Imagine living in an apartment for weeks with stinking, sopping-wet carpet caused by a sewer backup. You complain to the apartment’s management, and a maintenance man arrives days later to clean up with just a house fan and a can of Lysol.

Delia Kimbrell, Wichita junior, faced this situation last year while living in North Wind Apartments located on Second and Michigan streets. Unsatisfied with the apartment’s maintenance job, she requested for a professional to clean her carpet. The apartment complex sent her the bill.

“My roommate and I were just sophomores, and this was the first time we’d lived on our own like that. We didn’t know what to do,” she said.

Kimbrell did not think she should be the one to pay the bill. After seeking advice from both KU Legal Services for Students and her roommate’s cousin, who was a lawyer, Kimbrell said that she learned that North Winds was not providing the safe, sanitary environment that the Landlord and Tenant Act guaranteed her. Kimbrell said that she was able to get North Winds to admit its fault and pay the bill, but she did not receive all of her deposit money back upon moving out. Kimbrell said she left the apartment cleaner than when she first moved in.

“We left it alone. Normally, I’m not a person to give up, but I was exhausted. It was a never-ending nightmare with these people,” Kimbrell said.

Jo Hardesty, director of Legal Services for Students, said that landlord-tenant complaints constituted about 15 to 20 percent of its business. Among the most common problems students have are not receiving security deposit refunds, maintenance issues and breaking leases, Hardesty said.

Diana Garcia, Lewisville, Texas, junior, always asks her mother, a commercial realtor, to look for restrictions or weird charges in her leases before she signs them. By closely reading her lease, Garcia said that she and her roommate found a questionable “environmental fee” in one lease for lawn maintenance and ambiguous phrasing about who was responsible for damages to the walls in the house.

Hardesty knows students often want to sign a lease on the spot because they are excited or the landlord is making a hard sell, she said, but she recommends that all students carefully read their leases before signing.

“I know it’s been said before, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry,” she said.

Students can make appointments in with Legal Services for Students to discuss personal tenant-landlord problems. Because Legal Services for Students is funded by a portion of the required campus fees, all students are entitled to free services.

Before you sign your lease

See the actual residence, not just the model housing. You have a right to see the condition of the residence. If the residence is currently occupied, the landlord only needs to notify the current tenants before being able to show it to you.

Make sure application fees are refundable if you don’t end up signing a lease with the place in question. If you do sign the lease, see that the application fee applies to the first month’s rent.

Before signing a lease, take a copy of it, and ask for the “Rules and Regulations,” usually a 10-page document in addition to the lease. Often when you sign a lease, you are agreeing to these rules and regulations, but the document is not always included.

Look for an automatic renewal clause in the lease. If there is one, you must let your landlord know by the date specified in the lease, or the lease will be automatically renewed for the following year.

Check the sublease policy. Many leases will not allow you to sublease your residence without the landlord’s permission. Keep in mind that when someone subleases from you, you’re responsible for the person living there unless that person is put onto a new lease.

Choose your roommates wisely and discuss noise, guests and food issues before moving in together. Most contracts are joint leases, meaning you are responsible for your roommates if they don’t pay rent. Some landlords offer separate leases, such as Jefferson Commons, but be aware that the landlord can replace tenants at their choosing.

Really do the check-in routine. Photograph or videotape any damages in the residence prior to moving in. By documenting these damages, you can prevent being charged for those damages when you move out.

Remember: Always ask to negotiate the details of a lease, regardless if you’re working with mom-and-pop landlords or a complex’s management.

Source: Jo Hardesty,

Director of KU Legal Services for Students