College students are under pressure to quickly extend leases for several weeks

Supporters of the new law and students themselves say the delayed rental deadlines could hurt students who feel they have to make hasty decisions about who to live with, where to live and how much to spend.

Claudia Staut, a student who is living in a house in the Como neighborhood with seven roommates this year, said she only started looking for an apartment in January during her first year of college. The next year, she ended up living with two roommates and paying nearly $1,000 a month, including utilities, to live in a new building.

“It was very stressful,” she said. “It felt like I didn’t have a lot of options to look at.”

This year, Staut’s landlord began showing his home to potential tenants in November and also mentioned that tenants who wanted to stay would have to re-sign by a certain date. Most of her roommates have signed new leases, while Staut said she will live elsewhere.

Sterling said there is a “strong argument” that the property owner, whom Staut declined to name, violated the intent of the new law. But there is room for interpretation on both sides, she added.

Shana Tomenes, an attorney for Student Legal Services at the U, said she believes that while there was once a housing shortage in the area, there has been a construction boom in the last decade or so – and in the last two years two large complexes were built – has led to there being more living space than students. But the message to students is the same as before: you need to act early to get the best rates.