THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY MARCH 7, 2007
APARTMENT GUIDE 2
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KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Reading through your lease before you sign it is an important step in picking an apartment. If you're renewing a lease, it's also important to look through the automatic renewal clause in your lease.
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If a student does not have someone look over the lease here are some common red flags to look for:
> According to Hardesty, one of the biggest problems is the automatic renewal clause. This is when a landlord will automatically renew the lease if they do not have notice of a student's intent to move. To avoid this problem, tell the manager as soon as possible of intent to move when the lease is over.
"We always tell people that if you know by, say, December that you're not staying there, give them the notice then," Hardesty said."Some people know they'll only be staying a year and give it to them right when they're signing the lease."
> Another common problem deals with the two most important factors of any apartment search: roommates and rent. Only a couple properties, such as The Legends Place and The Reserve, 2511 W. 31st St, offer individual leases where each tenant pays their own rent. In many places, all roommates are responsible for one rent payment. If one roommate does not pay his share of the rent, the landlord has the right to evict all of the tenants for not paying rent. This is called the "joint and several
liability" clause. LSS suggests that one roommate pays the rent and the other roommates pay their shares to that person.
The last problem concerns not getting the security deposit back. LSS sees many landlord versus tenant cases in the fall, when many students are expecting their security deposits, Hardesty said. Most of the time, students do not pay close enough attention to the initial walk-through of the apartment, or do not do a thorough job of cleaning the apartment. Landlords, however, check every nook and cranny for damages.
"When you move out, [landlords] go through that place with a fine-tooth comb," Hardesty said."Landlords will charge you for every little thing."
Pay close attention to an inventory sheet that lists the costs to repair an item if it were damaged. These costs could include prices to fix a light bulb, clean the carpet or repair the refrigerator. This is where many students lose their security deposit. Sometimes managers will keep the security deposit, and then ask for more money to fix any damages they might find.
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