Finding a place to live in the Downtown area is only half the battle for some Binghamton University students.
When Jayson Francisco moved into his house on Exchange Street, he was surprised to find a three-feet-by-five-inches metal strip from the ceiling lying in the middle of his room.
‘It had already fallen when I got there,’ said Francisco, a senior double-majoring in actuarial science and economics. Francisco has contacted his landlord on several occasions regarding the fallen metal but the beam has yet to be put back into place.
According to Francisco, the three-story house he shares with 13 housemates is old and has several areas needing maintenance.
‘One of my roommates’ ceiling panels had a leaking plate above it. It was dripping wet when we got here. The ceiling panels had withered away and there was a soggy mess in his room,’ Francisco said.
The landlord finally replaced the leaking panels after two weeks, leading to Francisco feeling that he and his housemates are not the landlord’s top priority.
Living on her own proved challenging for Courtney Stradford last spring when her upstairs neighbor’s bathroom flooded and leaked into the shower of her apartment on Oak Street.
‘The ceiling collapsed right over the shower,’ said Stradford, a senior majoring in integrative neuroscience. ‘There were feces in my [bathroom].’
Stradford’s landlord could not fix the leakage right away because he needed the owner’s permission. According to Stradford, the owner would sometimes not approve of needed repairs or could not be reached for extended periods of time.
‘[One] day we did not have hot water. Two days later we didn’t have any water,’ Stradford said of her former residence.
Although Stradford’s ceiling was eventually fixed, she contemplated alerting housing code authorities of the owners’ building violations.
Landlords in the Binghamton area have their share of worries when it comes to student leases.
‘Ninety-nine percent are good kids,’ said Nick Brewster, who rents an eight-bedroom building on Oak Street. ‘I just wish they knew how to take out the trash.’
Brewster had to call cleaning services for several tenants when they moved out.
Last year, Brewster evicted tenants after they inflicted $20,000 in property damage.
‘[The students] played with BB guns and pellet guns. They shot [at] the walls. Twenty-two windows destroyed. They stiffed me for two months’ rent,’ said Brewster, who has rented to BU students since 2003.
Fed up with the tenant’s behavior, he contacted the parent phone number listed on the lease.
‘The father denied knowing who his son was,’ Brewster said.
Brewster took the students to court and was granted the right to evict them, though he doubts he will see any compensation for rent owed and damages. He is now more selective of who he rents to and requires increased parental involvement.
‘There are some bad apples, but you can’t paint everyone with the same brush,’ said Ellie Farfaglia, president of the Landlord Association of Broome County.
‘I personally know landlords afraid to rent to students because they have been given a bad rap ‘ problems with noise,’ she said. Farfaglia has been renting to students for 25 years and notes that the majority of students she encountered have been ‘responsible, mature and good tenants. They bring stability more than other groups.’
For students in need of help with housing troubles, Off Campus College (OCC) offers students advice on how to deal with landlord issues and how to protect their rights as tenants.
Located in New University Union room 204, OCC reviews leases before students move in. The OCC office has literature on how to get things fixed in their home and damage checklists which are used to document the condition of the rental unit at the beginning of the lease term.
Students can also fill out a renter survey where they review the landlord. The surveys are then compiled into a booklet in the office where students can read others’ experiences with their landlord before signing a lease. The OCC counsel is working on putting the booklet online so it can be easily accessible to students.
OCC Director David Husch notes that out of all the housing issues that students file, many are landlord-related.
‘Lots of times students move into an apartment that is less than move-in-ready,’ Husch said.
Students who have problems with their current living situation can attend the Legal Clinic, where anyone can consult with a lawyer for free. The clinic meets every Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in room B20 of the New Union and every Tuesday from 6 to 7 p.m. in room B08.
Husch said that a difficult issue is students not knowing that they must have their case in court before their landlord can legally evict them.
‘The more information students have about their rights the more we can help them,’ said Husch, who has been at OCC for 14 years.
OCC recommends that all students purchase renters insurance in case of a fire or a flood.
Husch noted cases where worried students needed to replace their books mid-semester after property accidents.
‘It costs less than $10 a month,’ Husch said. ‘Insurance would go a long way.’