Students pay anywhere from $200 to $2,000 a month in rent, and what do we get in return? Apartments that are filthy and in disrepair. I had several issues during my tenancy at one particular community. For one, the management was unwilling to repair a broken window. I requested to have it fixed every week for four months, but it never happened. When I returned from winter break there were dead bugs everywhere in my bedroom. That was my breaking point. I learned a lot from that experience and would like to share that knowledge with my fellow students.
Make sure you keep an accurate record of everything, especially all maintenence requests. Put a date on all records and, if possible, get someone else to sign and date them as well. I’m a picture person, so every time there’s an infraction I take a picture. Make sure to keep track of the actual maintenance request forms. When the maintenance staff leaves you that little carbon copy stating it “repaired” something, think of it as evidence instead of trash.
Also, make sure you read the lease in its entirety and seek legal advice before signing it. Attorneys can be wonderful people when they work for you. They can tell you what that fine print means and how it can mean something else in certain situations. They can also tell you what your rights are as a tenant. If you are a full-time UF student, you are entitled to free legal advice from UF’s Student Legal Services. Three Rivers Legal Services, a non-profit organization that provides legal services to eligible people in North Florida, is another good resource. Visit their website at trls.org.
You can find landlord-tenant laws by looking up Florida Statutes chapter 83 online. You can also find information about landlord-tenant rights at the Floridabar.org. This is a great resource, especially if managers at the community are refusing to do any future repairs simply because you filed a complaint. Their refusal may constitute retaliatory action, and you can file a complaint in a court of law.
If you think there is a housing code violation, call the Gainesville Code Enforcement Division at 352-334-5030. After discovering the dead bugs in my bedroom, I called them and reported my broken window. They set up an appointment to visit my apartment. They cited the complex for my complaint and other infractions that I wasn’t even aware of. Typically, repairs speed up after they contact management but if they aren’t made in a timely manner, management could be fined.
I admit I didn’t listen to my own advice when signing my lease. I assumed that I’d just look at apartment ratings online to see what previous tenants said about apartment complexes and then pick the place that was rated higher. I don’t recommend that now.
My parting statement is directed at the management and office staff of “typical” college apartment communities: If you are having difficulty leasing apartments, continually need to offer residents “the special” or have disgruntled residents, do not make the mistake of attributing your increase in vacant apartment numbers to the economy. It is because of you that residents choose not to live there.
Jessica Martin is studying veterinary medicine at UF.
