UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, August 16, 1995
11A
Creativity furnishes the good life
Auctions, families help students meet household needs
By Joann Birk
Kansan staff writer
Thousands of KU students are moving into new apartments this month and discovering that they have no couch, no bed, no table and little money.
"The first time I attended an auction, I outbid a lady for a vacuum,and I only bid $2.50."
Whether they have to search garage sales, attend auctions or scavenge through relatives' old furniture, students will inevitably find ways to recreate the comforts of home.
Lisa Goodman, St. Louis senior, discovered excitement and bargains at auctions. She started attending them regularly to collect household necessities. "The first time I attended an
"The first time I attended an auction, I outbid a lady for a vacuum, and I only bid $2.50," Goodman said. "They even threw in three folding chairs, a black and white TV and a book of quotations."
Lisa Goodman St. Louissenior
Goodman said she acquired all her furniture and dishes from auctions or from friends who moved and could not fit everything in their cars.
"I've scored everything from lamps to couches from friends who just did not feel like moving all their stuff." Goodman said.
Many other students have
found a way to furnish their apartments for free. Brian Johnson, Winfield senior, drove to his grandparents' and parents' homes with a H-Haul to collect unwanted furniture. He returned to Lawrence with antique beds, tables, chairs and a piano.
"It is all really nice furniture, but I am not worried about it getting harmed by roommates and friends," Johnson said. "I figure that it has made it through floods, tornadoes and a world war. It can probably survive one
of my parties."
Tyra Kalman, St. Louis senior, also filled her two-bedroom home without stepping into a furniture store. She said that nearly everything in her home had come from garage sales, parents or friends.
"If you have a good eye, you can collect a lot of really valuable furniture from people who did not see its potential," Kalman said. "We have a chair that looks like it has been clawed by a cat, but it has a beautiful shape. I know that some day I will have the money to recover it."
While Kalman thinks long term when she hunts for furniture, her main goal is still finding inexpensive ways to live comfortably. She said that with a little creativity students could avoid spending the semester eating, sleeping and studying on the floor — and even possibly doing it in style.
Roommates move out before moving in
Some students left high and dry after 'friends' decide not to honor leases or return to KU at all
Phillip Brownlee Kansan staff writer
Reuben Anderson gets madder and madder the more he thinks about it.
"He bailed and left me hanging," the Overland Park senior said.
Anderson is upset because his roommate didn't return this fall, and now he must either find a new roommate or pay higher rent.
"This would be a great apartment if I had a roommate," he said. "But at this point, I just want to fulfill my contract or set out of it."
Anderson is not unique. Each fall, KU students get stuck honoring apartment lease contracts because their room-mates bailed out.
"Twenty-five percent of our cases are landlord/tenant cases," said Michele Kessler, associate director of legal services for students at the University. "About half of those cases are between roommates."
Erin Hodges, Lawrence sophomore, learned last week that her roommate was moving out, even though the two just renewed their lease.
"She wrote me a letter and basically said that she was too chicken to tell
me in person," Hodges said.
Megan Parr, Sterling senior, found out three weeks ago that one of her three roommates was going to school in France this year. Another roommate then said that she might not move in if she had to pay more rent.
"I was frustrated and really nervous," Parr said. "I didn't know if I would have a place to live or not."
When a roommate moves out, the remaining roommates are responsible for the lease, Kessler said.
"The law says that all who sign a lease are jointly and severally liable," she said. "But if you are still in the apartment, you are the one the landlord can find. And since you are still there, they assume you have money."
That was Anderson's experience.
"My landlord told me I had to fulfill the lease," Anderson said. "They said they would go after我 first and then my roommate."
If a lease contract is not honored, landlords sue everyone who signed the lease, Kessler said.
But whomever the landlords can find is who ends up paying. To get their money back, that person then has to sue the roommates who bailed out of
To avoid lawsuits, students scramble to find last-minute replacement roommates or go ahead and pay the higher rent.
the lease.
Both Anderson and Hodges advertised for new roommates in the Lawrence Journal World and placed filers around campus. So far neither has been successful, and both are unsure what they will do if they don't find new roommates.
Kessler said that little could be done to protect against roommate bailouts.
"About the only coverage you can have is to have parents co-sign the lease," she said.
Anderson, Hodges and Parr each warned that when choosing a roommate it's important to pick one who won't desert you, not just someone you like.
"I should have looked for someone who was more responsible," Hodges said.
Anderson said that people tried to find themselves during college and that could make roommate selection a risk.
"You need to make sure your roommate is going to stay," he said.
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