Off-campus forum held

For those students who are making the transition from on-campus dormitories to off-campus apartments, the Duke Community Housing office sponsored Sunday an information session that broached the thorny issue of what happens when you leave the Gothic Wonderland for the residential "wonderland" of greater Durham.

Entitled, "Where, When and How to Find Rental Housing, Your Rights as a Tenant and Your Responsibilities as a Tenant," the panel included Nick Tennyson, former Durham mayor; Cyndi Haden, attorney for Legal Aid of North Carolina; and Linda Moiseenko, program coordinator for Duke Community Housing; broached off-campus housing topics, including securing a rental, dealing with lease agreements and making sure that one's fire alarms' batteries are actually working.

Five graduate students attended and asked questions about how to deal with uncooperative landloards as well as the rental process in general.

During his presentation on tenant responsibilities, Tennyson voiced some community members' concerns that some students do not understand the difference between living on and living off campus, and that some neighbors feel threatened by the way some tenants treat the properties.

"There's no crying in this deal," Tennyson said of the recent evictions. "If you set out to do something illegal, if there are too many people in the house or there's parking violations, then there should be no crying."

However, Moiseenko added that the panel's aim was not to "finger-wag."

"This [session] is meant to create information and create a dialogue about off-campus housing," she said, adding that the information session was timely because a group of students was recently evicted and another group of medical students was recently issued noise violations.

Adding to this, there was a recent fire at the University Apartments. Several graduate students in attendance said they are residents of the complex and talked about coping with the after-effects of the fire, voicing concerns that there were no outdoor lights at the complex and that they felt their security was threatened.

Discussion soon shifted to lease agreements with Haden speaking on tenants' rights.

"It's very important to get a written lease so that your rights and responsibilities are spelled out on paper," she said. Students expressed concern that they are living in substandard housing with limited hot water or bad wiring.

A call to the Durham inspector's office should be the first step in resolving a rental dispute, Haden said, but if no agreement between the landlord and leasee can be reached, then the dispute might have to be pushed into small claims court.

"The Durham housing code is not a requirement to live in a palace, however," warned Tennyson. "From my last reading of it, it didn't even require a heating device for a property."

A "Rental Guide for Durham, N.C." pamphlet was also handed out, which elaborated further about the Durham housing code and offered tips for prospective renters. The session wrapped up addressing some of these issues, including how to go about sub-letting agreements, and finding the right price and location for one's apartment. The Durham Police's online "crime mapper" was mentioned as a good way to check the relative crime of an area.

Moiseenko added that all of the information at the session is available at the Duke Community Housing office and, by appointment, she can help all University students through the off-campus rental search process.