Movins Guide
Law
Continued from Page 2C
make some effort to clean. Otherwise
the landlord1 may bill you for clean
ing and repairs in excess of the de
posit.
Aside from taking pictures that
document your good-faith efforts,
you should arrange a joint walk
through.
3) Joint walk-through. Bring two
copies of an inventory sheet. You can
get a sample inventory sheet from the
Rental Information Office, located in
EMU Suite 5.
One purpose of the walk-through is
to get the landlord to confirm that spe
cific things and areas are being re
turned in an acceptable condition. An
other purpose is to have the landlord
commit to an upper limit on the
chaiges that he or she will deduct from
your deposit.
Ideally, you’ll reach an agreement
with your landlord that any remaining
work should not cost more than a cer
tain number of dollars. You’ll write
that down on the inventory report, and
you will both sign it. You will then
keep one copy for yourself.
If you reach that sort of agreement,
the landlord may be able to cut you a
deposit refund check on the spot.
4) Deposit refunds and accounting
statements. The landlord is required to
give you your deposit or a written ac
counting for however much of it the
landlord keeps within 31 days of the
termination of your tenancy.
You should keep a copy of any re
fund check, any accounting state
ment and the envelope they were de
livered in. The postmark is often
crucial evidence as to whether the
landlord complied with the statutory
timeline.
If the landlord doesn’t return the de
posit or the accounting on time, he or
she owes the tenant twice the amount
withheld.
If you think your landlord has with
held too much of your deposit or as
serted unreasonable charges against
you, make an appointment at the Legal
Services office.
5) Breaking a lease. If you have to
move out at the beginning of summer
but your lease runs until the end of
summer, make an appointment with
Legal Services. We may be able to help
you.
(HINT: If you think you’re going to
have to break a lease, it’s a good idea to
start advertising for potential replace
ments right now. It doesn’t cost much,
and it might save you three months’
rent.)
Starting a tenancy
If you’re signing a new rental
agreement for the summer, read this
now. If you’ll be signing a new agree
ment next fall, cut this out and read
it then.
1) Choosing a place. Ask around.
Before signing an agreement, try to talk
with the previous tenant or the neigh
bors and see what they think of the
landlord. Find out about any prob
lems, including bugs, mice, abuse of
privacy, etc. If you have questions
about a particular landlord, feel free to
call Legal Services and find out what
kind of history the landlord has with
us.
I discourage renting a room in a
landlord’s house or next door to a
landlord. The rent is often less, but
there can be a lack of privacy. Similar
ly, be cautious about living above, be
low or next to property managers.
2) Application/screening fee. If the
landlord takes an application/screen
ing fee or a holding deposit, keep any
and all written explanations provided
concerning those payments. If the
landlord takes such payments and
does not provide adequate disclosures,
he or she owes you the payment plus
$100.
3) Rental agreement. Read before
signing it. Be clear whether it is a
month-to-month or a term lease. Un
derstand that if you commit to a term
lease, you’re potentially liable for
many months’ rent if you have to break
the lease. Understand that if you ac
cept a month-to-month lease, the land
lord can kick you out for almost any
reason at all by providing 30 days no
tice.
4) Get it in writing. Any assurances
that your landlord makes that are im
portant to you should be in writing.
Have it added to the rental agreements
and initialed by all parties. If the land
lord is taking any deposits or fees, ask
what they’re for. If the written agree
ment doesn’t say what they’re for, add
an explanation and have it initialed by
all parties.
5) Roommates. Review the room
mate survival manual down at the
Rental Information Office (or look at its
homepage: oregon.uoregon.edu/~rio/).
Understand that co-tenants are joint
ly liable for things. That means that if
one of you Hakes out, skips town or
bums the house down, the landlord
can sue whichever tenant has the most
money for what his or her co-tenant
did.
Understand also that co-tenants are
“co-adventurers.” That means that if
you vacate during the middle of a lease
term, you still owe your co-tenants
your share of the rent until they re
place you.
And they don’t have to replace you
at all if they can’t find a new person
with whom they get along.
6) Move-in inventory. Do one! Do a
move-in inventory to protect yourself
from being charged at the end of the
tenancy for problems that existed
when you moved in.
One common complaint I hear is,
“My landlord’s charging me $300 for
cleaning. But I cleaned before I moved
out, and the place was a pigsty when I
moved in.”
Technically, you’re only liable if
you don’t return the premises as
clean as you received them. The
problem arises when there is docu
mentation of the premises condition
at the end of the tenancy, but not at
the beginning.
Do an inventory at commencement.
Be thorough. Be picky. Get the land
lord to sign it. KEEP A COPY!
If anything is dirty enough that it
will show up in a picture, take a pic
ture. If you have to spend time clean
ing, keep a log of your time and re
ceipts for any cleaning expenses.
John Davidson is a former attorney in
the ASUO Legal Services office. Legal
Services provides advice and represen
tation to University students on legal is
sues, including landlord/tenant dis
putes.
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24 hour information line
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RECYCLE GUIDE
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Starting to clean out early?
PLAN AHEAD !!
You can help us in the efficient collection
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!RESIDENCE HALLS: Recycling collection is available
I throughout University Housing for the following
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* Paper
* Cardboard
* NeWspape;
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jOFFICE CLEAN OUTS: Please
ft to assist you in your office cleanouts.
| RECYCLING in the COMMUNITY : For recycling
tlocations in the community contact BRING Recycling @
|746-3023.
I FAMILY HOUSING: Recycling sites are located at all
fdumpster locations. Take all reusable items & donations
jto your nearest non-profit organization. For motor oil,
I'batteries, and other hazardous materials, contact Lane Co
* Waste Management @ 687-4119 for more information.
1 For more information contact Campus Recycling
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