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
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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
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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.
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