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APARTMENT GUIDE MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2010 THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN KANSAN.COM
Finding subleasers proves to be challenge
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
It can be difficult to find a replacement to sublease if things don't work out with your roommates or if you need to move out early. Often, landlords require an extra fee to change roommates or to find a subleaser.
BY AUTUMN MORNINGSKY
amorningsky@kansan.com
When a former classmate told Sarah Salazar, a junior from Broken Arrow, Oklaw., that she needed a roommate, she jumped at the opportunity. In August she moved into a six-bedroom house with five other girls. But by the end of February, Salazar was looking for someone to replace her on the lease.
"They're just not the type of people I would hang out with," Salazar said. "I really think you need to know the people you're living with before you move in with them, instead of getting a random assignment like I did."
Salazar is one of many students looking to sublease their apartments after finding their living arrangements didn't go as planned. Finding a suitable replacement, however, can be the biggest challenge.
Shane Nickels, a graduate student from Hutchinson, began advertising his two-bedroom apartment last January, and has yet to find a replacement. After his roommate moved out, Nickels was left to pay the entire rent — $670 plus $300 in bills — by himself. When he heard he had been accepted to a summer orchestra program in Santa Barbara, Calif., he posted ads
and flyers on campus, Craigslist, LawrenceRent, com, and Facebook.
"It's been an ongoing battle," he said.
If Huong Le, a sophomore from Hanoi, Vietnam, doesn't find someone to rent her bedroom, she will pay rent while she stays in Vietnam for the summer. To avoid being lost in the throng of sublease ads, Le decided to offer an incentive.
"There is a $200 fee that the new roommate would have to pay." Le said. "I offered to pay for it."
Other hopeful subleasers have followed suit. Nickels offered to pay for half of the $670 security deposit. Salazar said she would lower the rent payment from $465 to $415 and cover the difference.
While many contracts vary, Nickels' lease agreement states that if he wants out of his lease, he must find a replacement as well as pay his landlord an expensive commissioning fee. According to Salazar's lease, if she doesn't find a replacement, she is still responsible for paying her part of the rent. Though finding a replacement is possible, the process is time-consuming and frustrating.
"Don't assume that getting a sublease would be easy," Nickels said. "It's really a pain in the ass."
Edited by Cory Bunting