Understanding Joint Lease Agreements: A Crucial Guide for Brilliant PU College Students and Parents
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Moving into a new college means moving into a new home away from home. Suddenly, you must live with people you have never met before and share the same space with them. While for some students this is an exciting time and there are no problems whatsoever with new housemates, for others it can be a struggle. In many cases, the problem is not how the student experiences their new home environment, but how the other members of the household are dealing with things. It is for this reason that having a joint lease may come in handy.
When you as a parent plan for your child to move into a new apartment, you probably do not spend too much time thinking about the potential issues that may arise between new housemates. Rental agreements are there to avoid any problems, right? Wrong. Joint leases are some of the most problematic contracts for tenants, and there is a very good reason for that. Parents of new tenants should be aware of what they are signing when they allow their child to move off-campus and into a rental unit. It is true that joint leases are often accompanied by an entire set of rules and regulations for tenants to abide by, but they can also make students’ lives very hard when the situation commands it.
When a joint lease agreement for a unit is entered into, it means that all of its tenants will share the benefits – but also the burdens – of the agreed-upon terms. If even one student in the group falls behind on the rent, for instance, the property owner can ask for retribution from any one of them – including parents who have provided financial support to their child. Each tenant can also be held responsible for causing property damage in the unit, regardless of whether they committed the action or if they did it accidentally. If your new college housemate has gone away on a vacation for a week and the unit has a plumbing issue due to carelessness, they can ask the landlord for repairs and expect that no one else would be responsible for paying for it. This is where the joint lease becomes less convenient for students.
Ideally, it is recommended that students enter into a written contract with each other as to how they should deal with their responsibilities, should something go wrong. These contracts can be made very simply and usually contain the following details:
While students may not enter into a contract with each other before they begin to live together, it is crucial that they communicate their living habits and preferences before moving in together. From staying up late and sleeping in until noon, to becoming nocturnal during exam period and washing laundry at three in the morning, not everyone can live with the same habits as someone else. Not every tenant at a university will think like their roommate or even frequently interact with them.
When it comes to communication, as well, there are many things that students should talk about with each other to ease any oncoming tension or potential problems. Of course, if all tenants agree to it, relaxing charades at 3 AM may seem more important than the following:
Ideally, joint lease agreements should specify that tenants can agree on paying utilities in the same way they pay rent. Perhaps each one can pay for each utility account (water, electricity, gas, garbage) instead of contributing a flat-rate amount. If they want, tenants could also split the costs equally among each other.
If any one of the housemates were to move out of the unit, would they be required to find another tenant to replace them? Would they be charged for the cost of preparing the unit for a new tenant? If the university offers emergency housing for students in case something were to happen to their home, would joint lease agreements apply to them in their new unit?
The following are just a few aspects of a joint lease agreement that every student should personally understand before they sign one. For a more detailed breakdown of these elements, check out this article on key elements of joint lease agreements.