Housing counseling available to students

By Kayla Regan

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

When Amy Virginia Buchanan first looked at the house she and her roommates now live in everything seemed fine. After moving in, though, she was surprised to find a broken air conditioner, mold problems, windows that wouldn’t open and doors that wouldn’t shut.

“It was something, as tenants, we were really concerned about,” Buchanan said. “We need to know we have security in the house.”

Buchanan, Stillwater, Okla., senior, and any students struggling with their current living situations may find help from Housing and Credit Counseling Services.

Robert Mackey, HCCS executive director, said HCCS was the only organization in Kansas that served to resolve individual tenant and landlord issues. Mackey said HCCS planned to help more students who lived on budgets to learn their rights and understand the basics of renting.

Seven Deadly Sins of Renting

1. Not fully reading the lease before signing it

2. Not being prepared for a reference check

3. Not researching the cost of utilities and how long it will take to turn them on

4. Not making sure you have what you need to move in

5. Going without renters insurance

6. Living with friends because it’s easy, not because it meets your needs

7. Not seeing the apartment before you move in.

— Robert Baker, education director of Housing and Credit Counseling

“We’re not attorneys and we don’t serve as mediators, but we do empower them with knowledge,” Mackey said. “Most of the time, the issue is resolved once the individual has the information they need to make right decision and to communicate what they need with that knowledge.”

Robert Baker, HCCS education director, estimated that HCCS had held between 10 and 12 presentations on campus so far this semester. PRE 101, a course designed to help new students transition to university life, invited HCCS to give a credit card responsibility class.

This April, Baker said, the organization would give a presentation to graduate students about tenant and landlord rights and responsibilities.

Baker said new classes were being offered all the time to meet the increasing demand.

“People are starved for information because what seemed like easy choices for finances are disappearing,” Baker said. “People are much more interested in counseling and returning for more counseling, because it’s an option that seems to be available.”

Baker said the University asked HCCS to develop a financial literacy plan for all students by next year.

When students go to HCCS for individual financial counseling, Mackey said, counselors would work with them to create a budget. In today’s economy, Mackey said, providing financial guidance to young people is a crucial service HCCS offers.

“As the economy continues to spiral into a downturn, people either lost their job or got hours cut back and are not able to meet mortgage,” Mackey said. “It’s really the same for renters. Students can just as easily lose their jobs or don’t have money out of school.”

Mackey said HCCS helped 2,410 individuals with credit and housing problems last year, a 10 percent increase from 2007. Mackey said he expected HCCS would serve a greater number of people, including more students, in 2009.

The next time she rents, Buchanan said, she would be interested in consulting HCCS before making the move.

A few examples of Housing and Credit Counseling Services Educational Programs:

FICO Factor: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Credit Building

Home Maintenance

Less Payment, More Payback: Maximizing Student Loan Repayment

Money Smart

The College Challenge: Higher Education with Lower Debt

Student Survival Guide to Credit

Seven Sins for the First Time Renter

Source: www.hcci-ks.org/home.htm

“We had the feeling the landlord would take advantage of us at the beginning of the lease,” Buchanan said. “They didn’t clean or do any repairs and we had to put together a massive list of repairs that needed to be done.”

Baker said that during the past 18 months, 28 percent of all concerns brought to HCCS were maintenance-related.

Baker said situations like Buchanan’s showed why it was critical to read a lease to understand what landlords expect from their tenants and to see whether or not the rental is worth its price.

“If you can’t read the lease right away, ask the landlord if you can take it and look it over,” Baker said. “Going without renters insurance is also a bad idea. It’s fairly inexpensive and if anything unexpected happens, you’re covered.”

Free individual counseling is available by phone and online at www.hcci-ks.org. Students can also pay a one-time $35 fee for one-on one counseling.

To schedule an appointment call 785-749-4224.

— — Edited by Chris Hickerson

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