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By Kelly Rayburn

Daily Bruin Contributor At Harvard University, on the night before the first day of finals, students gather behind a dorm, take off their clothes and run a lap around Harvard yard – naked. At UCLA students yell at midnight, bang pots and pans and engage in water balloon fights. “On Glenrock it gets pretty intense; people throw water balloons and the different apartments have wars with hoses and that sort of thing,” said Molly Jones, a third-year English and history student who lives on Glenrock. During fall quarter’s midnight yell, Jones stayed in her room. Her roommate, though, went outside to watch the festivities. But later that night, when the two were in their room, Jones said the landlord came to their door and handed them an eviction notice. Like Jones, many UCLA students are having problems with their landlords over a range of issues, including Midnight Yell policies, security deposits, broken appliances and poor communication – in addition to rising rent prices that are already making some students consider leaving Westwood altogether. Midnight Yell During the Midnight Yell of fall quarter, 1999, students burned their textbooks in the street and police marched through Westwood. Television stations carried stories on “riots” at UCLA on their news programs. One might expect landlords to tighten up. Shelley Taylor, director of the North Village Improvement Committee and a Westwood homeowner, said at least one landlord has adopted a zero-tolerance policy. The landlord of one Glenrock complex will give a tenant “three days notice” if he or she is seen participating in the midnight yell, according to Taylor. But Yvonne Swaby, the manager of the Strathmore Regency complex, insists that she is not specifically out to get students for “midnight yelling.” “What building would permit people to yell at midnight?” she said. “I imagine that, as a tenant, you are permitted to do whatever you want in the street. If you do it in the building, that’s another story.” “Our policy is quiet after 10 p.m.,” she added. Swaby said no one from her complex has been evicted for participating in the midnight yell, but a few have been warned. Elizabeth Kemper, a counseling attorney at UCLA’s Student Legal services, said they see students who have been evicted “justly and unjustly.” – for participating in the Midnight Yell or otherwise. As for Jones, after she and her roommate threatened to take legal action, the landlord backed down and the two were not evicted.

Communication problems The Midnight Yell is not the only thing causing strife between landlords and students. Jason Medbury, a fourth-year theater student, lived in a Roebling apartment complex last year. “Basically (our landlord) would inconvenience the hell out of us,” he said Medbury said his landlord was constantly saying the apartments would be upgraded, but nothing was ever done. “They would say they’d hook-up a new refrigerator with an ice machine, and they’d hook it up, and it wouldn’t be operational. Or they’d say, ‘Clean out your cabinets, we’re going to do some work,’ and we’d clean out our cabinets and they wouldn’t do anything,” he said. The landlord was not available for comment after repeated phone calls. Patrick Lynch, who lived with Medbury, found it difficult to express his dissatisfaction to the landlord. “My biggest problem was, whenever we’d approach him about anything he’d always say, ‘You’re lying.’” According to Lynch, the landlord once told them work would be done in their room the night before it was done. When they asked why they were not given more warning the landlord said “I told you about this a few weeks ago,” Lynch said. Lynch said when he, Medbury and their roommates sought to find out how much their rent would be on their next lease, the landlord was misleading. “Every time we’d go to him he’d have a higher number,” Lynch said.         The four did not know how much rent they would have to pay for their next year until the evening before they were expected to sign or decline the lease, according to Lynch. “He was not honest with us,” Lynch said.

Security deposits Under Los Angeles civil code, no portion of a tenant’s security deposit may be deemed non-refundable. Any clause in a lease that says deductions will be made from the security deposit to re-carpet floors or paint walls, etc. is void. The landlord may deduct from a security deposit only if there is damage beyond normal “wear and tear,” Kemper said. “We deal with many issues as to whether deductions were proper or improper,” Kemper said. Lynch said he feels he was swindled by his landlord. “We didn’t get as much back as we should have,” said Lynch, referring to his security deposit, “From what I understand, though, that’s pretty standard.” “There was no damage done beyond normal usage,” he went on, “I think the money was used for regular cleaning and for painting.” Medbury said people he knew had money taken out of their deposit because they had a scratch on their counter. “This year we went back to that apartment, and the scratch was still there,” he said. Kemper strongly recommends students document the conditions of their apartment when they move in , and give a copy of their documentations to their landlord, to prove whether or not damage to the apartment existed before they became a tenant.

Repairs Landlords are obliged by law to keep their tenants’ apartments habitable, according to Kemper. By law, problems with plumbing, such as overflowing toilets, must be taken care of in a timely manner if the problems leave a unit uninhabitable. But a landlord is not required to fix appliances, such as a dishwasher or a refrigerator, unless the lease specifically says so. “A lot of landlords don’t supply refrigerators; some do, but they’re not required to,” Kemper said. Some landlords supply dishwashers and refrigerators but if they break, they break, Kemper added. Many students were satisfied with the upkeep of their apartments. Though he had his problems with his landlord, Medbury said maintenance was “actually pretty good.” Jeff Schinske, a fifth-year music student, has lived in the same apartment on Kelton Avenue for two years and was also impressed at his landlord’s efforts in repairing appliances. “Our refrigerator broke last year, and pretty much as soon as we figured out the thing was dead our manager had someone in here working on it.” But Jones found it difficult to get things repaired. Though she has requested more than once that they be repaired, the landlord has taken no action, Jones said.

Can’t we all just get along? Landlords cannot be blamed for all the difficulties that arise between themselves and tenants. Eitan Goldstein, a second-year student who lives in a Levering apartment, said he and his roommates have parties until 3 a.m. and his landlord says they “think they own the neighborhood.” “We’re actually pretty disrespectful,” he said. Taylor said students do not really understand that the community is not entirely theirs. “What the UCLA student isn’t aware of is that there are a lot of professionals and families in the area,” she said. “You’ve got to be a good tenant, you’ve got to be a good neighbor. You have to respect people’s rights to peace and quiet,” she continued. Schinske said he and his roommate do not have trouble with their apartment manager, but they do not “push the envelope” either. “All I hear about is all the horrible things that go on between students and landlords – but we don’t make waves here, so we have a good relationship,” he said.

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