Off Campus Leases
As the semester winds down, some students living off-campus are
in search of new roommates.
“Students leaving before leases are up happens every year,” said
Jean Robbins, director of operations and marketing at Ram’s Village
Apartments.
Robbins estimates between 10 and 15 percent of Ram’s Village
residents end up transferring their leases to someone else, usually
between semesters.
Some reasons for leaving leases early include graduating and
moving out of the area for work, transferring to a different
school, dropping out of school, financial problems and roommate
problems.
“I’m looking to move closer to campus and am trying to find
someone to take my place,” said Ryan Maier, a sophomore psychology
major.
Maier has hung flyers around campus as well as posted a listing
with Off-Campus Student Services/Resources for Adult Learners.
Off-Campus Student Services provides students with information
about finding a place to live off campus, finding potential
roommates and the stages of renting.
The office keeps a book of listings and also posts them online.
They also hold Roommate Roundup events where students can come and
meet other students who are looking for roommates.
Jeannie Ortega, the director of Off-Campus Student Services,
said Roommate Roundups give students a chance to meet potential
roommates face to face.
“Off-Campus Student Services helps students who are living or
moving off campus. We help students understand their rights and
responsibilities as tenants of the community,” Ortega said.
Robbins said it is important to read and understand one’s lease
because every lease has a different clause for selling, subletting
or assigning leases before the end of the lease term.
Ram’s Village provides the option of “assigning” a lease to a
new renter. For a $50 fee, a current resident can assign or sell
his/her lease to a new applicant. Once all the paperwork is
completed, the original resident has no further legal
obligation.
The students who remain behind are also impacted when they have
a roommate move out.
“One of our five roommates decided to move back with his parents
in California three months into our lease,” said Bruce Redmond, a
junior business major. “He is still paying us, but we have to trust
that he will send money from California.”
Redmond says he is kind of worried that they won’t find someone
for next semester. He advises students to make sure they are
confident in the people they live with and believe they will be
reliable.
“I signed a sublease contract because I didn’t want to be paying
more if something happened. I already am paying enough for myself,”
said Elena Trevino, a veterinary medicine graduate student.
Trevino and her current roommate put an ad in the paper and put
flyers around campus. They hope semester break will be an easier
time to find a new rommate.
For students who plan to move off campus in the future, Robbins
encourages them to be mindful of all the options that exist and to
consider what type of living environment they want to be in. She
also suggests that if in the event a student wants to move out
early, he/she should speak with his/her landlord.
“Every year we have one or two residents who just move home at
semester break and don’t bother telling us they need to (reassign)
their lease. Sometimes we don’t discover this until we are trying
to collect money in January. As a property manager, I’m much more
likely to work with a resident who comes in ahead of time and talks
to us about his or her lease,” Robbins said.
Box info:
For more information on off-campus living, visit the Off-Campus
Student Services Web site at
www.sc.colostate.edu/ocss_ral/OCSS/OCSS_index.htm.
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