Broken appliances, questionable fees and unanswered phone calls by landlords are just a few complaints some renters may have.
But after the ASUO conducted a renter’s rights survey last year, the biggest problem seemed to be that renters didn’t know what rights they had, according to ASUO Community Outreach Director Christa Shively. This term, the ASUO will work on a renter’s rights campaign that will aim to produce a housing code by next year and educate students about their rights as renters.
ASUO Outreach Director Gabe Sitowski said the campaign is important because many student renters are also first-time renters.”Because they don’t know their rights, it’s easier to take advantage of them,” he said.
Although many of the campaign’s plans are tentative, Shively said the ASUO has solid objectives for the future.
“The campaign for renter’s rights may not be very visible on campus,” she said. “But we have really strong long-term goals.”
The winter term campaign will focus its efforts on informing students about renter’s rights through a Web site, which will include links to associated sites such as Legal Services and those of city councilors. Students can ask questions via e-mail. Last year the ASUO considered offering a phone hotline for students who needed guidance about renter’s rights, but a Web site seemed more feasible and helpful, Shively said.
ASUO President Jay Breslow said that because there is no housing code in Eugene, many students live in structures that haven’t been maintained, and landlords don’t always respond to problems.
“Students move into places that are less than quality,” he said. “And right now there’s no way to hold landlords accountable.”
Although the state has its own housing code, communities are responsible for making their own codes based on their specific needs.
The ASUO plans to work with Legal Services and possibly the Office of Student Advocacy to write a code that is more detailed about renting standards, codes for responsiveness, and landlord and tenant responsibilities. The Outreach Team also plans to look at housing codes for other cities with demographics similar to Eugene’s.
Shively said the idea for a housing code stemmed from a conversation with City Councilor Bonny Bettman, who mentioned that the quality of housing often goes down in neighborhoods where students live.
Shively said this stirred the issue of renters’ duties versus landlord obligations.
“I consider the overall appearance of a house to be the responsibility of the landlords,” she said. “I don’t know the legal stance behind that … but we should maybe look into businesses that don’t take care of their property as they should.”
Bettman couldn’t be reached for comment.
Shively added that the plan for a housing code is significant because it will start a discussion about what the standards should be and give students the opportunity to share their experiences.
“This will bring out stories that show why this is important, and why we need to really define what the problems are,” she said.