Off Campus Student Services Announcements
Moving Off Campus?
Your safety should be your first priority. Don’t settle for less safety because it is cheaper.
Things to Know
- It is illegal and dangerous to have someone living in a basement or attic.
- Dining rooms, living rooms and front porches converted to bedrooms are often unsafe too.
- Electric or kerosene space-heaters are not an appropriate replacement for a well functioning furnace or boiler.
- Using extension cords to plug in all of your electronics to one or two outlets is a fire hazard.
- If the windows don’t lock, you and your property are not at all secure.
- A smoke detector is required by law in every bedroom of every rental property. One candle falling over can cause a bedroom to be completely filled with smoke in under two minutes and engulfed in flames in less than four minutes.
Other important considerations
- Who is going to cut the grass, shovel the snow and take out the trash? Will your landlord take care of this or will it be your responsibility?
- If you sign a lease in April for an apartment August 1st, how will you be certain the apartment will be ready to move into on time? How will you hold the landlord accountable for any repairs needed prior to your moving in?
- How much will utilities cost? These include natural gas or home heating oil, electricity, water, sewer, garbage pick up fee, cable or satellite TV, internet, maybe even a landline telephone. Who pays for these, you and your roommates, or the landlord? What happens if one of your roommates doesn’t pay his or her share?
- Planning on having many parties? In the Fall of 2008, approximately 30 students were temporarily suspended from UB for hosting parties off campus which disturbed the peace in the neighborhood.
