Continued from Page 1
the costs as an expense of do
ing business.
"What did they do before
credit checks?” Dwyer asked
"it's capital greed is what it
is."
Rental rebuttal
While Dwyer calls it greed.
University-area rental compa
nies claim the fee just covers
their costs
Several managers said the
amount of the application
charge is i lose to the amount
they pay to run the check And
in addition to the expense of
running a credit < hock, these
c ompanies also pay for the la
lair needed to verify referern es
Nevertheless, when reporters
SPRINGFIELD
SMOKE
SHOP
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KNIVES • GIFTS • CANDY
I 1124 Mam Si. SpnngfteW. OR 97477 503-747-8529
ik»vs«»4 v*w4 800 782-9495
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“27 years of
Quality Service ”
GERMAN AUTO SERVICE, INC.
Mercedes • BMW • Volkswagon
Audi • Datsun • Toyota
10% diSCOUnt to U of O students on all repairs.
Otter good through 2*28/91 „„ _
202S Franklin Blvd
342-2912 Eugene. Oregon 97403
TAX WORKSHOP
FOR
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AND FACULTY
Preparation of tax returns for U.S. Income
Taxes-1040 NR
Thursday, February 21, 1991
3:00-5:00 p.m. EMU Gumwood K«m>iii
Resource People Susan Gary Tax Attorney
I nms W uitc. Certified Public Accountant
1040 \K forms and instruction hooks will he presided.
Participants should firing with them their \\ ' tonus. IX-ccmbcr M
patched stubs, receipts and other documents needed to help them
complete their federal tav forms
Sf**v**cd Si the Office «»l Inicffutmul ScfNKts Graduate Schnoi jixl (»TT folrrjti<«
For more information call
WALT DISNEY WORLD
COLLEGE PROGRAM
Walt Disney World Co. representatives
will present an information session on the Walt
Disney World College Program on Thursday,
February 21, 1991, at 6:00 pm at the Union
Attendance at this presentation is required to
interview for the SUMMIT 91 COLLEGE
PROGRAM Interviews are scheduled lot'
Friday, February 22. 1991 at Career Planning
and Placement The following majors are
encouraged to attend Recreation, Business,
Communication and Theatre Drama.
Contact
Phone
Student
Employment
316-32 It
&W5>'
s
World Co.
C Th<* \X 4 If Di%nr> c ••mfMm
An I i|iul < ♦rumifv
F.iri|>fc »yrr
contacted five agencies with
dozens of rentals in the Univer
sity, most were reluctant to of
fer sper ifii information alxmt
the costs or profits associ
ated with application fees
And while a few agency
managers dis< loser! some infor
mation. several others would
not disr uss the amount of ap
plications they regularly pro
i ess. the total amount of money
they lake in from them, or the
expenses of si reening appli
i ants, saying the information
was private or not available
What rental ageni les do ail
mil is that the primary cost of
m reening applicants is obtain
ing reports of the applicants'
i red it history Most i ompanies
subscribe to a credit service
that investigates a person’s
hack ground, giving them such
information as whether a per
son has a record of unpaid
debts, previous evir lions or any
i riminal convir lions
Jennings and Co and Dennett
Management, both vvilti rentals
near the t tniversity. use the ser
vii es of Portland based Kejuifax
or Credit Northwest, a division
ot Kquifax
Clenda Swift. Credit North
west's sales account executive,
said the c osls of her company 's
services vary according to the
property company's "volume
of usage" with high usage
companies paying less than in
frequent users
However Swift did sa\ that
businesses i.iin the system by
paying a one time installation
fee of $85 to $175. and then
pay for eac h report requested
which can cost tad ween $1 50
and $_'<>
Making a profit
|aini Counard. Hrnin'tl Man
agement's general manager, ev
timated K costs the ( otnpaiw
$4(1 a month to rent a t oinputer
terminal to at cess information
from Credit Northwest, and
that the average price they pav
to get a report on one person is
alxnit $4 or Sr>
Sharon Sykes, administrative
assistant lor Dennett Manage
ment. estimated that the tom
pain processes alxnit 'll! appli
cations a month at $20 each
Cross income from licit number
of applit ation fees would
amount to $1,000 a month a
figure well above the average
i osls of running that many
t redit i hecks
Counard admitted Dennett
Management doesn't alwavs
spend all of the money it i ul
lei ts from the fee to run a i redit
check, saying that the agency
does make a profit from the ap
plic ation fees
"We re a business We're in
business to make mimes " she
said, hut added that they don’t
make "gobs of it
While Dennett Management
does make "a small amount ol
profit." Counard said she lie
lieves application fees are in
everybody's lx-st interest, pro
tec ting both the landlord and
the tenant from problems that
could arise if a tenant moved
into ,i place hut i ould not pay
the rent
Jennings and Co also
i harges $20 for eac h person liv
ing in a unit unless the appli
t ants .ire family members Jen
nings and Co. owner, Kent Jen
nings. estimated that in Au
gust. one of its busiest months,
tile i ompany processed about
<>00 applications bringing in
at least $12,000 in application
fees.
Blanton said $12,000 sounds
like a lot of money, but that the
companv makes about six calls
OSPIRG hotline gives
rental laws, information
By Carrie Dennett
Emerald Reporter
Anion# (he population of
renters and property man
agement companies exists
some confusion about the
rights and obligations of
each.
To ease the confusion, the
University chapter of
OSPIRG began a consumer
hotline several years ago to
provide information on
landlord/tenant laws and
other consumer issues.
"For the past three or four
years it has been a regularly
established phone resource
for information alaiut con
sumer issues.” said hotline
co-director Andy Brainard
Before* then, the service op
erated on an on-and-off ha
SIS.
Although the hotline deals
with questions about many
consumer issues, he said ‘id
percent of the tails concern
landlord tenant laws, with
HO percent of those from stu
dents wanting to know what
their rights art"
Tht; most common ques
tions from renters involve
hahitahilits issues such as
adequate heat, water and
suitable upkeep of the units
The second most commonly
asked questions involve se
curity deposits
Hrainard said the hotline
also hears questions about
everything from illegal pets
to evictions l-ivictions ques
tions are very difficult, be
cause they are very complex
and differ radii ally
The hotline receives a fair
amount of calls from land
lords and managers, he said
usually with questions about
their responsibilities and the
responsibilities ol their ten
ants
"We d like to see more
landlords call and get in
volved It's an education
thing.” lie said, adding that
landlords do not want to
break the law . hut that mam
of them are simply unaware
of applicable laws
The hotline is stalled In
for each applicant, of whit h t>5
pert cut are long distance
"And we're not too far away
from that ($12.01)0) number if
v ou a(1 d in t he Kqu ifax
charge.' he said
Kan opposed
Overall. HI.niton said those
who work in the rental busi
ness [relieve applications are a
fair and net.ess.ir>' part of the
rental prot ess
I believe d's a very fair
practice ." said Pal Oran, man
ager of the Broad wa\ Apart
ments. which has many student
tenants Unlike other rental
companies. Oran has renters
send their Si!5 applic ation fee
direr tly to the1 credit ohec k ser
vue. eliminating suspic ton that
Oran makes money from them
Oran said she doesn't under
stand why other companies
don't do the- same thing she
does
However. Blanton and
Uounard said they have heard
few complaints about the way
they or others do business
"I've heard of (application
fees! as high as $"i(). and I don't
think people complain about
six to eight volunteers, who
attend a class that gives an
overview of landlord'tenant
law ilrainard said it is im
possible to teach the volun
teers everything about the
numerous laws, so they are
given an overview and in
structed how to locate appli
cable laws in the resource
manuals.
For years the OSPIRG
hotline was the only service
of its kind, but now ques
tions on consumer issues
can also be answered by the
Department of lustice in Sa
lem.
However. Brainard said
there are drawbacks to the
Salem service Part of the
advantage OSPIRG has is
convenience. Calling Salem
is long distance, and the of
fice is open from 0 a m to 1
p.m. only.
OSPIRG, on the other
hand, requires only a local
call, and is open from It a m.
to ,r> p.m Students can also
drop by the office in KMl'
Suite 1. or leave a message
and have their t all returned
Another plus is that
OSPIRG will give the title
and the ordinance number of
the statute that applies to the
caller's question, while the
Department of lustice will
only give the title.
Brainard said there is one
limitation t o w hat the
hotline volunteers will tell a
caller
"We don't give advice on
what to do.” he said '‘(But)
we will tell them what the
next step is "
"We don't want to put
ourselves in the position of
someone coming back and
saving we gave them bad ad
vice.’’ he said
Brainard said students
need to make better use of
the information that is out
there in order to protect
themselves
Thi' hotline number is
l-Jti-HKLP OSPIRG also
publishes a renter's hand
book. which costs S t for stu
dents S-4 tor non-students
it,'' (lounard said
Hl.mton echoed Counard’s
sentiments, saving that resist
a nee to the fees has been "min
imal at !>esl " Besides, he add
ed, if renters find a company’s
fees too high, they don’t have
to rent with them.
But Andy Brainard. co-direc
tor of an Oregon Student I’uhlu
Interest Research Group's con
sumer hotline, which answers
questions about landlord-tenant
relations, said during the last
six months the hotline has re
ceived three or four times as
many inquiries as usual about
the legality of application fees
Brainard encourages students
to call Consumer Credit Report
ing if they are rejected for an
apartment based on their credit
or if they .ire curious about who
has inquired about their credit
This is also a way to verify that
one’s application fee money is
being spent for its intended
purpose, he said
For a fee. Consumer Credit
Reporting gives people infor
mation on who has requested
i redit information about them
and what results a credit ser
ve e gave to those requesting it
Monday. February 18. 1M91