Sean Ryan has lived on Livingston Avenue with his roommates for two years and is still unaware of many of the housing laws.

‘I skimmed the lease, passing over the fine print,’ said Ryan, a senior finance major.

For Ryan and many other Syracuse University students, area-housing laws are virtually unknown, which could potentially lead to problems with landlords and the local government. In Evanston, Ill., Northwestern University students ran into their own problems with the local government when officials announced a plan to increase the enforcement of a longstanding law that would allow no more than three unrelated people to live together, according to a Jan. 25 article in The Daily Northwestern.

The ‘brothel law’ would have evicted hundreds of students, but the problem was resolved after Northwestern President Morton Schapiro said city officials were not going to increase the enforcement of the law, according to a Jan. 26 article in The Daily Northwestern.

At SU, students lack knowledge on state housing laws because they are not seeking the available information about off-campus housing regulations, said Darya Rotblat, director of the Office of Off-Campus and Commuter Services.

Only 100 students attended this academic year’s sessions in residence halls about off-campus housing options and regulations, Rotblat said. Three years ago, more than 450 students attended the meetings, which Rotblat hosts each year.

‘To me, that says students feel they know how to go about finding an off-campus apartment and don’t need to be educated,’ Rotblat said. ‘But then they come to us in a panic when there’s a problem and expect it to be fixed.’

The major housing laws that pertain to SU off-campus residents are breaking the lease, roommate regulations, paying rent on time and apartment maintenance, Rotblat said.

Certain landlords have a reputation of not following through on leases and maintenance repairs, but other landlords are great, so it’s important to do research, Rotblat said.

Ryan, the senior on Livingston Avenue, said he and his roommates have experienced a positive relationship with their landlord from University Area Apartments for the past two years. Ryan said their landlord has always been available for maintenance problems. University Area landlords have been renting to SU students since 1976, and the apartments are capable of housing nearly 700 students with 31 buildings, according to its website.

But Ryan and his roommates have gotten in trouble in the past for illegally parking behind their house, he said. Ryan also said they installed locks on their bedroom doors so their personal items are safe during parties, but they are not technically allowed to have them.

Rotblat said she tries to make students most aware of these regulations, which are posted on her office’s website, in brochures, on fliers in residence halls and on the New York state website. But students do not know that, Rotblat said.

Said Rotblat: ‘We try to educate all off-campus residents on those types of laws, but when students rush into signing the lease or don’t read it fully, that is when problems occur.’

hawentz@syr.edu

 

Published on February 1, 2011 at 12:00 pm