A proposed student tenant resource center was removed from the Associated Students of Madison's budget last week, and ASM members will vote to finalize that budget Wednesday.
Brandon Williams, chair of the ASM Student Services Finance Committee, said the $50,000 tenant resource center was removed from ASM's budget because it was presented with no clear details to support it.
However, Williams said there is still a chance the center could be returned to the budget if a clear plan for it is presented at this week's ASM Student Council meeting and two-thirds of the council members vote to approve the change.
Brenda Konkel, executive director of the Madison Tenant Resource Center, said she feels it is crucial to provide students with an organization that helps them understand their rights as tenants.
""This is a fundamental thing that the university should be providing for its students,"" she said.
Konkel said that if such a service is funded, it could help resolve a lot of common disputes between landlords and students involving security deposits, repairs and subletting.
""There are a lot of things we could do if we had the money to do it, but the university and the students just haven't decided how they can fund something like that, or maybe if they even want to,"" she said.
Ald. Bryon Eagon, District 8, said although the proposed center may not receive funding from ASM, there are other ways to solve the issues relating to student tenants.
He said education is the most important way to avoid some of these problems.
""So many students are signing their first or second leases ever and don't always know their rights or responsibilities,"" he said.
Williams said he does believe that some type of tenant resource center is something the student government should provide to students.
""It's obviously something that affects almost all students regardless of whether or not they live in the dorms currently, they probably will eventually end up renting somewhere,"" he said.
According to Williams, ASM currently has a website in the works that would provide a place for students to converse and rate certain landlords in the area.
However, he said ASM has faced some setbacks launching the website because of the difficulty of getting an outside company to place a bid on the website.
Eagon said city officials are also working on ways to mediate between landlords and students in a more streamlined way. He said this would allow students to avoid the court system, which can be a lengthy process.
