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First of all, my apologies for the novel that is to follow. Second, I'm currently in Pennsylvania if that helps.
In March of this year I signed a lease for a one person rental unit. I'm a college student and planned to use financial aid to pay for my rent (rent is paid by the semester). When I toured the unit and signed my lease, I was told there was a 5% late fee for using aid, which I knew and is in the lease. Today, I called to make sure a post-dated check would be sufficient or if anything else was needed. The guy I talked to informed me I needed a down payment of at least 1,000$, a cosigner, and proof of aid. I move in in thirteen days and do not have 1,000$ to spend. When i informed the guy of this, he said to ask my parents, who also cannot whip out 1,000$ or this. He replied that if I can't get a credit card to pay it, then I have no place to live. I then spoke with the general manager of the properties and she said I did have to pay at least 25%, but she was unsure because I was never given the addendum stating that. When I said that I believed all these changes could violate the terms of my lease, she said district justices won't enforce that because it's a 'college apartment and they're different'. So, my questions are
- how can they ask for 25% when I was never told or signed anything?
- if I needed a cosigner, why would they rent to me and allow me to sign the lease?
- lastly, if worse comes to worse, is it true that college apartments are held to different standards than traditional ones?
1. - how can they ask for 25% when I was never told or signed anything?
2. - if I needed a cosigner, why would they rent to me and allow me to sign the lease?
3. - lastly, if worse comes to worse, is it true that college apartments are held to different standards than traditional ones?
1. They can't. The lease has already been executed (I assume you have a copy of it?)
2. They wouldn't (correction, a competent landlord wouldn't!). If they wanted a cosigner they should have sorted that out before the lease was signed.
3. No. State landlord tenant laws prevail (they're linked in the first "sticky" on this forum).
I'll leave it to others to chime in but these people sound as if they've not a clue and, as far as I'm concerned, once the lease is executed that's the end of it and they can't now reinvent the wheel.
PS: As far as that person telling you that if you can't pay the $1K you have nowhere to live, that's nonsense once the lease has been signed.
A residential lease is a lease regardless if you're a college student or a stay at home mom. There is no difference. I don't understand where the 25% comes in. Usually you pay a deposit and a first month ( and some cases last month) and then pay every month after that till you decide to leave. As they obviously know student aid pays differently they should allow for that. And why the 5% more? It's still money and if they pay for the whole semester it's pretty much paid in advance. So why ***** about it? It's pretty much paid in advance.
If you had to pay the 1k would they refund it when FA comes through! Otherwise they get a extra 1k.
You have a signed lease and acceptance of payment with financial aid. They can't make you now add on a cosigner. Its a executed lease. They are as bound to it as you are.
Awesome. Thank you both so much for the speedy replies. STT Resident, I do have my lease and read it to the GM earlier. Who noted that I should have been told about the 25%. Also, thanks for the info about the sticky! I was a little frantic when I posted and probably should have looked better.
Electrician4you, the 1,000$ would have apparently come out of what I owed for the semester but it all seems a little shady considering they wanted a post- dated check for the full amount. Also, the 5% was supposed to be because FA is not released until three weeks after move in. I know that seems weird, but I considered it a necessary evil at the time (was scrambling to sign somewhere).
This place owns upwards of 20 buildings all with at least 12 units on each. It's beginning to sound like a money pit to me.
Read those state laws carefully and I'd suggest you also take a bunch of dated photographs of the unit now (ditto when you move out) as I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to stiff you for damages once your lease comes to an end. Whenever you deal with these people, do so in writing or else follow up with an email confirming what was said and what was understood during the conversation. Good for you for being on your toes - and good luck with the place!
Thank you! One more quick question, the GM was supposed to email me yesterday with information I should have received at the time I signed my lease. Move-in instructions, maintenance info, and just general rules of the building. I confirmed with her yesterday after she checked my file and found all the stuff to be missing from it. I told her I do not feel comfortable sending a post dated check until I have all of this information. The post dated check is due on August 16th, even though they wouldn't cash it until mid-September. Could they find me in default if I do not send the check?
I just don't feel comfortable giving them access to money without having all of the information. Also, she was supposed to send the addendum that I agreed to sign stating I was using my financial aid. Without the addendum, it seems they wouldn't have proof that I was using aid and could cash the check at their leisure. For clarification, my aid is released to me and deposited into my back account where I can then pay my rent.
If the agreement to get the post-dated cheque to them is addressed in the lease that you signed then send it. If it's only addressed in these other documents which weren't part of your lease then you can hold off. The ONLY terms you're liable to uphold at this point are those contained in the executed lease.
Carefully go through whatever paperwork they're sending you before signing anything. You need to keep it very clear and in writing (and particularly if you disagree with anything in them) that these were NOT part of your original lease. Remember that no terms of the original lease can be altered in any way without the consent of BOTH parties. Good luck!
That's pretty good news because no where in my lease does it say a post-dated check was needed. I'm still waiting for the other documents and sent an email about an hour ago requesting everything. I'm just happy that the GM acknowledges that it was their screw up and is willing to wok with me to fix it. The last thing I want is an eviction on my credit at 22, especially when none of it was my doing.
So I just received the addendum's. Let me just say HA! They're trying to increase my rent by 1K then they threatened to terminate my lease. Mind you, move in is in ten days. I can't find another place to live. They're justification is that it is an emergency payment program so that means I have to pay a third of my rent as a fee, NONE of which is in my original lease. Even though they screwed up, they don't seem to be taking responsibility for it anymore.
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