March 12, 2019
69 months ago
Each year as new students make the journey from on campus housing to off campus housing the common practice of not pro-rating rent creates a lot of confusion and conflict.
To start, if you are not familiar, pro-rating rent means you only pay rent for the period of the month that you live in the apartment. So, if you move in half way through the month, you would pay half a month's rent. Simple enough...right?
Well in many markets many student communities do not follow this practice. Some may ask why? It all comes down to supply and demand. Not pro-rating rent is a very stealth way to raise rents without being criticized for taking advantage of the student population. Not to mention many students do not read the contract they sign in detail, so it is often overlooked and not questioned.
Ask yourself, when you compared communities, did you factor in who pro-rates and who does not?
The next question is do you have to accept that rent is not pro-rated...and the answer is very simple...NO, you do not have to accept this.
Picking a community is a free choice and you can push back against communities before you sign the contract to ensure your rent is pro-rated. In many markets where communities are competing aggressively to fill beds this will work very well. In the markets where there are more beds than students, no so.
Topic: College Apartments and Housing Life
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