It's that time of year again when you need to make decisions about housing for next year. Housing Fair '89 sponsored by the Campus Life Assistance Center/Off-Campus Programs, will take place on February 10 and 11 at the HUB and should provide those who will live off-campus with many answers to housing questions.

Before you make your final housing decisions and before you sign a lease for next year, I would like to share some information with you based on the many problems students have brought to me.

One of the most difficult situations students find themselves in occurs when one person out of the group who has rented an apartment fails to pay his or her share of the rent. This happens more often than you would think! One person's failure to pay places everyone in the apartment at risk of being sued. The landlord will typically file a suit against all of you with the District Justice, not just for the amount of overdue rent, but for the entire remaining balance of rent due for the remainder of the lease term. The lease usually includes an "acceleration clause" which permits the landlord to accelerate the rent due for the remaining lease term when one month's rent is late or unpaid. In addition, each tenant is fully liable for the entire rent owed for an apartment because most leases include a "joint and several liability" clause. Furthermore, you will not even be able to collect your roommate's share of the unpaid rent unless you first pay that share yourself! Therefore, it is extremely important that you do not sign a lease for an apartment which you can not afford individually!

You should also be extremely careful about who your roommates will be. Even someone who has been a "very good friend" may suddenly decide to leave school.

A similar problem occurs when one person in an apartment places the telephone or electric account solely in his or her name and then is not reimbursed for bills incurred by another roommate. Many students have come into my office with telephone and electric bills roommates have refused to pay.

Another factor to consider is the lifestyle of your potential roommates. Once you have signed a lease, you are responsible for all rental payments through the entire lease term. You will not be able to escape a bad roommate situation just by leaving since your liability for rent will continue. You might be able to find a sub-tenant, but your lease might restrict subleases.

Please be very careful about where and with whom you rent. These problems are very real and there is usually not a satisfactory way to resolve such problems short of full payment of the money owed.