Off-Campus Housing: Is it as bad as it seems?

Off-Campus Housing on Center St.

About a year ago, April 12^th 2016, a forum was held on Frostburg State University’s campus where students discussed issues with residential rental properties and landlords for the university’s off-campus housing. The Bottom Line, a student newspaper, decide to cover said forum in this article. Many students mentioned in this article complained about various problems including lack of air conditioning, spotty heat, mold, and contract agreements. Student Daniel Faison claimed that inspections aren’t thorough, and that the inspectors just check things off. The Bottom Line reports that in the City of Frostburg, property owners and owner’s agents are able to “handpick” their inspectors from a list of certified inspectors. Yet they fail to inform readers that there are only two city certified inspectors, A1 Inspections and Megco Inspections.

                        Because of forums such as this and stories written in the past year it is easy to assume that off-campus living has many issues in regard to landlord-tenant relations. However, most of these issues come from a select group of students. Brenda Byrnes of A2Z Property Services was interviewed by The Bottom Line about Faison’s group and their mold issue, of whom she was the landlord. Despite issues such as this when catching up with Byrnes, about the issue, she was incredibly positive about most of her tenants. “No, actually almost all students get their deposits back,” said Byrnes when asked if she has a lot of issues. Frostburg students agreed, “As long as you report incidents and issues he [the landlord] works with you.” Said Kellen Tilldon, a sophomore currently living off campus through Blossom Hill Farms.

 John Kirby, a city administrator for Frostburg, says the key to mitigating the issues that occur is, “tenants take the initiative to increase communications between the tenant and the landlord from the beginning.” He believes that, “Waiting until there is a problem only insures that the relationship will be dominated by the legal process.” It is the legal events as highlighted by the forum where most of the perceived, widespread tension seems to occur. High profile cases like Daniel Faison only show the worst of off campus living.

            Contract agreements Is another point of tension for landlords and their tenants. Brenda Byrnes explains “Most contracts are online and straight forward. If our tenants have any questions we are more than happy to walk through it with them.” The Bottom Line wrote that a student at the forum said, “Contracts are too confusing, They’ve got secret stuff in there.” When asked about this common belief of confusing contracts Brenda Byrnes said, “It’s the first time these students are seeing this stuff.” Which is true. It is understandable that miscommunications can occur between two parties in a contractual agreement. However, that does not mean the landlords are hiding things to trick their tenants. John Kirby recommended that tenants consult with their parents on first time lease agreements. If there are still any issues he believes, “The tenant and their parent should consult with an attorney, just like any tenant-landlord transaction in Maryland.” Its hard to believe that landlords can hide anything in a contract in which the terms are so clearly laid out and the agreement requires the acknowledgment that the signee understands all terms and conditions. This fact is highlighted just above where a tenant would sign to finalize the lease agreement. (Pictured Below)

The Bottom Line has also covered housing code issues off-campus. On May 1st 2016 they covered a story citing 700 rental properties (75 percent of rental properties in Frostburg) that were out of compliance with their inspection schedule. The primary goal of this is to insure the city and the landlords have heard the complaints of the students, their tenants, and are following the policies enacted in the new rental code of 2014. When asked about the frequency of housing inspections John Kirby, a City Administrator, responded, “the frequency of mandated inspections is once every 3 years, as set forth within the provisions of the City’s Rental Housing Code and has not changed.” He reported that during the B-2 Cycle (July 1, 2016 - December 31, 2016) 61 properties containing a total of 283 units were inspected and all passed. The current cycle “C-1” (January 1, 2017 - June 30, 2017) has 144 properties containing 302 units being inspected, that cycle is still in progress. These numbers are significantly higher than the bottom lines reported 18 properties in 2014. Kirby also recommended that if there are any questions in regards to your current housing and whether or not it is in compliance with the safety codes of the city, to contact Laura McBride in the City’s Community Development Department at 301-689-6000.

With such a large number of properties being exposed and un-inspected,Kirby was asked if there has been a decrease in the quantity of issue reports since the Bottom Line stories release. He responded, “We have seen no change in the volume of work by the Community Development Department during the current fiscal year,” and provided the yearly reports for that department, Here

Contained within are also the incident reports for code violations that have occurred this year. Most of the violations are because of trash in the open or furniture being left outside. Both of these things are student caused issues. These findings are similar to The Bottom Line article discussed above, where 823 out of 1644 issues were related to trash, its improper storage, and where it was being stored. The Bottom Line’s findings on code violations also remain consistent with our findings. When asked what are the most common violations that make a house not up to code, Brenda Byrnes responded, “Often times it’s because of a fire extinguisher or a smoke detector.” Because it isn’t uncommon for students to mess with fire extinguishers, especially since they are to be stored in the kitchen (per Frostburg Code), and to maintain a safe property for her clients Brenda also uses an in-house inspector to examine her companies properties once a month.

The Bottom Lines findings listed fire extinguishers, empty (pictured above) or  absent, as being 46 of the 162 violations found between January 2011 and December 2014. That is 28.4% of all code violations for three years! “I’d rather my tenants just run out of the house,” said Byrnes about if the house caught on fire, “Most people don’t know how to properly use one (fire extinguisher) and the house is insured, their lives are not. Their lives are more important.”

While the findings of The Bottom Line are by no means insignificant, the negative light that has been cast on the City of Frostburg and the landlords of off campus housing has created the public perception of a tension that is not near as common as the headlines may make it seem. The diligent effort of the city as seen in their report from John Kirby and the opinions of students and landlords alike shows a story that is far from as bleak as it outwardly appears. The main issue plaguing landlord-tenant relations is communication. “Communication is Key,” said Sue Jones of Aardvark Enterprises. Here are some guidelines on how to improve the communication between landlord and tenant.

By.Asya Proctor, Marcus Williams and Tyler Steele