Although it is not the day after Thanksgiving, today marks the start of a shopping season-the apartment shopping season, one possibly even more frenzied than that of Christmas. While last year renters had until Dec. 15 to renew their leases, this year the date has been pushed up to Nov. 15. Today is also the day landlords can legally show apartments to the next prospective tenants, a definitive change from last year, when landlords could sign leases for property before they started showing it on Dec. 15.
Last year's system, which had students signing leases before they had even seen apartments, was contrary not only to common sense, but to students' best interests. Reform of the lease-signing and renewal process was needed, but this year's alterations fail to improve the system.
It appears lawmakers perceived showing apartments to be far more of a hassle than signing leases for apartments. In turn, they set official limits on when landlords could show property. Yet while groups of students tromping through one's apartment may be an inconvenience, it has better long-term ramifications than hasty judgment.
Indeed, hasty judgment and added stress are what the new housing deadline encourages for current renters and their potential replacements. If future tenants wish to rent the apartment closest to campus, they must hurriedly assemble groups and sign on waiting lists with less than three months of the school year over. If current renters-many of whom are not aware that they must renew their leases in the first place-have any uncertainty with their housing plans, they must decide whether to renew while joining the mad dash to get on waiting lists. This means current renters must make decisions without even knowing how winter effects their heating bill and building's structural integrity, a problem resolved when the lease signing date stood at December 15.
Indeed, the problem was not with the date of December 15; students realize landlords need several months to finalize their affairs. The problem is not that students begin looking at housing too early either. Instead, the problem is that students must legally commit to housing too early. To truly serve students, lawmakers simply need to reverse last year's laws and prohibit lease signing until December 15 while granting students permission to view housing beforehand.
