Early February is here, and that means that students are running all over Troy trying to sign leases on apartments so they can escape the dorm atmosphere and live on their own. I highly recommend doing so; the associated independence gives you a whole new perspective on college life. Or because you can have more than three people over without the RA coming by, whichever. By now, most will have figured out which apartment has the best common room for beer pong and think they are done, but now there are other things to look for.
I say this all from personal experience. I won’t bore you with the details, but my landlord, RPI Rentals—now Troy Student Housing—has broken every promise it has ever made to us or any of their other renters, and we have wished time and again that we had looked at the lease a little more closely. Their newest game is going around trying to convince renters to commit insurance fraud. It has been a wonderful experience.
At this point in the apartment-finding process, you need to carefully read over the lease and all of the terms in it. A form document is pretty straightforward, but if the landlord created his or her own contract, you should go through it with a fine-toothed comb. Probably the best idea is to assume that your landlord is trying to swindle you in as many ways as possible and make a game of it by trying to find in the lease all the ways he can do so.
First off, make sure that all of the promises your landlord has made while you have been looking at the apartment are reflected in your lease. If he said the kitchen appliances would be replaced, is it in the lease? If he was going to renovate the bathroom and put in a fan, is it listed in there? If the apartment is going to be furnished, does the lease say what furniture will be provided in each room? After checking those, make sure that it says what will happen if those terms are not met.
The next thing you are going to want to check is who is responsible for the various things in the apartment. If something is damaged or stolen, you will want to know who is going to pay to repair or replace it. Otherwise, when you leave your apartment, you could be hit with charges or even lawsuits.
Your lease is the only document you will have to force your landlord to agree to the terms of the rental if you ever have an argument, so anticipate what the problems may be, and make sure the lease can support what you think is happening. The only thing that matters is what is written on the lease. Check it over carefully now so you can enjoy your pong later.
