Our Kids Getting a New Lease on Life

My son just started his sophomore year of college at Oshkosh.  I took a day of vacation to help move him into his dorm suite, which is way bigger and nice than any dorm I ever lived in.

About two weeks into the semester, he called me in the middle of the afternoon.  Unfortunately, I was with clients, so he left me a voicemail.  Even though the school year had barely started, he wanted me to a review a lease for a house for he and seven of his buddies to live in next year.

The lease was pretty typical, and I told him I didn’t have any major concerns about it, which was good because he had already signed it.

So, if you have or are a college kid looking at signing a lease, here are some things to consider:

  • Because college kids are not always the most responsible tenants, many landlords request that tenants have a cosigner, such as a parent, to guarantee the tenant’s performance under the lease.  I’ve talked to many parents over the years who cosigned a lease, thinking it meant they were just ‘vouching’ for their kid.  Cosigning means that if the tenant breaches the lease at all, the landlord cannot only go after the tenant, but also the cosigner.  In other words, if your kid misses a rental payment or trashes the house, you are responsible if they can’t foot the bill.
  • Joint and Several Liability. Every college housing lease contains a joint and several liability clauses.  This means that all tenants and cosigners on a lease are legally responsible for the full amount of monthly rent and any damages, regardless of any agreement between roommates on individual payments.  So, if you’ve cosigned your kid’s lease and even if he makes all his rental payments, if a roommate flunks out and moves home, you can be on the hook for that roommate’s rent, too.
  • Auto-Renewal Clauses. Many yearly leases have an auto-renewal clause in them, meaning that the lease term automatically renews unless the tenant notifies the landlord in writing that they will not be reupping for next year.  Usually, the notice has to be given 60 days before the lease expires.
  • If you breach your lease and are evicted, the lawsuit will remain on Wisconsin’s Consolidated Court Automation Programs (CCAP) website (www.wicourts.gov/casesearch.htm) for 20 years.  So, renting in the future will be more challenging, as landlords search CCAP to look into potential tenants.  You may want to do the same thing to get the skinny on potential roommates!
  • The vast majority of college housing leases preclude pets, but that doesn’t stop a ton of college kids from keeping them anyway.  Invariably, they damage the house and can cost you a security deposit, if not more.
  • Existing Damage. Everyone has a camera on their phone that far eclipses the quality of the most expensive camcorder that existed when I was in college.  When you move in, take a video of the place to document any existing damage and share it with the landlord to prevent you from having to pay for it.
  • Be Wary of Leasing with a Boyfriend/Girlfriend. While I am admittedly an old Catholic, I don’t think living with a boyfriend or girlfriend is a great idea.  However, because many great places get snatched up early, college kids are signing leases almost a year in advance.  College romances have been known to be volatile, and a lot can happen in a year.  More than once, I’ve heard about a kid who rented an apartment with a boyfriend or girlfriend then broke up during the term of the lease or sometimes even before.  Not wanting to live together, the kid moved out and signed a new lease.  However, because they couldn’t get out of the lease or find a subletter, they ended up having to write out two rent checks each month.

Tuition is extremely expensive and seems to be going up each year.  So, college is already an expensive learning experience.  Don’t make a mistake when renting and make it even worse.

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Reg P. Wydeven

Elder Law and Estate Planning Attorney at McCarty Law LLP
Hoping to follow in his father’s footsteps from a young age, Reg’s practice primarily consists of advising individuals on estate planning, estate settlement and elder law matters. As Reg represents clients in matters like guardianship proceedings and long-term care admissions, he feels grateful to be able to offer families thorough legal help in their time of need.
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