By Kirstin MaguireThe Daily Northwestern
As students sign leases for next year, they should look over the fine print before signing and make sure the lease says what they think.
“It is always a good idea to make an appointment with the ASG Student Legal Services office to have a lawyer review their leases and to provide the students with any suggested modifications,” Associated Student Government lawyer Patty Marinakis said.
The office, located on the third floor of Norris University Center in Office F, offers legal advice free of charge to Northwestern undergraduates and, beginning this quarter, graduates as well.
A few things to look out for:
Security deposits
The biggest issue Marinakis said she sees is landlords not giving back security deposits. Many leases specify the condition the property must be in at the end of the lease – and allow landlords to keep the security deposit if the property is in worse shape than the lease requires. Marinakis said students should make sure they understand these conditions when they enter any lease.
To avoid later disputes with landlords, she said any verbal understandings should be put in writing. Because the law requires property to be returned in the same condition as it was when the lease began – with reasonable wear and tear allowed – Marinakis said students should take pictures of the property when they begin their lease.
“I would recommend before and after pictures,” Marinakis said. “That way, they can document the condition was close to the same from the beginning to the end of the lease term.”
City law
The city of Evanston also has an ordinance that lays out the basic rights and obligations of landlords and tenants, including information about security deposits, subleasing, noncompliance, making repairs and abuse of access.
“The landlord cannot take away the basic rights provided in the landlord tenant ordinance,” Marinakis said. “If there’s some kind of lease issue, you can review the lease and the landlord tenant ordinance, and whichever provides greater rights is what the tenant can follow.”
For example, if the tenants aren’t maintaining the property and they receive a notice in writing that they haven’t complied with the terms of the lease, the ordinance allows for 14 days to correct the problem. Even if the lease with the landlord only provides for a week, tenants may choose to follow the landlord tenant ordinance instead, Marinakis said.
Subleasing
Another common pitfall for students who choose to live off campus is subleasing. Many leases start in the beginning of summer. Students often look for people to sublease their houses and apartments, but some leases don’t allow for subleases or charge money if the renters wish to sublease. When negotiating their leases, students should carefully review the subleasing clause to make sure that it is reasonable, Marinakis said.
Living with a group
Groups of students should be aware of a city zoning ordinance that forbids more than three unrelated people from living together, Marinakis said. Many NU students choose to ignore this restriction, and although Marinakis said evictions for violating the ordinance are rare, the possibility exists. Students also can lose some ability to negotiate with landlords when they have an illegal number of tenants in the house because the landlord always has the power to evict them, Marinakis said.
“If they have an illegal number of tenants on the property and then a leasing dispute arises, the tenants have lost some footing in terms of exercising their legal rights because of the possibility of receiving an eviction notice from the landlord regarding the breach of lease in terms of zoning,” Marinakis said.
Pick you battles
Marinakis said that as students start settling into leases for next year, they should make a list of what conditions are most important to them and come into her office for advice on the terms of the lease.
“You need to pick your battles,” Marinakis said. “As students, it’s difficult to negotiate many points in the lease. You need to decide what’s most important to you and work on getting those points into the lease.”
Reach Kirstin Maguire at [email protected]
