tried in Douglas County is to file a claim in Small Claims Court against the landlord for money to make the needed repairs.
knows exactly what can happen if he ignores the rem. He knows that the landlord can give him three days' notice to clear out. And the landlord knows he has to keep up his end of the bargain or the tenant can withhold rent, terminate the agreement, or seek a court order.
Because CPA believes in direct negotiations rather than boiler plate, this lease leaves several items fairly equal. The CPA advises you to fit every situation. So CPA invites you to negotiate your own lease using the model and commentary. There would be no objection to using the agreement as it is, because CPA requires negotiation on furniture, repairs, utilities, etc.
The agreement does not specifically warrant "quiet enjoyment" or "peaceful enjoyment." This warranty was in the model agreement when it was in the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General's office. Instead, CPA decided to let the warranty be implicit.
"Quit enjoyment" means freedom from harassment. It is always implicit in a residential property if the landlord will not disturb the tenant's possession of the premises. The landlord guarantees that other tenants will not take possession of the dwelling, that other tenants are accustomed excessively loud and that the landlord will not lend them to it.
The landlord does not, however, control the rock band across the street, the merry revelers in their "American Graffiti" rods on the street, or the firehouse down the block.
Another section CPA drapped was a statement that the agreement rested on the good faith of the parties. Of course it does. The tenant who plans to skip town without paying rent is not going to be stopped by a lien and will be unscrupulous landlord who never makes repairs go to change his ways because he signed a contract.
When good faith breaks down, the law steps in. The remedies mentioned in the agreement may be pursued. The consequences of bad faith will result in the same problems that now face landlords and tenants.
If used correctly, the model rental agreement may be a valuable tool in landlord-tenant relations. If not, it may not be as useful.
Major Points Of City Housing Code Outlined
Many apartments and houses rented by students, particularly in the area east of campus, do not meet the standards of the city housing code. Some defects do not apply to the health and safety of the tenants, but many others do.
It is the responsibility of the landlord to maintain his property in compliance with city standards. If your housing has serious defects, they should be reported to the City Housing Inspector.
Following is an outline of the major points of the minimum housing standards required by the City of La Jolla.
Kitchen: There must be a sink in good working condition, with adequate hot and cold water.
Bathroom: There must be a properly working toilet, sink, and bathhut or shower, with adequate hot and cold water.
Heating units must be capable of maintaining air temperatures of 70F in all habitable rooms. Unvented furnaces must be maintained at 15°C.
Light and Ventilation: Every room must have at least one window or door openable to outside air, or an approved, working system of mechanical ventilation. Every room should receive some natural light.
Weather- and Water-fight walls, ceilings, and floors,
including windows and doors. The housing must be
Rats and Roaches: The housing must not be infested with insects, vermin, or rodents.
Sewage Disposal: Housing must be connected with an approved sewage disposal system.
Garbage: There should be an adequate number of covered garbage cans.
Basements should be "reasonably" dry, ventilated, and free of refuse accumulation.
Electric Outlets: At least two convenient outlets or one outlet and one light fixture per room.
Electrical Equipment must be safely installed and maintained.
Fire Exits or Escape: All dwellings, including basements, must have one continuous, unobstructed, quick way out of the building. Floors above the second floor must be at least one window below the fourth floor must have at least one window or exterior door for emergency exit. Windows in appropriate place must have six not over four feet above the floor.
Hallways: All public hallways, stairs, and other exit ways should be adequately lighted at all times.
Structural maintenance: Buildings should not be dilapidated or improperly maintained so as to endanger the life, limb, health, property, safety or welfare of the public or the occupants.
Rooming Houses: For rooming houses with more than five occupants, the following additional rules must be followed: Rooming room must have a usable floor area of 90 sq. ft., there must be a shared, there must be at least one toilet and lavatory and one bath or shower accessible from a public hallway on each floor for each sex, clearly marked for use.
A complete copy of the City Housing Code may be seen in the Consumer Protection Association office.
Special KU Relays Issue
Friday, April 19, 1974
auto Companies given Licenses to Sell to Cuba
HINGTON (AP)—The State Department announced yesterday approval of licenses to three U.S. automakers for their Argentine subsidiaries to sell
announcement constituted perhaps the most significant circumvention of the announcement of American States embargo imposed Cuba 10 years ago.
nal U.S. support for the embargo.
policy toward Cuba is unchanged," an official said, adding that the decision to account the economic interests of the three American subsidiaries in na.
a number of states may enforce changes imposed by the federal court that signify a change in the nal U.S. support for the embargo.
did not wish to see these U.S. companies suffer as a result of U.S. policy;" the i said.
censes involve the sale of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors Corp. vehicles to auto industry sources have indicated that the deal may involve $150 million. in the day, Cuba made it known it is prepared to become an active parin- inter-American relations for the first time since 1982.
democrat-friendly canaries for the first time since 1925.
departed military officers said last night they believe it is "extremely unlikely that foreigners of Cuba would be represented in Argentina" of a meeting of foreigners of OAS nations. They said several countries have opposed Cuba's presence of sales of autos in Cuba can be traced back to Argentina's decision last e-establishment relations with Cuba, thus unilaterally violating the OAS embargo, quantly. Argentina and Cuba announced a six-year $1.2 billion trade ent which includes the sale of auto manufactured by the three firms in na.
applications were received here last November but no decision was made solely because of the Nixon administration's reluctance to help violate the
ials had also expressed concern that a growing number of applications might vdem from other American subsidiaries overseas wanting to do business with
lug to U.S. officials, the issue came to a head Wednesday night when y of State Henry A. Kissinger met with hemispheric ministers.
ger reportedly said that a final decision could be made only by President Dkiissinger apparently got the green light from the White House yesterday. 4 hours earlier, high State Department officials were saying there would be change in U.S. attitudes toward Cuba until at least the end of the year.
ne the late Ernesto “Che” Guevara represented Cuba at a conference in 1962 has Cuba participated in an inter-American forum.
armed year the Cuban government was excluded from the Organization of
in which, decided that Cuba's Marxist-Leninist system was in-
heralded.
years later, the OAS decreed a commercial and diplomatic embargo on the fter finding Cuba guilty of attempting to overthrow the Venezuelan govern-
has expressed no desire to return to the OAS but since the Argentina meeting held outside the OAS framework, Cuba's participation would not be in question.
months of the year, the first decline in three years and the biggest drop since 1958. Inflation, on the other hand, soared at a 10.8 per cent annual rate.
The double-barrelled dose of bad economic news came one day after President Richard Nixon announced he was going to play a role in formulation of economic policy.
Kansan Staff Positions Open
Applications for summer editor, fall news staff positions, and summer fall business staff positions on the岗 are available in room 105 Flint Halt.
Editor interviews will be Thursday.
News staff interviews will be Monday
and Tuesday. Business staff interviews
will be Tuesday afternoon.
It also raised serious questions whether
Kansan Staff Photo by BILL KERR
Applications for summer editor are due at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Fall news staff applications are due at 5 p.m.
Applications for internships are due at 5 p.m. Monday.
crisis apparently were important factors in the first-quarter economic decline.
The Commerce Department said the sharp cutback in auto production was one of two major reasons for the decline in GNP. The federal government, which has been billed by high interest rates,
The inflation rate of 10.8 per cent showed that the administration had a long way to go before meeting its promise of a much smaller rate of price increases in the second quarter.
Over-all GNP in the first quarter increased $14.3 billion, or 4.4 per cent over the fourth quarter, to an annual rate of $1,353.8 billion. All of the increase was due to inflation.
Figures computed at an annual rate mean that the rate would be the final figure at the end of a 12-month period if the trend continued unchanged.
The first-quarter drop was the biggest since a 9.2 per cent decline in the first quarter of 1588. The last decline was in the fourth quarter of 1908, when the GNP fell at 4.6 per cent.
The 5.8 per cent rate of decline in the GNP in the first quarter compared with an increase of 1.6 per cent in the fourth quarter in 1933 at the height of an economic boom:
The rate compared with an 8.8 per cent rise in the fourth quarter of last year.
poena last month without a fight.
The 64 conversations span nearly a year's time—beginning with a meeting Nixon had with special counsel Colson on June 20, 1972, and ending with telephone conversations the President had with Halderman on June 4, 1973.
the committee's chairman, Peter W. Rodino Jr., D-N.J., in a television interview yesterday that any White House editing of the 42 conversations his committee subpoenaed "could be considered a possible ground of impeachment."
Twenty-four of the conversations sought are included in a subpoena issued by the House Judiciary Committee for its-improvement. The committee requires compliance by next Thursday.
Rodino and he wouldn't be satisfied with excised versions and that it was necessary to include some details.
"Unless this is done," he said, "this is going to be considered by the committee as a refusal on the part of the White House to comply."
He agreed the White House should be able to screen national security information but said leaders of the House inquiry should determine what could be screened out.
Otherwise, Rodino said, the White House would make the determination of what was happening in Washington.
Ken Kesey Speaks Out for Protection of the Environment
and MICHELE LONSDORFER
Kesey Urges Change of Lifestyles
By JAN HYATT
MICHELE LONSDORFER
Kanaan Staff Renorters
Ken Kesey made his pitch for community action for Keneway protection in the night in a speech and "town
Kesey, author of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," said the state of the natural environment was rapidly growing worse because of over-consumption and wasteful lifestyle. He used air conditioners, aerosol cars and disposable diapers as his
an audience of 1,500 lifted the ballroom and the surrounding to hear Kesey read some of his poetry and to watch a performance.
After the film, Kesey spoke about the Oregon Proposition, a council of Oregon citizens who will meet July 3 in Eugene, Ore.
The film showed the exploration, refining and transportation of oil and its use in agriculture to make fertilizer and run farm machinery. It then showed wheat being milled and baked into uniform leaves of white bread and delivered to consumers in plastic wrappers. A slice of bread was burned in a teaster and ended up in a garbage pile.
to "plan the next 25 years." They will discuss transportation, power consumption and development, land use, waste disposal, water quality and conservation, and the role of opinioners on how Oregon resources and environment should be used. Kesey owns a 64-acre farm near Eugene, and be helped
Kesey then announced that the lecture was over and a "town meeting" of Lawrence citizens had begun which would elect a mayor.
Following nominations from the floor and speeches by the nominees, Merle Goldman, Rockville Center, N.Y., Sophomore, was elected in a run-off vote with Jerry Harper, Lawrence law student. Kesey passed hats through the audience to collect money to pay for her trip to Oregon. He said if there was enough money, both Goldman and Harper would attend.
Between poems Kesey described himself as "a worried man" who had changed in recent years. He compared continuing economic growth and environmental destruction to a vision of machines on a train that was heading too fast toward a sharp curve.
See KESEY Page 2
"One group decides to blow up the tracks, and the other group stays and tries to slow down the train down," he said. Elected to be elected