The Tenant-Landlord Mediation Center is available for Penn State students beginning today, marking UPUA's first program of the spring semester.
"The Tenant-Landlord Mediation Center was something [UPUA Vice President] Valarie Russell and I campaigned on," said University Park Undergraduate Association President Gavin Keirans. "We're pleased to see it come to fruition."
The center will allow students who live off-campus to seek free advice and consultation from UPUA advisers when dealing with off-campus housing disputes with their landlords.
If the issue is not resolved, an official mediation session can be scheduled between the tenant and the landlord at the Center for Alternatives in Community Justice, 411 S. Burrowes St., said UPUA's Town Affairs Director Jason Kleinwaks.
UPUA Legal Affairs worked with Keirans to design the program and met with State College Borough Council members, Penn State administrators and landlords to make it most effective, Kleinwaks said.
The program received $5,000 from UPUA and $2,500 from the borough to get up and running, he said.
Kleinwaks, along with UPUA administration and UPUA Legal Affairs members, including Miatta Massaley, helped get the program started, Massaley said.
She said she was appalled when she learned of student complaints regarding cracks, water leaks and mold in their apartments.
Massaley said the hardest part of the process, in addition to giving up her summer to work on the program, was finding enough funding to support it.
"Students don't have the money to pay for lawyers and landlords who screw them over. The best part about this program is that it's free," she said.
In addition to helping students for free without dealing with the court system, she said the program would also aid landlords who don't have the money to pay for repairs.
The program allows for the landlord to communicate with the tenant through a free mediation process. Therefore legal fees are eliminated, which frees up cash that could potentially go toward property improvements, she said.
Kleinwaks said his involvement with the program draws on his own experience.
Moving into his apartment last year, he said noticed mold growing in the closet of his room.
Kleinwaks said he got the air tested and discovered the apartment wasn't safe to live in.
"I had to live in a motel for a month and a half," Kleinwaks said. "That's what sparked my interest in the living conditions around town. Had we communicated a little bit more before lawyers got involved, the whole thing would've been much easier."
Kleinwaks said he's still dealing with legal issues regarding the mold.
