With the recent attention on Oakland because of unsafe housing lacking proper ventilation and fire escapes, students are advised to ask landlords specific questions to avoid problems associated with living off-campus.

Laura Ludwig, community organizer for the Oakland Planning and Development Corporation, advises students to ask the right questions before signing a lease.

"You really have to check the terms of your lease and get all agreements in writing," she said. "Take pictures when you move in and when you move out to show proof that you're leaving the place the way you left it."

But why go through all of the trouble?

Ludwig said that OPDC, an organization that assists students with problems with their landlords and living conditions, often receives complaints from students who are having problems with obtaining their security deposits at the end of the lease.

A security deposit is an amount paid at the beginning of a lease used to offset any outstanding balances incurred by the tenant such as a missed rent payment, damages or breaking the lease before the date specified. If the terms of the lease have been followed, the tenant should have his or her security deposit returned.

"Nine times out of 10, a tenant's complaint won't hold up in magistrate court without specific proof like written agreements and photographs," she explained. "Unfortunately, there's really nothing that [OPDC] can do for issues like these."

Ludwig added that OPDC will distribute a pamphlet in February that lists other questions students must ask while looking for an apartment. Some of the questions include "How is maintenance handled?" and "Are there laundry facilities on-site?"

"A lot of students don't think to ask things like that," Pitt sophomore Patrick Britz said.

Britz wishes that he and his roommates had asked the right questions and got written agreements with their landlord before signing the lease to their house in South Oakland last year.

"We saw the place two or three times before we signed the lease and asked if there was anything wrong with the house like a broken water heater or furnace," he said. "We didn't think there would be any problems with the place."

What Britz and his friends didn't know was that there were problems with their landlord. After moving in, they discovered that not only did the water heater break, but it also flooded the basement and caused damage in an area one of the roommates wanted to use as a bedroom.

"Our landlord knew about it and never told us," he said. "None of us found out until we started to move in."

That wasn't the last of their setbacks. Britz added that their landlord also agreed to clean the carpets and repaint the rooms before they moved in, but never did.

"She also refused to clean out the basement," Britz said, "and left the old tenants' furniture and trash in our yard."

Britz and his roommates moved into the house in August and the trash is still in their yard. He said their landlord threatened to take a portion of the security deposit if the trash wasn't removed.

"I really wish we would have gotten in touch with the people who lived in the house before us," Britz said. "I think we could have avoided a lot of problems if we would have known what to ask."

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