The Appalachian Online

Students living off campus for the first time face a significant responsibility: paying the rent.

As tenants, students have a number of other responsibilities as well, as do their landlords and rental agencies.

“I think your housing situation is pretty core to your general health and happiness,” Student Judicial Affairs Assistant Director Karla P. Rusch said. Rusch is also an attorney and hosts the Student Legal Clinic.

Having knowledge about their rights as tenants can help students avoid situations that could cause stress and high monetary costs, Rusch said.

According to North Carolina general statutes, landlords must provide a “fit and habitable” rental unit. This includes safe and working electrical, plumbing and heating systems and appliances, Rusch said.

Problems students may experience include heating malfunctions, water leaks, faulty door locks, improper insulation, mold and mildew and infestations of insects or rodents, Rusch said.

North Carolina law requires security deposits to be refunded within 30 days after the end of tenancy.

Any portion of the security deposit not refunded may only be used to cover unpaid rent and utilities, damage to the rental unit or the costs of re-renting when a tenant breaches his or her rental agreement.

A security deposit may not be used to correct damages from ordinary wear and tear or for cleaning, Rusch said.

If one roommate causes damage, all roommates may be held responsible, Rusch said.

“Any roommate can be held responsible for any charges that are legitimately due on a lease,” she said.

The Town of Boone outlines specific housing requirements in its minimum housing code.

According to the minimum housing code, all dwellings must have at least 70-square-feet bedrooms, windows and doors must have screens, walls and ceilings should be rodent-proof and rental units must have working smoke detectors and in-sink garbage disposals.

In addition, water pipes must be protected from freezing and there should be no holes or cracks large enough to permit air to penetrate the room. No part of the ceiling may be loose.

Landlords with rental units in 100-year flood zones must notify tenants in writing that their dwelling could potentially be flooded. The landlord must obtain a copy of the notification signed and dated by each tenant.

Rusch recommends students document all conditions of a rental unit in writing and by taking photographs. Students should keep a copy of any request for repairs, she said.

Students may also visit the Student Legal Clinic available through the office of Student Judicial Affairs in Plemmons Student Union.

A copy of Boone’s minimum housing code can be obtained at the Boone Planning and Inspections Department on Blowing Rock Road.

Finding an apartment can be difficult and finding an apartment that includes all utilities can be even more difficult.

Holton Mountain Rentals utility policy depends on the building. In all buildings except Kensington Meadows, electricity is charged separately from the rent. Kensington includes all utilities in the rent payment.

The bigger buildings owned by Holton have high speed Internet. The other buildings are determined by whether the meters are measured separately.

University Highlands has an all-inclusive rent. They offer two and four bedroom apartments, with the rent depending on the size of the apartment. Each apartment has a cap set on utility rates.

The two-bedroom is set at $100 and the four-bedroom at $120. At the end of a three-month period, an average is taken and split between the tenants.

“The four-bedroom averages $103 and the two bedroom is $82,” General Manager Ron Branch said. “It’s rare that anyone goes over for the three months.”

Brown Heights Apartment Condos requires that all tenants pay for utilities separately based on their meter. Brown Heights does not offer Internet service.

Appalachian South Apartments has 441 apartments that vary from one to three bedrooms.

Sixteen out of the 18 buildings include water, sewage and garbage in the rent.
Some buildings have available Internet hookups, but the connection is not included.

Tenants can get service from Tymenet Inc. for Internet or use several different dial-up services, such as Charter Net, if equipped with a phone line and dial up modem.

Bavarian Village Apartments provides water, sewage and trash pickup. Tenants must provide their own phone, electric and Internet services.

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Jonathan Williams | The Appalachian
(l-r) Carol Neal, a leasing agent for Holton Mountain Rentals, explains a lease to Catherine Currie, a junior sociology major, and Danielle E. Gilliam, a junior pyschology major.

What to know before signing lease

by Jennifer Schneider
Staff Writer

Apartment, house or condominium renting can be an exciting and liberating step in anyone’s life. It can also be daunting and confusing.

First-time renters need to be aware of what is involved in signing a lease.
An apartment lease is a legal and binding contract that cannot be broken once it is set.

There are two different kinds of leases.

An individual lease is a lease where each roommate has their own lease, separate from the others occupying the apartment.

A joint lease is considered one lease for the entire apartment even though the rent may be split among a number of roommates. This means that each renter is responsible for the actions of their roommates.

There are many things renters should know before signing their name and agreeing to the commitment.

Before signing a lease, a potential renter needs to make sure they know exactly what they are and are not responsible for.

All of the tenant’s obligations will be laid out in the lease agreement.

Some basic details in a lease include the number of tenants living in the rental space and the names of each tenant, how much rent will be and what kinds of access the leaser has to the property.

A few other things to look for are which utilities are included in the rent, which need to be set up by the renter, maintenance, if pets are allowed and any specific rules applying to keeping vehicles on the premises.

Being in a college environment, it is important to find out rules and regulations of noise violations, the maximum number of people who are allowed in the rental space at one time and any restriction on the use of items such as kegs and grills.

Also, be aware of how security deposit works and what events will prevent the renters from being refunded.

The most important thing to do before signing a lease is to read over the rules and regulations set by the leasing office and ask as many questions as possible.

Make sure you have any concerns covered before taking the leap.

When it comes to signing a lease, the saying is true: knowledge is power.

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One of the most unique housing options available for an Appalachian State University student living in the Town of Boone is University Highlands Student Apartments.

Situated only two miles from Appalachian State’s campus, University Highlands declares that it was “designed and tailored to meet the specific needs of Appalachian University students.”

“We are an extension of the dorms which allows us to do a lot that other apartments wouldn’t be allowed to do,” University Highlands Manager Ron Branch said. “We have no RA’s and I have to give a 24 hour notice if I want to even enter an apartment, but we do have rules and we enforce them. But as a result we have a safer, cleaner community.”

Because the Appalachian Student Housing Corporation (ASHC) owns University Highlands, it has a beneficial relationship with Appalachian, which means all profits are used to support student housing. ASHC is a private, non-profit corporation.

There are two options for apartments at University Highlands: a two-bedroom and a four-bedroom.

The two-bedroom option is 780 square feet and costs $6,240, paid in twelve $520 monthly installments. The four-bedroom option is 1190 square feet and generally costs $4,920 in 12 monthly installments of $410. Both options have private bedrooms with deadbolts, central heat and air conditioning, a full-size washer and dryer, a porch or balcony and a monitored security system among other things.

Apartments are also furnished with a living room, which contains an entertainment center, couch, kitchen with dishwasher, microwave, refrigerator and garbage disposal. The bedrooms are also fully furnished with a full-size bed, desk and chair and night side table. There are also fully functioning smoke alarms and sprinkler systems in each apartment.

University Highlands offers a study center composed of a computer lab and group study rooms as well as recreational facilities consisting of a club house, a fitness center, a game room, a swimming pool, tennis, basketball and volleyball courts along with much more.

“We use the basketball courts and it’s really nice to have access to all these facilities,” sophomore Donald W. Burns said.

University Highlands also offers AppalCART stops every 15 minutes on weekdays, on-site maintenance staff, on-site professional management and a car wash.

While there are an endless supply of available utilities including water, local telephone service, Ethernet Internet and cable TV, the individual, all-inclusive rent at University Highlands makes it possible to have one convenient monthly payment for both utilities and rent.

“It’s more expensive, but it’s really a higher standard of living; the quality of life is really much better than my last apartment,” senior criminal justice major and tenant at University Highlands Billy Morris said.

With an individual lease, tenants are able to move in without a roommate and are not affected economically if a roommate decides to leave without paying the rent.

“Parents and kids seem to really like our system,” Branch said. “They like the individual leases and the all-inclusive rent because you know what your bill is going to look like every time. They also like that they are fully furnished apartments so that they don’t have to haul everything they own up and down the mountain.”

University Highlands is also the only location in Boone that permits five-month leases for seniors graduating early and students taking a semester abroad.

The first opportunity for Appalachian students who do not currently reside in the apartments to sign a lease is Feb. 14.

University Highlands can be reached at info@universityhighlands.com or 263-0100.

Robert and Beverly Holton started out managing a single apartment building in the Town of Boone. Twenty years later, their business stretches to hundreds of units, extending the range of price, style and location afforded to Appalachian State University students and citizens of Boone.

Even though their business has grown over the years, the principle philosophies remain fresh in their minds.

“We believe that units should be kept in good condition, always,” Beverly Holton said. “If there is a problem with them, it needs to be fixed.”

The Holtons take pride in their diverse selection of units and in the forthrightness of their policies: “We offer something for everyone and we are upfront about what our expectations are for tenants,” she said.

Holton Mountain Rentals manages dozens of locations around the campus of Appalachian State and throughout Boone. Kensington Meadows, Fairfield Apartments, Horn Apartments and King & College Apartments are just a few examples.

Holton Mountain Rentals goes to great lengths to educate the prospective tenant, Beverly Holton said. Information provided by the company, both from its Web site and its office, include advice on topics like roommate selection, affordability and location.

“Hopefully they read through (the information) whether they rent from us or not,” Beverly Holton said. “We see ourselves here as advisors as well and we hope people feel like they can come in here and talk with us at any point.”

This open-door policy has been a feature of Holton Mountain Rentals since the very beginning.

“We try to create a warm environment,” she said. “We want people to feel comfortable asking questions.”

“Our job is to make sure that we provide tenants with a well-maintained, clean place to live, and that when they have a repair, that we do it as efficiently as we can.”

The tenant is responsible for reading through all of the rules, regulations and policies of Holton Mountain Rentals, and abiding by them.

Even so, Holton does not care for the stigma popularly attached to the word “landlord.”

“We very much like working with students, and we dislike the connotations that come along with ‘landlord,’ she said. “We try to step out of the bounds of what most people think a landlord is.”

Both Beverly and Rob Holton feel their business is a learning opportunity for themselves as well.

“We are always looking at what we need to do better,” Beverly Holton said. “I don’t want to just hear the things we do right. I want people to tell me the negative things too.”

“We’re very fortunate that our business has continued to grow and expand over the years, and we hope that’s a reflection of the way we treat our tenants and our employees,” he said.

One Appalachian State student has the benefit of having a relationship with the Holtons that bridges the gap between tenant and employee.

Senior English major Brian G. Hodges has worked with Holton Mountain Rentals for six years and has leased from them for two of those years.

“I can say from experience that they [the Holtons] work very, very hard to have the apartments ready and in perfect condition for their tenants on move-in day,” Hodges said. He also echoed Beverly Holton’s opinion that experience is the best teacher.

“I’ve seen their policies get better over the six-year period,” Hodges said. “I would say they have definitely improved through the advice of their customers.”

Mountaineer Village is one of Boone’s newest apartment complexes for students, but since its opening in 2003 it has grown to house almost 200 people.

Located off U.S. Highway 421, the complex has 192 apartments in nine buildings with three floors each. Apartments have three bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. A kitchen and living room, refrigerator, washer and dryer and a dishwasher are also included.

Each apartment is approximately 1,200 square feet and comes unfurnished, Property Manager Bradley A. Small said.

All bedrooms have Internet access and each apartment has the basic 72-channel cable service.

Small said one unique aspect of the complex compared to other student residences in Boone is that it has a clubhouse on site.

The clubhouse features a computer lab, a living room with a television and a kitchen on the top floor. The leasing office is also located on the top floor.

The bottom floor features an exercise room, tanning beds, a foosball, ping-pong and pool table and a snack machine.

The clubhouse also has a small movie theater that residents can use to play video games or watch movies.

The staff also plays new movies every week for all students who want to come. The complex will reserve Tuesday nights for recent movies, while Wednesdays will be reserved for classic movies like “Star Wars” and “Scarface,” Small said.

“We try to make it where people want to come down here,” he said. “Of course, people get home from school and like to hang out in their apartment. There’s a lot of options to come down here, like if someone’s bored or just wants to work out or whatever.”

Small said he hopes to buy an Xbox for the theater and possibly hold "Halo" or "Madden" tournaments.

The clubhouse is expected to get a swimming pool and volleyball court by the summer season, Small said. Both facilities will be located in the backyard of the clubhouse.

Some residents said they liked the clubhouse among the apartment’s top features.

“It’s real convenient having the clubhouse because you don’t have to drive in really bad weather to work out,” senior exercise science major Meredith L. Hill said.

Hill said she also liked Mountaineer Village being solely a residence for students.

David L. Morrison, a senior finance and banking major, said he too liked the clubhouse.

“I like the weight room,” Morrison said, adding it was good for a cardiovascular workout.

Aside from the clubhouse, Mountaineer Village has a basketball court near the complex’s entrance. There are a few barbecue grills located on site, too.

Residents pay $435 a month and each apartment has its own $75 electricity allowance. The leases are distributed per person, not per apartment, so one person’s payment does not have an impact on the other two roommates.

Some services are not automatic. Basic phone lines are not included in the regular rent because most students are using cellular phones now, Small said.

The property staff also sends out a monthly newsletter that has a schedule of coming events, such as movie times and holidays. Residents can also publish announcements in the newsletter.