Students living off campus report unexplained, ‘unnecessary’ charges from landlords

NOTE: I have a statement from University Edge from back when I first started reporting on this story, but I can’t find it in my Gmail archive. I’ll keep searching and/or reach back out so they have a voice in this story.

Rachel Gross is a Kent State alumna who earned her Bachelor of Science degree in journalism in December of 2021. 

Ready to move into their first apartment, Gross and her two roommates signed a lease for a three-bedroom apartment at University Edge, a facility operated by American Campus Communities, in February of 2020.

“It was pre-pandemic. Everything was just starting to get on the verge of shutting down,” Gross said. “We were just kind of like, we have to sign a lease now. Otherwise, we’re gonna lose out on this apartment.”

The group moved in the following fall. For two years, Gross said they lived as “model tenants.”

“The office is never mad at us for like, anything,” she said. “We paid our rent on time. We never had security called on us.”

While Gross graduated in December of 2021, she continued living at her apartment in Kent until the summer, making a daily commute to Cleveland for her new job. She moved out in July and turned in her keys at the end of the month.

Less than a month later, she received a picture of a bill from one of her roommates. The complex had charged her first roommate more than $500 for cleaning.

Afterwards, Gross checked her mailbox and found she herself had been charged $300. Her second roommate was charged $160. Between the three roommates, they had been charged nearly $1,000 — despite Ohio law stating that tenants are not financially responsible for “wear and tear.”

“You cannot be held accountable for cleaning costs unless the cleaning required is excessive or constitutes some sort of damage,” according to Kent State’s Student Legal Services website.

Each resident received a PDF file which contained images and itemized charges — but none of the total amounts came close to the total charge. 

In Gross’ case, her bill included images of her dishwasher, toilet and bathroom mirror. In total, the itemization added up to $40 — a far cry from the $300 she was billed for. Her first roommate’s itemization amounted to $61.66, and she was also charged for a mattress replacement.

“There was no explanation as to why these charges were given to us,” Gross said. “They sent us another page that said ‘understanding your statement of deposit’ and like, how you should pay pretty much, and then if you wanted to dispute it. … And it’s due immediately.”

Their concern? The charges didn’t come as a result of a security deposit. While most rental agreements in the state of Ohio require renters to pay an initial deposit, Gross and her roommates didn’t have one.

“When we signed, they were doing like, a special where they waive security deposit interest,” she said. “So we never put down a security deposit. And you know, we weren’t really thinking at the time like, what this would mean for one thing without because it was so far in the future for us.” 

The charges brought about “a lot of anger,” Gross said.

“We left that apartment super clean,” she said. “I know myself, and I know my roommates, and there’s no way we would have left like, anything out of place there, … and just the fact that we were given these bills for hundreds of dollars, you know, weeks after we moved out with almost no explanation as to why we are being charged for all this.”

Harnessing her frustration at the situation, Gross took to TikTok to caution future and current renters. Her video, posted on Sept. 1, garnered more than 67,000 views. 

Commenters expressed similar concerns with the same complex, including, “same thing happened to me,” “we got overcharged constantly for no reasoning” and “I was charged $700 for a stain on my carpet that was there the day I moved in.”

Gross and her roommates send emails to University Edge management expressing their concerns and even reached out to Student Legal Services. 

After some back-and-forth communication between Gross, her roommates and University Edge management, they reached an agreement, effectively lowering the amount each of them owed.

Other off-campus tenants have faced unexplained charges

Gross and her roommates are not alone in their experience.

Sabrina Egli, a former tenant, left a review, saying, “When moving out of university edge this past July [three years ago], I was shocked to see almost $200 of charges on my account for cleaning charges after moving out. I found out from two other friends that moved out this past summer as well, that two friends of mine also had these ”cleaning” charges billed to their accounts as well.”

Another former tenant, Alexia Gongos, left a review saying that “it simply isn’t worth living here at all,” citing similar charges.

“Expect to receive multiple overcharges on your electric bill without any clue as to why,” Gongos said.

Olivia Barbour described similar charges involving standard wear and tear charges.

“We were also charged for things being ‘dirty’ or ‘dusty,'” Barbour said, “even though we did a thorough cleaning before we moved out.”

Advice and legal resources for student tenants

As a result of the charges, Gross felt compelled to re-read her lease agreement and said she feels first-time renters, and renters in general, should equip themselves with knowledge before signing a lease agreement. 

“We didn’t know a lot,” Gross said. “We didn’t really know what we were supposed to do.”

As far as advice for future tenants, Gross said college-age renters should “definitely know your rights as a tenant.”

In addition, Gross said students should take advantage of services offered to them by groups such as Student Legal Services and the many legal experts they have.

“If you’re not in a rush to sign a lease and you have the time, you should absolutely get one of them to look it over,” she said. “Document the entire condition of your apartment, and when you move out, take pictures of literally everything.”

Chris Sestak, an attorney for Kent State’s Student Legal Services, said college-age students are at a disadvantage when signing leases, compared to other age or demographic groups.

“Unfortunately, students often, I feel, get taken advantage of, so to speak, by some of these large, institutional landlords, especially on a college campus kind of situation, because a lot of students have never leased before,” he said.

Sestak also advises students to understand the difference between two different types of leases: joint liability and several liability leases.

Joint liability leases group together all tenants’ financial responsibilities and commitments, he said, whereas several liability leases place the burden of finances on each individual tenant.

“It’s important to realize where the financial obligations lie,” Sestak said.

With respect to Gross and other students facing similar charges, Sestak said students should understand they have the ability to advocate for themselves.

“You can argue these damages didn’t happen or they weren’t that bad, or they shouldn’t cost this much,” he said. “If you know of a problem that you have, have a game plan.”