Max Morrow sat in his apartment attempting to do homework when his power mysteriously went out and didn’t turn back on until the next day.  It was just another problem on top of the multitude of issues he’s had in only a few months.

“It was just problem after problem,” he said.   “Soon as we got in, the sink over there was busted, you turn it on, the whole thing just blew up, water gushing out everywhere.  Mold growing on the air conditioner, and we couldn’t get the baseboard heater to turn off.”  

It’s lease signing season in Bloomington as many landlords have already started the process of finding new renters.  Since Bloomington is a college town, many of these leases will be signed by young and first time renting adults who don’t always take the time to read the lease or may not see the egregiousness of said lease.   

Morrow, a student at IU, signed his lease over the summer expecting a renovated apartment.  However, he and his girlfriend were told otherwise.  

“On the website, it said that everything should be renovated,” he said.  “And then after I signed the lease, they changed their mind, just a couple of weeks after I signed it.”  

They were promised they would still move into a renovated apartment even if it wasn’t the one they originally signed for, but they arrived in August to the last thing they expected.  

“Sure enough, we get here August 8th or whatever,” he said.  “We show up, it’s not renovated.”

Indiana University’s Student Legal Services offers a free lease analysis for any upcoming renters.  Marc Abplanalp, associate director and attorney at Student Legal Services, said reading the lease and knowing what it says is the important first step that a lot of people don’t do.

“There are four of us here in the office, four lawyers,” he said.  “Each of us has a slightly different approach but the fundamental things are the same.  Just to identify the things that are really super one-sided or things that are likely to lead to problems.”

Abplanalp added they always talk about a couple of sections of every lease:  Attorney fees, or when the landlord can make the renter pay their lawyers, what it says about joint liability if they are living with multiple people and a few other common problems areas.  

“We try to just equip them,” he said.  “We also give them a general explanation of the things they can do to avoid common problems like really participating in move in and move out inspections.”  

Morrow is still waiting for his apartment to be renovated, with no timeline of when that may happen.  

“They were supposed to renovate in October,” he said.  “September, October, that’s when they told me and I’ve heard nothing since then.”  

They are uncertain of where they would go if their apartment does get renovated since they may not get a different apartment to live in.

“They’re either A, gonna send us over to another apartment, or a renovated one, we get to take that one,”  he said.  “Or we have to put all of our stuff in here in one of those trailers out there and wait.”