The Leasing of Two Evils

Quest for off-campus housing fraught with obstacles

The perfect house - enough bedrooms for all eight roommates to have singles, at least three parking spots, a big kitchen with dishwasher, brand new laundry facilities on the premises, and of course, all utilities included. Though this exact house might not really exist in Ann Arbor, many students do find off-campus housing that they consider perfect enough. Unfortunately, finding a house and signing the lease is never so simple.

Every school year, even before all the moving boxes from summer have been unpacked, students at the University begin the housing search for the following fall. It is a dirty race, and many students say most leases are signed on a first-come, first-s

Emily Linn/DAILY Fred Chase of Ypsilanti is the coordinator of the Ann Arbor Tenants Union.

erved basis, with swift decisiveness a cardinal virtue.

It is not an uncommon occurrence for a group of students to miss their chance or even lose their house by a blink of the eye. Take Howie Berman, an LSA junior. This fall, he and his roommates searched for a house for next year and finally found one that satisfied everyone's needs. They called the landlord and made an appointment to sign a lease on a Monday at 4:30 p.m. At 11:30 a.m. that Monday, the landlord's secretary called to inform Howie and friends her boss had given the house to another group - a group of girls who were planning to sign the lease the following day.

"All of a sudden we had to look for another place," Berman said.

Berman and his friends took further action and called lawyers to find out if what had happened to them was legal. It turned out that the girls who ended up signing the lease had personal connections with the landlord - but, Berman wondered, did that make it right?

In the end, Berman and his roommates found another house through Keystone Properties, a real estate company that operates on a first-come first-served basis. To avoid chances of losing another house, Berman and his roommates started waiting at 3 a.m. Sunday morning, almost 30 hours before Keystone's doors opened at 8:30 a.m. on Monday morning.

Berman said that waiting all night to get first priority requesting a house was, "not necessarily a bad thing," and he got a lot of homework done while waiting. Though he feels that the previous landlord was dishonest and could have called sooner to say that he was giving the house to a different group, Berman acknowledged "the whole world is crooked, and you have to do what you have to do."

What does "doing what you have do" mean for students? Sarah, an LSA junior (who requested anonymity and whose name has been changed), and her roommates thought they did all they could to ensure their residence in the house they wanted, which also happened to be a Keystone Property. After hearing that Keystone was a first-come, first-served company and people were already waiting in line so they'd get their first pick on houses, she and her roommates went at 4:30 a.m. Monday morning to wait in line outside Keystone.

When the doors opened at 8:30, they were first in line to apply for the house they wanted. The women were told that if their credit histories checked out and the occupants currently leasing the house did not want to stay (which they didn't), then the house would be theirs, and they would be notified within 24-48 hours. After 48 hours, Sarah and her friends still had not heard from Keystone. Upon calling Keystone to inquire about their situation, the girls were told they were not awarded the house. The house was given to a group who had rented from Keystone in the past.

Although the girls were led to believe that their chance to lease the house was contingent on credit ratings and the wishes of the current residents, Keystone now decided to inform the girls about a third Keystone policy - priority on houses goes to any person who has previously rented from Keystone Properties. Since previous renters eventually requested the same house as Sarah and her roommates, the girls didn't get the house. But Keystone never told the girls about this policy until after they lost the house. In later attempts to contact Keystone about this misinformation, the supervisor was consistently unavailable.

Stories such as Berman's and Sarah's are unfortunately all too common at the University. Problems stem back to the '60s (when Ann Arbor rental housing was among the worst in the nation) and beyond. In 1968, a group of students held the first meetings of what would later become the Ann Arbor Tenants Union (AATU). They decided to hold a "rent strike" as a means of addressing rental housing problems and doing something about those problems. By 1969, nearly 2,000 students had pledged to strike.

In February 1969, the students held a city-wide rent strike that would last over a year and involve thousands of tenants withholding hundreds of thousands of dollars from a large number of landlords. The strike gained national media attention, leading campus and community groups from across the country to contact the AATU for help in organizing their own tenant unions.

Today the AATU works with all tenants, especially those, such as University students, who are in lower-income housing and thus affected by rent changes. The AATU believes in the process of educating, helping to organize groups, and empowering all renters.

Ed Chusid, a counselor and tenant advocate at the AATU (as well as an LSA senior), believes "all students have the right to organize and fight." He said most landlords truly believe that students won't take action against them, and as a result landlords will often try to intimidate their student tenants. The AATU wants to teach students how to fight for their rights.

Unique to the state of Michigan is actual law which states there can be no rent control, as it is "non-capitalist and un-American." Chusid and the AATU feel, however, that "renting goes against the basic human right to shelter," and is merely a tolerated evil.

Ann Arbor does have a persistent housing shortage. Moreover, every school year at least one building is condemned over winter break. Many students in Ann Arbor feel their landlords' main objective is to make a profit and not to provide decent living.

Most students call the AATU after crises or moderate problems have already occurred. The AATU is now trying to educate students and renters before problems arise. They are beginning to offer workshops in University residence halls and throughout Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. The next seminar, called "Teach-In," will be held in the Anderson Room at the Union on Saturday, November 20th.

The AATU advertises many useful tips and valuable information will be provided to first and even second and third-time renters. For example, Chusid said one thing student renters often don't know is that a landlord must have a Certificate of Occupancy (CIO), which is legal authorization that the building is fit for humans to live in. If they don't, state law says the tenants do not have to pay rent until the landlord acquires one.

Chusid offers two pieces of advice, one practical and one philosophical - The first is to "get and do everything in writing." The second is "to know your rights are the backbone of getting what you are entitled to, and seek out information so that you can fight."

Courtesy of Shira Katz LSA senior Shira Katz had to take her landlord to small claims court in order to get this water damage in her ceiling repaired.

11-18-99