The time is approaching for Chico State students to begin looking for new housing.
With that comes handing a blank check to the rental agencies of Chico.
Whether it is moving into a house with a big ole’ porch for a couch or a ground floor apartment on Ivy Street, one thing is for sure, students will be taken for a ride by their landlords.
In Chico, it is nearly impossible to find anything shorter than a year-long lease— which is not so realistic for the nine-month school year. It’s also increasingly difficult to find reasonable security deposits that will actually be returned by the end of the year.
Chico housing providers are taking advantage of students and their naivety, which is ridiculous because no real adults would put up with the condition that more than half these places are in.
Some people will argue that students need to educate themselves on the renting process and be more tenacious with their rental companies, but it’s not that simple.
At the end of the day, these agencies are going to find a way to wring the not-so-extra change from the pockets of its renters.
Rental companies feed off the scheme that forces students to pay for the three months of rent during summer that they aren’t even in Chico utilizing their housing.
Once students sign the lease, renters continue to slap insane fees on them.
In the reasonable circle of living locations around Chico State, there are very few rental companies that charge less than $500 for security deposits and some agencies have deposits as high as $7,000 per unit.
It’s basically common knowledge that those deposits will not be returned.
On top of security deposits, rental companies have lists of rules stated in its leases, such as banning pets or playing games in the yard, in order to charge the renter for damages.
At the end of the leasing period, students will still cling to the hope that maybe, just maybe, they will get a portion of their money back.
Instead, they will likely be slapped with a bill for something completely ridiculous like fingerprints on the door knob or a beer can in the backyard.
