As we enter the new semester, much of VCU’s student body returns not living in a dorm but in apartments leased by scores of companies and private individuals throughout the city. Most students have already signed leases by this time. However, many landlords and the properties they rent out might not be all they seem to be, and those students might have little knowledge on how to fight back when an agreement turns sour. VCU should engage in greater efforts to connect students with trustworthy renters and make information on tenant rights more available, as well as support those students in cases where serious issues arise.
Many students at VCU end up living off campus, either because they could not get into student housing or because they find dorm life too confining. Roughly three-fourths of VCU’s student body lives off campus, according to U.S. News and World Report, especially in the immediate area around the Monroe Park Campus. Many students will be finding themselves renting for the first time, and with such a critical and financially important decision being placed in the hands of students, any errors in leasing agreements or sudden issues with their residences could make their time at VCU more stressful than it should be. VCU should initiate an effort to tally landlords who operate properties that have been trouble for students in the past. A Web site where students could rate renters or document particular issues would be a boon to others looking to live off campus. With a few clicks, someone could discover a landlord might not fix their appliances in a timely manner or a property might not have well-maintained utilities. Rather than having to entangle themselves in a court of law after they have signed a lease, a student could simply keep away from the bad renters with such a service.
Even a student who attends the Off-Campus Housing Fair and reads the student manual thoroughly might not understand all of their options when it comes to living off campus. The university should operate a program to provide legal guidance and support exclusively for students. VCU is what brings so much business to the many renters in the area, and the knowledge that any wrongdoing could mean an encounter with your local billion-dollar institution might make slumlords think twice before they do anything outside the law to a VCU attendee.
VCU certainly thinks students should be held responsible for what they do off campus. The student-conduct policy applies to students residing in large rental areas such as the Fan. Shouldn’t the school, likewise, be concerned with what businesses and individuals do to its students in the area? If VCU wishes to extend an umbrella of responsibility over students and make them accountable for their behavior in the university area and the city, it should be more open in providing services and information to reduce the vulnerability of students as well. The university may not have the capability to house all of its students, but it should do its best to ensure that those students who live off campus in the city of Richmond are treated fairly.
On the Web
The Virginia Residential Landlord Tenant Act
http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/consumers/f-landlord.html