Moving into an apartment off campus brings more responsibilities than many students know.

Students must adhere to legal contracts from their landlords. Landlords must know that they cannot take advantage of renters, most of whom are renting for the first time.

And how can students, who are mostly new to the apartment scene, learn their rights?

Right now, the best place for them to go is to José Texidor, the Penn State attorney for the students.

However, Texidor only can have appointments with a small fraction of students each month. He has a maximum of 40 appointments per month.

Students need another place to go for free legal advice. And State College Borough Council member Elizabeth Goreham has been working on a solution -- a Student/Landlord Resolution Center.

This center would offer free legal services to tenants and landlords to review leases and perform other services. The information that could be obtained from the center would be invaluable to first-time renters or renters who just don’t know much about tenant rights.

The Student/Landlord Resolution Center will give students and landlords an unbiased forum for discussion in State College. If implemented, the idea will serve as a step toward better communication between landlords and tenants.

And better communication is the first step toward solving problems with apartment living. Perhaps some conflicts, hard feelings and bitterness between tenants and landlords would be avoided if the center were created.

The proposed center could serve an even greater purpose for students. It could provide them with education that will be applicable in the real world. Students will begin to know their rights and stand up for them, not permitting landlords to take advantage of their inexperience.

Understanding tenant rights is an important lesson for students to learn, and this center is the perfect real-life forum for education.