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APARTMENT GUIDE / MONDAY, MARCH 8, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
Studying abroad creates sublease troubles
Students leaving the country also leave empty apartments
BY ELLEN SHEFTEL
esheftel@kansan.com
Studying abroad is one of the best opportunities a student can take advantage of. One of the hardest parts of the process is trying to find someone to take over your previously signed lease.
Breanna McCarthy, a sophomore from Wichita, plans on going abroad to Leicester, England in fall of 2010 for journalism. McCarthy said she has had some good fortune in the process.
from this year and one studied abroad last summer and met a girl on the program who needed a place for one semester" McCarthy said.
Next year McCarthy is living in a four-bedroom house. She will only be living there in spring 2010 while another girl fills her spot during the fall 2010 semester.
"Since we all signed the lease together, they [the landlords] knew who both of the tenants would be for that room up front as opposed to having a random sublease," McCarthy
"I was really lucky living with roommates
"I see flyers all the time that are for subleases.A friend of mine actually tried that and heard nothing back."
RYAN OTTERSON
St. Louis junior
said.
McCarthy said the only difficult part of the process was finding a place to live that all of her roommates liked.
Ryan Otterson, a junior from St. Louis, wasn't so lucky when it came to finding a subleaser. Otterson plans to go abroad next year to Denmark for architecture. Otterson said he saw one of his friends try
to find a subleaser and the difficulties involving it, so he didn't even bother trying.
"I see flyers all the time that are for subleases. A friend of mine actually tried that and heard nothing back." Otterson said.
"I wasn't willing to try to find a sublease because of the amount of time it consumes and being able to make sure the person you pick is an alright person."
Otterson also said he didn't want to leave his roommates with a random person.
"I actually had a friend who said he would take over my lease while I was
gone, but my roommates didn't want to live with him," Otterson said.
Otterson said he was unsure of where he will be living when he returns from Denmark, and said his roommates from this year will be moving out to get a two-bedroom apartment next year.
Robert Lopez, outreach coordinator for the Office of Study Abroad, said the Department
of Student Housing must let students out of their contract if they go to a University sponsored program.
"We have a forum on our Facebook fan
"We have a forum on our Facebook fan page where individuals can post sublease needs."
ROBERT LOPEZ Office of Study Abroad
page where individuals can post sublease needs or if they are coming back they can write a post asking for places to live," Lopez said. "That is really all of the assistance we can offer the students."
Lori Monroe, the leasing and marketing manager at The Reserve apartments, said it is the students' responsibility to find someone to take over their lease.
"We don't necessarily help them find somebody to take over that lease, but we do allow them to put their name on a sublease list that is in the office. People may come in and look at the list but we don't give it out unless it is asked for," Monroe said.
— Edited by Kristen Liszewski