In the three months sophomore Michael Russell subleased a house on Dill Street this summer, he said the roof leaked, the basement wall spewed water, a pile of clothes left in the basement from a previous tenant started molding, the power stayed out, the house shook, a light dish cracked, a window slammed shut of its own accord and shattered and a rabbit came through the crawl space.
Through it all, Russell said his landlord was hard to reach, generally evasive and seemingly unconcerned. Yet "never in [his] wildest dreams," the biology major said, would he and his fellow subleasers have considered taking their landlord to court.
"At the time, I didn't think he was screwing me over. He was a nice guy, very easy going," Russell said. "But the most stressful thing about the summer was dealing with my landlord, and now that I look back on it, it's kind of like he just wants to have buildings, keep them at the bare minimum and get money."
Russell is one of thousands of students faced with finding off-campus housing that's not only affordable, but livable. A responsive and responsible landlord can make or break the experience, but being an active and informed tenant who knows the lease may be even more essential.
"In any market you're going to have landlords that are more interested in collecting rent than they are in maintaining their properties or spending money to correct problems," Attorney John Connor, of Ball State Student Legal Services, said. "What a student has to do from the get-go is demonstrate that this is a business contract, that they know their rights and responsibilities and are prepared to handle it in a businesslike fashion."
Connor says students can do more when a maintenance problem arises in their house or apartment than call the landlord and wait hours or days for a response. He recommends immediately writing a polite, brief letter that states the problem and time at which the tenant called the landlord and thanks the landlord for his or her anticipated prompt attention.
"[Landlords] are going to know what you're doing, which is documenting that you've given them notice in a reasonable period of time in case they don't fix it," Connor said. "A lot of landlords like to project this parent-child relationship with their tenants, and I think there's a certain attempt to intimidate. But if the student[s] demonstrate right up front that they now how to get things done and are prepared to seek recourse if the landlord doesn't respond appropriately, I think that's one way to prevent problems."
When problems persist, legal recourse can be a real solution.
There are four to five thousand small claims cases (those that deal with amounts less than $6,000) filed each year in the Delaware County Circuit Courts. Judge Thomas Cannon Jr., of Circuit Court 5, estimated that about a fifth of those cases deal with landlord-tenant relations. The majority are eviction filings.
Cannon estimated only a tenth of Muncie's landlord-tenant cases involve Ball State students and said that these cases tend to differ from the traditional landlord-tenant cases, which consist most often of a landlord petitioning for eviction of tenants, back rent, or payment of damages.
"Students are more educated in what rights they have and what to expect from a landlord as far as keeping up the property," Cannon said. "Not too long ago we had a group of students that had obviously read the statute Indiana [has about] landlord obligations in rental agreements because they raised that…And I've seen some students put on pretty good defenses."
While the majority of landlord-tenant cases are resolved without the involvement of attorneys, Cannon said the cases he sees that involve students are also more likely to involve lawyers, because students have been educated by Ball State Student Legal Services or accessed their family's counsel.
Attorney Leslie Horn handles some of the landlord-tenant cases in the Muncie area. She said what she's seen of the Delaware County legal system has been fair to students, tenants and landlords.
"I have not seen a judge go in favor of a landlord just because a student is there, though I do think many students [may believe this occurs,]" Horn said. "There's a stereotype of college students that they party a lot and that when there are parties there is a higher percentage of damages. Students may assume that this stereotype comes across in court cases or think that judges don't trust or believe what students say. This isn't true."
Because legal action tends to takes some time, Connor said not much can be done for students who come to him ten months into a lease with a neglectful landlord and no documentation.
"At that point it just sounds like sour grapes," Connor said. "I think a lot of students have gone to college with mom and dad taking care of most of the problems, so they're very trusting. They meet their landlord and he seems like a nice guy; they're moving in with their best friends and think there aren't going to be any problems. Unfortunately, there are bumps in the road and its best to be educated on what some of those problems may be and how best to avoid them or approach a resolution."
After dealing with an elusive landlord and what he called a lemon of a house over the summer, Russell said he thinks he knows a lot more about what to look for in a house. He and some roommates have signed a lease for a property for the next academic year and he said he's confident it'll be a good experience. He said he would advise students who are thinking of renting to be wary.
"Whenever you're reading a lease and you think most of it sounds good but then there's a part you maybe don't know about and think you can live with, [you have to consider the point] when a good lease becomes a bad lease," Russell said. "And whenever you call someone about a place, [be aware if] they don't call a prospective leaser back in 48 hours, they're not going to take your call if something goes wrong in the middle of the night."
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