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April 12, 1CC3
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Editor's note: This is the second article
in a three-part series on apartment rentals.
By Lori Sullivan
If Lincoln landlords could create
their version of the model student tenant,
the plans might look something like this:
an upperclassman, who pays rent
promptly, does not damage property,
throw loud parties or abuse any lease
provision. The ideal renter also would
originally be from a small town.
In the absence of perfect renters,
landlords and one manager rate the real
life versions as anything from good to
poor.
Dallas Whitford says he has been in
the rental business for more than 12 years
and has not had any major problems with
students. Recently though, he said he had
one group of students that he would not
consider renting to again because "they
were exceptionally dirty."
"Students leave a mess behind
sometimes, but most leave the place clean
and pay their rent on time," Whitford
said.
In general, students do not cause any
more problems than his other renters, he
said. Problems do arise when students
want improvements made after they move
in that are not what he considers changes
contributing to health and safety.
Getting maintenance work done is a
problem for Whitford sometimes, but
lie usually tries to talk to his tenants about
it, he said.
Giving proper notice when moving is
important and may be a factor in returning
a damage deposit, Whitford said.
"Some people think any 30 days are
proper notice, but it has to be the first to
the first," he said, referring to the
beginning of a month.
Whitford prefers to rent to students
from a" rural background because they tend
to be more mature, he said.
. "I'm not making a blanket
condemnation of kids from Omaha or
Chicago, but kids coming from rural areas
are just more responsible. I would rather
take a group from Boondocks, Ne. than a
similar age group from Chicago," Whitford
said.
"If they can't pay rent on time, the
kids from rural areas will take care of it. ,
Somebody from Chicago would probably
tell me to go to hell," he said.
On the subject of not paying rent,
Whitford said many students mav not
know it, but if they get a bad credit record
as a result of not paying rent, it will follow
them around for a long time.
"If you're a tenant and you don't pay
me'your rent and we go to court, the
judgment against you will go on your
credit record," he said.
Recently, he heard of a couple who had
such a credit record and who were denied
a loan to purchase a house.
However, even winning a judgment
does not mean a landlord will get rent that
has not been paid by a student. In many
cases, there is no way to recover because
students don't make enough wages to
garnish them, he said.
The biggest friction point with students
is damage deposits, he said. Damages and
unpaid bills are deducted from that
amount, but most of the time he is able to
return students' deposits in full, he said.
The enforcement of city ordinance
housing codes drives the price of rent
up, Whitford said. The codes get into
"cosmetic aspects" of property that are
not important to health and safety, he
said. ' -
"The housing code is not good if the
goal is to have adequate housing for the
lowest cost," he said.
"They (housing code authorities) come
out and say, 'You've got a crack here and
need some paint there,' and by the time
they're finished, you have to raise the rent
to more than the tenants can afford,"
Whitford said.
If anything does concern health and
safety, he does get it fixed, he said.
Joseph Kean, a property manager, said
he has very few problems with student
tenants, fewer than with other tenants of
the same age group who are not students.
The common problems that do come up
are usually when there are three
roommates, he said. He does not
recommend having three people living
together because it often deteriorates
into a two-against-one situation, he said.
When that happens, it can lead to breaking
the lease and being responsible for the
rent amount for the remainder of the lease
unless the apartment can be re-rented.
Another difficulty arises when only
some of the people renting an apartment
can make their payments. If it looks like
a good faith effort is being made by a
person who can't pay on time, Kean said
he is willing to allow him to stay and work
something out.
Though several students are in that
situation now, he said, in general, students
are not in the "professional rent
procrastinator" category.
The biggest problem between students
and landlords is lack of communication,
Kean said.
"If they will just come in and talk -especially
in cases or not paying the rent
on time - just not telling us about
problems is the worst possible thing to
do," Kean said.
Lapses in responsibility, courtesy or a
lack of experience are the sources of many
problems for some students, he said.
Caring for property, paying rent and
giving proper notice of moves, showing
courtesy to other tenants concerning noise
levels and gaining experience from living
away from home are all things students
develop as good tenants, he said.
A problem first-time apartment dwellers
experience is not being able to control the
crowd at a party they might give. People
who they do not even know can come and
sometimes leave damages that must be paid
for, he said.
"We don't object to a party, but most
of our problems with students come from
lack of experience on their part. Very few
problems are a result of maliciousness,"
he said.
Students should compensate for their
lack of experience with caution, he said.
"Once you've signed the lease, it's too
late to decide that you don't like the
situation," Kean said. Students should
read the lease, understand it and if they
don't, they should ask questions, he safd.
It is important to understand a lease
because it is legally binding.
All the property he manages for rental
uses a lease that was drawn up according
to the LandlordTenant Act, Kean said.
Landlords who use oral agreements are
"probably the worst ones," he said.
"It's a good idea to have things in
writing - a properly drawn lease is the
best protection for both parties," he said.
Kean said he would advise all students
for their own protection not to change or
add roommates without consulting their
landlord. If a new roommate, who is not
named on the lease, cannot pay rent or
damages, the landlord can only go to the
people who are on the lease to get the
remaining amount, he said.
"In general we find them (students)
a mediocre lot," landlord Roy Rorabaugh
said.
He prefers to rent to students that have
come from small towns because he has
found that students who have been raised
in Lincoln are not satisfactory renters,
he said.
"Kids in town want to get out, to try
their wings and they do that at the
landlord's expense," he said.
Rorabaugh estimates that 50 percent
of tenants raised in Lincoln back out of
rental agreements. They do not honor
contracts because they can always move
home, he said.
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Staff photo by John Zoz
Dirk Steffens of Rapid City rides in the calf roping event at the Silver Stampede
rodeo at the Nebraska Fairgrounds Saturday and Sunday.
rope
By Jim Rasmussen
The Nebraska men's rodeo team turned
in several fine performances while placing
second at the University of Nebraska
Rodeo Association's "Silver Stampede
Rodeo" Saturday and Sunday at the
Nebraska State Fairgrounds.
South Dakota State at Brookings,
the nation's top team, won the men's
title, earning 440 points to easily
outdistance the Huskers.who scored 190.
Dickinson State College at Dickinson,
N.D., finished third with 158 J points.
Dickinson had been ranked second in the
Great Plains Region of the National
Intercollegiate Rodeo Assocation, ahead
of No. 3 Nebraska, before the rodeo.
In the women's competition, Nebraska
finished sixth behind team champion
Black Hills, S.D., State.
More than 200 contestants from more
than 1 5 colleges and universities
participated in the three-day event, which
was indoors at the fairgrounds coliseum.
Two UNL cowboys took first place in
their events. Don Churchill won the calf
second place
roping with a combined time.of 25.2
seconds for two go-rounds, while UNL's
Jeff Oestmann and South Dakota State's
Brian Fulton combined to win the team
roping. Their time was 16.5 seconds for
two go-rounds.
Von Svoboda of Nebraska, the top
collegiate bull rider in the nation, won
the go-round during Sunday's finals with
a score of 75. However, he was beaten in
the average of two go-rounds by Jay
Etzkorn of West Dakota Voc-Tech.
The bull riding proved to be the
toughest event, as some of the nation's
top bulls were on hand to be ridden.
Only three riders in Sunday's finals were
able to stay on their bulls for the required
eight seconds.
Several other contestants placed for
UNL. Paul Cleveland took second place
in the steer wrestling with a combined
time of 10.2 seconds for two go-rounds.
Teammate Dale Mienecke was fourth
with a time of 13 seconds. Doug Young
of South Dakota State won the event
with a combined time of 9.9.
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