siuDE.com

Andrew O'Connor~Daily Egyptian

Student housing is said to be a part of the college experience. For some students, however, this experience can be at best a migraine and at worst a nightmare. One would be hard pressed to find a student at SIU who doesn't know at least one person with a landlord horror story. These stories are not students whining about dirty houses with old appliances; these stories involve unsafe living conditions, housing code violations and serious monetary disputes.

With the increasing costs of college and living, students seek out the cheapest housing available. Thus, housing in a college town is not generally held to the same standard as say a residential suburban town. The houses are either old or quickly constructed, and they sometimes carry with them the scars of years of college debauchery. It is not easy to be a college landlord, delinquency of payment and some student's disregard for their living space can more than a handful. Yet this does not serve as an excuse for providing sub-standard housing or service. There is a reason that landlords are referred to as slumlords in this town.

There are two main categories of landlord dispute, physical housing disputes and monetary disputes. Physical housing problems range from broken windows to serious structural problems. The city enforces a law in which every three years, landlords must allow inspection of their rental properties. These inspections, however, are undermanned and under funded; if you have a problem, you need to be the one to get the ball rolling. Mold and asbestos can linger and cause serious health problems, and code violations could mean a burnt-down house or a caved-in roof. Problems like unsafe wiring won't fix themselves and addressing them immediately is the only surefire way to avoid a visit from the Carbondale Fire Department.

The other main area of dispute is over monetary issues. Landlords, much like insurance companies, profit from customer financial abuse. Financial disputes range from late-fees to cleaning supply reimbursement, but the most common and serious contention is over security deposits and damages. Many students leave a lease, expecting a check back for their security deposit (sometimes minus cleaning costs). What happens often is that they are hit with charges for "damages" and instead of a refund, they are sent a bill. While some students do trash their houses to a level appropriate, the majority do not and unless one is flawless in the transition period between leases, often they do not receive their deposit back.

As the Wu-Tang Clan says, "You must protect ya neck." There are ways of recourse students can use to fight back against slumlords. If your property has physical issues, first attempt to contact your landlord and resolve it with them. If however, they do not address the problem, or are entirely too slow to solve it, you can contact Building and Neighborhood services at (618) 457-3237. They take your complaint and deal with the landlord directly and effectively. They have the power to fine landlords so landlords generally comply very quickly.

If the problem is one of money, you have two possible routes of recourse. The first is student legal services (618) 536-6677, a service free to SIU students that offers free legal counseling from both attorneys and 2nd and 3rd year law clerks. They can help determine what legal recourse you have against your landlord. The other route is the Carbondale Better Business Bureau, at (618) 529-6400, which can be used to formally lodge complaints against your landlord. Whatever happens, know that you are not powerless, and you do not have to rent with unfair treatment and conditions. It is time for students to wise up and slumlords to shape up.

O'Connor is a junior studying political science.

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