I don’t know about you, but I lived in some doozy places during the early years of my college life.
With the start of college classes on the horizon, it would be a great time to name the biggest slumlords in your town — the people who rent to college students but year after year rack up code violations. Does your college have a list of property owners that it tells students to avoid?
- “For your security –- and to save on heating bills –- make sure all windows and doors close and latch securely. If there are big gaps under doors, be ready for a drafty place.
- “Make sure the apartment has two exits, so that you can escape in a fire. Lots of sketchy apartments only have one.”
- “Check the kitchen: Make sure the stove and oven turn on, and that the refrigerator is cold.
- “Check the bathroom: Is there a working shower head? I didn’t bother to look when I scoped out my first apartment. I got a rude surprise when I went to take a shower the first time and discovered there was only a bathtub faucet.
- “Look for stains on the ceilings. That indicates water damage, whether from rain or a leaky toilet upstairs. If the landlord can’t show you that the problem has been fixed, that should be a big red flag to look elsewhere. If there is a porch or deck, make sure that the wood isn’t rotting.”
Social networks are loaded with conversations about college student housing. Yelp, a site that encourages reviews of all sorts, has some lively conversations. There are also lots of Facebook pages dedicated to bad apartments and landlords. I suspect, to be fair, there should be pages dedicated to bad renters who wreck their apartment and don’t pay for the repairs.
To localize this story, use the Web to post stories, photos and videos of awful apartments. Consider moving into some of these places to document what life there is like. A South African journalist I met at Poynter a year or so ago did just that and produced a spectacular investigation.
