Horror Stories
Not surprisingly, landlords are finding a way to pressure students into early lease-signing even with the new ordinance in place, by exploiting a loophole that allows them to get students to sign a waiver if they’re not planning to renew.
But where could students be getting these crazy ideas that housing in A2 is so hard to find that they should jump on the first lease that comes along?
Maybe you were able to find your current apartment with little or no trouble. It happens sometimes. But you might want to check around with your friends to see what they went through when trying to find a place to live. There are lots of horror stories out there. If you renew your lease with Campus Realty, you’ll find that you’ve just sidestepped a big headache when it comes to finding decent living quarters in a town where looking for the right vacant apartment can seem like a hopeless task.
Here’s an idea: don’t sign a fucking lease until you are ready to. Stupid ass students who think that unless they sign a lease for next year, one day after moving to Ann Arbor are morons and deserve everything they get. But ZOMG the landl0rds said housing is running out! Wes betters gets a lease now! This new city ordinance is bullshit, I don’t need the city to play mommy and daddy for me.
posted by Mark on October 13th, 2006 at 11:36 amUm… yeah… what he said….
Seriously, have any of those ‘rate your landlord’ things taken off? I know the U of M had one running, but it seems a little odd (or a little typical) to only let students do the evaluations.
For me, I was kinda hoping the housing market was going to take all the slumlords down, but the crash and burn I was expecting hasn’t panned out yet.
David
posted by David on October 13th, 2006 at 12:24 pmI know! Just like these people who take jobs for less than minimum wage are morons. Like we need the government to tell employers what wage to pay. There wouldn’t be a problem if people would just refuse to take these jobs.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on October 13th, 2006 at 12:28 pmSooo glad to not be a renter any more. Last place I rented was a McKinley slum. Talk about a racket. They have you signing papers saying you intend to sign papers that will provide the preconditions for signing further papers that will indicate whether or not you intend to sign a lease in the coming year. If you miss one of those signatures it’ll cost you $100. And you thought you could just let your lease expire… sucker!
Not to mention the McKinley idiots sent collections after us after moving out because we weren’t paying rent any more. Good thing we had the multiple layers of paperwork showing that we had in fact moved out. I can’t tell if they’re malicious or incompetent. Maybe maliciously incompetent.
posted by polychrome on October 13th, 2006 at 12:38 pmI think the ordinance should have said the landlords can only start bugging you 90 days BEFORE your current lease ENDS.
Am I crazy, or does that make a lot more sense??
posted by Huckett on October 13th, 2006 at 2:30 pmYeah…this is completely shitty. I just got a renewal form from my realtors yesterday and my lease started SEPTEMBER 1. Hi, I’ve been here a month, would I like to renew? Fuck it. This is really problematic.
posted by poly c on October 13th, 2006 at 4:49 pm“This is really problematic.”
I understand that it’s annoying, but is it *that* hard just to say “no”? Or, how about, “this place is fine, I’ll probably renew, but at this point there’s still some chance I might [transfer/graduate early/join a monestary/discover interesting things about your maintenance practices]; ask me again in a few months.”
posted by Bruce Fields on October 14th, 2006 at 4:32 pmGiven that my rent will probably go up if I don’t respond to renew within the next 17 days, and that I want neither to a) lose the rental rate I have just for deciding to renew a month later, nor b) lose the place I have just for deciding I want to stay in it a month later, yes, it is kind of hard to say “no” or “ask me later.” (It’s not even “a few months” - it’s barely even two.) I think my problem is not so much with the ordinance as with the fact that it’s viewed as acceptable to force a decision on renters 9 months in advance (see commenter above re: the appropriateness of 90 days prior to the END of your lease). It’s absurd. I’ve lived lots of other places, none of which operated by this principle, all of which made me feel *more* secure about my housing options than I do here.
posted by poly c on October 14th, 2006 at 10:22 pmI rent the upstairs unit (2 floors, 3 bedroom apt.) in my house, and when people moved in (summer 2005), I offered them the two year option (being that I’m lazy for the most part and hate the whole rental process)…but they totally scored! (Since I pay heat and water…MichCon/Edison has doubled since I offered that lease).
So it works both ways.
posted by OFWinsurgent on October 14th, 2006 at 10:56 pmSounds like some amendments to our new ordinance are needed.
posted by Dave Cahill on October 15th, 2006 at 8:46 am“Given that my rent will probably go up if I don’t respond to renew within the next 17 days”
Says who?
They like to have people sign early. No doubt it means one less apartment to worry about. But absent a change in the market (which could happen in either direction), if it’s to their advantage to rent to you at a certain rate now, it’ll probably still be to their advantage to rent to you at that rate in the spring.
Might even be worth trying to negotiate it down if you’re into that.
posted by Bruce Fields on October 15th, 2006 at 7:35 pmIt’s not like there is exactly a shortage of available apartments, even in the central campus area.
Back when we came here (we had to walk through the snow uphill to get to Ann Arbor, of course), there was a 1% apartment vacancy rate. It was up to 6% in 2003 and some figures have it at almost 20% last year.
Rental agencies are working in a scarcity mode that no longer exists.
posted by Chris on October 16th, 2006 at 9:13 amBut you know, it’s not necessarily just a matter of saying, “I’m not signing yet; there are plenty of apartments out there nowadays.” Most people don’t want to move EVERY DARN YEAR. They just need a reasonable amount of time to decide if they’re satisfied with their current living situation. 90 days into the lease is completely ludicrous.
I finally gave up and bought a house in Ypsi.
posted by Huckett on October 17th, 2006 at 10:14 amWell I had an odd benefit from not resigning my lease right away. There are still apartments left in my house waited to be rented, which should be a clue to you how hard it is to find an apartment. Look around you right now there are still places available.
I had considerd moving in August to cheaper digs because I wasn’t willing to pay the $75 increase. I told them I couldn’t afford to live there at that price and would have to move. They said if I stayed they would not increase the rent. They’d rather not increase your rent then have an empty apartment without tenants getting no rent for a few months. You just have to know how to play the game.
posted by uniqueolive on October 17th, 2006 at 10:39 am“But you know, it’s not necessarily just a matter of saying, “I’m not signing yet; there are plenty of apartments out there nowadays.” Most people don’t want to move EVERY DARN YEAR.”
Of course not. You’re missing the reason why people are bringing up vacancy rates. It’s not to say “don’t worry, you can find someplace else.” It’s to say “don’t worry, you’re probably going to keep yours.”
Just to state the obvious–it may be to your landlord’s advantage to convince you that housing is scarce. Looking at vacancy rates and rents of other apartments is a way of figuring out what the real situation is.
And yeah, there’s a risk that they could rent the apartment out from under you when you don’t want them to. It happens. But it’s a fairly small risk. Advertising, dealing with prospective tennants, etc., is a pain–at each step they’re generally better off giving you another chance.
“I finally gave up and bought a house in Ypsi.”
Fair enough. Hey, 12-month leases are a tradeoff–you get the freedom of not having to commit beyond 12 months, and you also get the risk that comes from your landlord not being committed to you beyond 12 months. At some point it stops being a good tradeoff.
posted by Bruce Fields on October 17th, 2006 at 1:12 pmRight — the basic thing is that the landlord doesn’t WANT the apartment to turn over. First off, they’d have to clean it. They’d also have to go through all the inspection/refund of security deposit (ha!) with you and all the new tenant BS. So they don’t WANT you to move. That’s why they are trying to get you to renew now.
On the other hand, why would you want to renew now? You don’t know how much cold air the windows will leak in January or whether the pipes always freeze or what a hassle the very steep driveway will turn into after the first snow.
With so many apartments available, why would anyone be rushing to get yours? If it is super terrific, then yeah, renewing is a no-brainer. But in most cases, waiting should be safe.
posted by Chris on October 17th, 2006 at 2:49 pmJust tell them that you’re going to renew and then don’t sign the lease until you’re ready. The intent letter is unenforceable, so if they really pressure you, sign that and then keep “forgetting” to sign the lease.
posted by Anna on October 22nd, 2006 at 9:41 pmWhy not ask Rene and Matt Greff for a job, rumor has it they care about college students and want to make sure young college students don’t have to struggle too hard. Just a rumor, should ask them and find out how much they really care about you.
posted by Andre on October 31st, 2006 at 11:19 amI AM SO GRATEFUL MY TWO KIDS HAVE GRADUATED U OF M AND ARE IN GRAD SCHOOL IN OTHER STATES…..THE SLUM LANDLORDS OF ANN ARBOR AS WELL AS THE CITY HAVE SCREWED OUR FAMILY FOR THE LAST TIME. IF IT WASN’T THE CRAPPY, RAT HOLES WE WERE PAYING OVER $600 A MONTH TO RENT, THEN IT WAS THE LEGAL SYSTEM WHO PROTECTED THEM WHEN THEY WERE TAKEN TO SMALL CLAIMS COURT. I BETTER NOT GET STARTED…THE WHOLE CITY IS OUT TO SEE JUST HOW MUCH THEY CAN MAKE OFF THE STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILY.
posted by DIANE on October 31st, 2006 at 11:23 pm