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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 1978)
Housing office warns ‘consumer beware By RICHARD SEVEN Of the Emerald With students paying often ex orbitant prices for apartments, quads and houses, the Off Campus Housing office is issuing the warning of “consumer be ware.” “Almost all two-bedroom apartments now cost about $200 a month,” says Walter Pavlich of Off Campus Housing. "It’s very important that student renters know what they are paying for and are informed of their rights and ob ligations.” Possibly the most important and often misunderstood aspect of renting, according to Pavlich, is the difference between a term or “lease” agreement and a month by-month agreement. When a tenant signs a lease ag reement for nine months the land lord of the living facility cannot raise the rent until the nine months lease is expired. Although it is il legal, some landlords may at tempt a premature rent hike, and some unknowing tenants comply. A disadvantage of the lease ag* iment, however, is a tenant is rj Drawing by Jim Payne 1978 CULTURAL FORUM POSITIONS Applications now being accepted for die areas of: 1 ►VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS « ►HERITAGE MUSIC* (Folk, blues & jazz) Interested applicants should obtain application forms from Suite 2 erf the EMU. Application deadline is 5 p.m. Friday, January 13. Non-salaried positions. obligated to pay the rental charge for the entire lease period, unless he or she can sell the contract. Tenants renting on a month by-month basis are given more flexibility in the period of time he or she must stay at the residence. However, the landlord is also able to raise the rent at any time with only a 30-day notice. Pavlich also emphasizes that all agreements, promises and rules should be written down. “Be sure to read your rent con tract carefully,” Pavlich says. “Tenants should be aware of the seriousness of rental agreements — they are binding contracts. Often students sign something and are later surprised.” Pavlich suggests students rent ing off-campus housing take ad vantage of his office’s free ser vices. The housing office will try to arbitrate between landlords and tenants, if requested. A network between legal services and the housing office has been set up re cently, according to Pavlich. Off-campus housing also pro vides a booklet called Deposit In ventory, checklist of items fur nished in the residence that tenant and landlord should review before signing the rent contract. Pavlich also says tenants should be aware landlords cannot legally enter the renter’s apart ment or house except in case of emergency, or if the tenant is pre sented with a 24-hour notice. According to Pavlich, landlords often furnish one-word descrip tions of all furnishings, such as “good.’’ This could cause some headaches if the landlord decides the furnishings are no longer “good” after the contract has run out. By using the checklist with the landlord, the tenant can be sure of complete descriptions and thus greater protection. Renters should know the rights they have under the lease and month-by-month rental agree ments and review what is entailed in the contract, including the landlord's commitments. For help or dairification on op portunities and rights, contact Off Campus Housing at Suite 3 of the EMU, 686-3731. Prof says $ surplus root of inflation woes Inflation might be blamed on many factors, but its main cause is too much money, a University economics professor told the Rubicon Society Thursday. At the noon meeting, Barry Siegal outlined some causes and effects of inflation in the United States, but he admitted he had no quick solutions to the problem. “Inflation results from a rapid growth in the money supply,” Siegal explained. "It’s a monetary phenomenon.” He said the money supply has been increasing at a 10 per cent annual rate, while the gross national product (GNP) in creases about four per cent; the six percent difference is the infla tion rate, he said. One reason for such a large supply of money has to do with the DUFFY’S Friday at 4:00 Pitcher Sale with Scandal (no cover) 13th & Alder Friday & Saturday night & Scandal 9-2 ($1.50) Fir$t 100 cover charges receive a free Scandal record! conflicting duties of the Federal Reserve Board, Siegal said. The board’s job is to supply money to banks and control interest rates and often, in trying to lower in terest rates, it makes more money avaiable. Another reason the money supply has grown so fast, is due to the efforts of the U.S. Treasury to finance the national debt, Siegal said. Last year’s deficit amounted to about $50 billion and in order to offset some of this debt, the gov ernment sells bonds to the Fed eral Resen/e Board. Siegal said there is a lot of pres sure on the Federal Reserve Board to keep interest rates down. “It (inflation) is a sodat-political problem,” he said. Inflation has contributed in some ways to the unemployment rate, Siegal maintained. He exp lained there is a large group of "paid unemployed” who receive higher welfare and unemployment benefits. “We’ve made it too ex pensive for people to choose emp loyment,” he said. Hooded crushed corduroy fleece lined jackets $38.88 reg. $50.00 esquika -
