‘A rock and a hard place.’ As UNC goes online, students scramble to get out of leases
Students at the University of North Carolina didn’t foresee a global pandemic when they signed leases for off-campus apartments or at least didn’t think in-person classes would last less than two weeks.
The university announced Monday it would move all classes online after several clusters of COVID-19 were discovered on campus. A total of 279 students and 45 staff members have tested positive since February.
Now many students who signed leases find themselves in a bind, trying to either escape their leases or find someone to take them over.
“They’re stuck between a rock and hard place,” said Aditi Kharod, a UNC senior who is subletting her and her roommate’s rooms.
“The situation is either losing thousands of dollars if you don’t get a sublease and move back home, or stay here to get what you paid for but put yourself at risk to catch COVID. Everybody’s kind of wrestling with what decision to make — whether they should stay or whether they should leave.”
Kharod said she would have to pay close to $10,000 of the year’s rent if she were to break her lease agreement. Although a scholarship covers the cost of her housing, the issue falls on her roommate, she said.
Since Monday’s announcement, the “UNC Chapel Hill Subleases, Roommates, Off Campus Housing & Apartments” Facebook group has been flooded with students subletting their rooms and students looking for rooms after choosing to move out of campus housing.
“With the move to online classes for the rest of the semester and the ‘de-densifying’ of on-campus housing, I am looking for someone to take over my 1-year lease in a 3bedroom/2bathroom townhouse,” posted Sarah Kreiler, a recent graduate, in the Facebook group.
Moving in has already taken money and time for Kharod in having to spend money on groceries and other supplies, and classes haven’t stopped for students facing this issue.
“[The apartment I live in] and I’m assuming many other campus apartment complexes make it very difficult for you to cancel or break your lease,” said Kharod. “They don’t really give you any leeway in that whatsoever.”
Christina Poore of The Scion Group, the property management company for the Lark Chapel Hill apartment complex, said her employer would work with students.
“At this point, we are not aware of any of our current residents seeking to terminate their agreements or find replacements,” Poore wrote in an email, “but we will always work cooperatively with any resident whose plans have changed, to try to mitigate the situation together.”
The complex, which houses nearly 600 residents, is making available the units of international students unable to return to town because of the virus, Poore said. And “many new residents have signed” leases within the last few days.
Jim Lilley of Dunlap-Lilley, the property company for Mill Creek Condominiums, said tenants there can’t break lease contracts and have to sublet their rooms if they’re moving out. He said a few tenants have already done so.
Lilley told The N&O that Dunlap-Lilley has received several calls from parents and students asking about available rooms after having to move out of on-campus housing.
The AC Hotel in Chapel Hill across from campus is offering a special deal of $79 per night for one week for students with UNC student IDs, according to a Facebook post from Monnoca Baddonih, director of sales for Marriott. The hotel’s standard rate is $102 a night, according to its website.
The Aloft Hotel also announced that it is offering “alternative student housing” for students doing online learning.
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 5:10 PM with the headline "‘A rock and a hard place.’ As UNC goes online, students scramble to get out of leases."
