Roat said after reaching out to

Oxford Companies, she was told they

were not planning on providing rent

assistance.

“Essentially they said that they

were a management company and the

individual property owner of 425 Hill

had chosen not to make any changes

whatsoever.,” Roat wrote. “The person

who emailed me recommended I apply

for unemployment, and said I should

consider subletting — I still live there,

so that is not an option, and moving in

with my parents would be dangerous

for them.”

On
March
23,
Roat
posted

screenshots of her emails and text

messages with Oxford Companies

in a Facebook group with University

students. Roat said in addition to

declining to offer rent relief, Oxford

Companies had no plans to allow

tenants to break leases early.

Oxford Companies owns several

apartment complexes and houses

in the Ann Arbor area. On behalf of

Oxford Companies, Karin Meier,

director of Shared Services, shared a

statement with The Daily. Meier said

the company is aware of the difficulties

their tenants are facing and said they

will be waiving all late fees for their

residents.

“The COVID-19 outbreak and the

actions necessary to slow its spread

are creating hardships for everyone,”

Meier wrote. “At Oxford, our first

priority will always be the safety and

wellbeing of our residents. To that

end, our maintenance staff is taking

strong
precautions
and
adhering

to the protocols of the CDC and

Health Department as we service the

properties to ensure resident safety.”

Meier wrote that the company is

looking for ways to lessen the burden

on their residents, but is unable to

construct a universal policy for all its

properties.

“While
we
don’t
own
any

residential assets, Oxford provides

property management services on

behalf of multiple property owners,

each with their own unique financial

considerations such as property taxes

and
mortgage
payments,”
Meier

wrote. “As such, we unfortunately

aren’t able to offer a uniform policy

regarding rent payments. What we can

do, however, is continue the discussion

around COVID-19 to understand how

residents, property owners, lenders

and the City of Ann Arbor are impacted

and identify possible solutions.”

In response to those in search of

rent relief, University alum Hoai An

Pham created a Facebook page for

Washtenaw County Mutual Aid +

Resources to support tenants who

need assistance paying rent during

COVID-19.

She said she created the page

because she feels it is important to

ensure people have access to as much

information as possible.

“I saw lots of other Facebook groups

being created around the country, and

a lot of us have been learning from each

other and communicating with each

other. I think that’s really important to

be collaborating and sharing resources

when we can,” Pham said. “I was

seeing a lot of people just trying to

share as much as they could on their

own Facebook pages in the hopes that

people would see it, and there were,

like, 20 different research documents

being circulated.

Washtenaw Mutual Aid has been

in existence for over a year, but Pham

said she thought it was important for

everyone to have access to any and all

resources they may need in this time of

uncertainty.

“The Mutual Aid Network facility

has existed for a year, in part connected

to the Mutual Aid Disaster Relief

organization, which has existed for a

super long time,” Pham said. “Peace

House, in Ypsi, is a house of hospitality

and has been doing work for homeless

folks for a super long time. Detroit

has been doing all the groundwater

delivery to folks who don’t have

running water. So, all this stuff existed

before. I think that in these times,

there has been a higher need in terms

of mutual aid because a lot of people

are losing their jobs.”

LSA seniors Sharif Krabti and

Katrina
Stalcup
and
Rackham

student Casey Jong are working on a

campaign called No Rent Michigan.

The campaign aims to help renters

receive support and guidance during

the COVID-19 pandemic. Krabti said

their short-term goals are to empower

tenants.

“We took the approach of getting

resources out there as much as possible

to allow people to organize for their

own situations, and hopefully get some

concessions or get some relief for this

month’s rent or for April’s rent,” Krabti

said. “And then our long-term goal is

trying to build a network of tenants

across the state of Michigan.

Stalcup said Ann Arbor renters

should not strike by themselves. She

advised renters struggling to pay rent

to look at the organization’s resource

guide for advice on how to approach

asking for a rent waiver for April.

“(Striking by themselves) puts

them at risk,” Stalcup said. “Really

consider our Google Doc and our list

of resources that shows you how you

can create a network within your own

building, and then also long-term,

be connected to a statewide group of

people that are supporting renters

standing in solidarity with renters and

will continue to show up.”

Moses
moved
out
of
his

apartment and returned home,

but he still has to pay rent on

his Vic Village apartment. He

said he posted a listing for his

apartment in several Facebook

groups and utilized Vic Village’s

sublet-assistance system but has

yet to find someone to sublet his

apartment.

“It
hasn’t
happened
yet,”

Moses said. “But I’m still holding

on to hope because rent is pretty

expensive.”

Moses attributed some of that

trouble of finding a subletter to

there being so few students left

in Ann Arbor.

“It’s pretty hard to find a

subletter
when
everybody’s

leaving,” Moses said. “A lot of

people kind of got — for a lack

of a better word — screwed,

because some people just don’t

have resources. I’m definitely

one of the lucky ones where I am

able to at least go back and have

someplace here, but it’s definitely

affected the market.”

LSA
sophomore
Harrison

George said he is also struggling

to sublet his apartment for the

summer.

“I have it through the summer,

and I was planning on subleasing

it,” George said. “I had a lot of

interest from people before all

of this happened, and then once

they announced online classes,

interest started to decline for

everyone. All my friends who I

know who have housing right now

are amazed at how drastically

quick people were interested in it

and then just kind of faded away.”

While people had expressed

interest
in
subletting
his

apartment, George said it is

usually hard to sublet even

without
the
effects
of
the

coronavirus.

“Ann Arbor is a ghost town in

the summer,” he said. “The only

time you’re going to get someone

to sublease is usually for spring

term. And then July and August

are just sunk costs. Like, you are

not going to get anyone. That’s

usually, in my experience, how

it’s gone.”

Most
University
students

are only enrolled in classes

from
September
to
April.

During the 2018-2019 school

year, enrollment dropped from

around 45,000 students during

the fall and winter semesters to

an average of a little less than

4,000 students over spring and

summer.

Students
also
expressed

concerns
about
the
greater

effects of the pandemic going

into the summer. Last week,

Michigan
Gov.
Gretchen

Whitmer issued an executive

order directing all non-essential

businesses to shut down to slow

the spread of the virus. However,

with no clear end in sight, many

are
worried
the
restrictions

could last much longer.

George said he thinks the

stay-at-home order was the right

call but is concerned about the

economic effects.

“The stay-at-home order is

going to make it even worse now

because people are going to now

move out of Ann Arbor even

more,” George said.

LSA
sophomore
Trenten

Ingell helped create a petition to

Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher

Taylor calling for the halting

of all rent payments in light of

the coronavirus outbreak. As of

Wednesday night, the petition

had more than 2,800 signatures.

“We wanted to represent both

on-
and
off-campus
housing

situations and the issues that a lot

of people are having with where

they are living,” Ingell said of the

petition. “Some people want to

leave, and they still have to pay

rent. We thought that was kind

of — pardon my language, but —

bullshit. In the dorms, people

were being de facto evicted.

They did not want it to look like

an eviction but, I mean, it really

was.”

Ingell lived in North Quad

Residence Hall this year but

moved out when the University

made the decision to consolidate

on-campus housing. Ingell said he

recognized the difficulty of the

University’s situation but said he

feels the $1,200 reimbursement

that the school is offering its

residents is not enough.

“We ran through some of

the numbers,” Ingell said. “We

should really be paying, and get

paid back, a little more than

$3,000 just with our meal plan

and housing based on the time

that we would not be living in the

dorms or taking advantage of the

meal plan.”

On March 27, the University

announced that students will

receive dining credits for their

unused meals and Dining Dollars

that can be used when classes

resume in-person instruction.

There
remains
a
lot
of

uncertainty
about
what
this

summer holds for tenants in

Ann Arbor. But amid all of the

adjustments — returning home,

adjusting
to
online
classes,

struggling to find a subletter —

students said they feel like they

need to remain positive. Moses

said he appreciates the resources

he has and is looking out for those

who have less. He also said he is

trying to prioritize productivity,

noting that an outbreak of the

plague sent Isaac Newton home

from university in the 1660s.

While in quarantine, Newton

developed
groundbreaking

theories
and
mathematical

concepts.

“He went home, and we all

know about Newton now because

of that summer,” Moses said.

“Everybody
should
just
stay

productive and try to think about

other people.”

John Grieve can be reached at

jgrieve@umich.edu.

Thursday, April 2, 2020 — 3
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

SUBLET
From Page 1

Read more at
MichiganDaily.com

RENT
From Page 1

NURSES
From Page 2

On March 23, two days after Nurse

1 was told to avoid work for two weeks,

all Michigan Medicine employees

received an email instructing health

care professionals that had previously

been identified as having had a high-

risk exposure to return to work if they

do not present any symptoms.

“As
a
result
of
widespread

community transmission, the state

has issued new information today

stating that healthcare workers who

have been placed off work following

travel or an exposure and who are

asymptomatic may be asked to return

to work,” the email reads. “If you

develop symptoms, stay at home. If

you develop symptoms at work, do

not complete your shift and return

home.”

Nurse 1 said when they received

this email, they were beginning

to
experience
some
respiratory

symptoms and attempted to get

tested for COVID-19.

“At that point, I was starting to

have some mild upper respiratory

symptoms, I was feeling pretty

congested,
fatigued,
getting

headaches,” Nurse 1 said. “I called

employee health and told them all

the symptoms I was having and they

were basically like, ‘You don’t meet

the criteria for testing at this time

because you don’t have a fever and

cough, so you’re okay to come back to

work and just wear a mask.’”

In early March, University of

Michigan employees were given

access to extra personal time off

for COVID-19 related emergencies.

Katie Oppenheim, chair of the

University of Michigan Professional

Nurses Council, said extra time

off was negotiated for health care

professionals.

“The University, March 13, put out

this 80-hour special personal time off

bank which is to be used for COVID-

related things, including childcare,”

Oppenheim said. “We negotiated an

additional 120 hours for our members

because they’re at higher risk, and

then immediately the health system

provided that to everybody, which is

great.”

Nurse 1, having stayed home while

sick using the 80-hour bank, said the

120 hours cannot be accessed unless

the employee tests positive and that

this creates difficulties for people

experiencing symptoms who can’t get

tested.

“I know a lot of other people on my

unit are also experiencing the same

symptoms and they’re just making

it really difficult for nurses to get

tested,” Nurse 1 said. “Not only do I

have a confirmed patient exposure

and I’m sick, but the University of

Michigan won’t let me access that

special PTO bank that was bargained

for because I’m not getting tested.”

Oppenheim elaborated on the

current policy of testing individuals

only
with
strong
symptoms,

specifically a fever.

“There’s no special treatment for

anybody about testing, health care

providers, anybody that works in

the institution, everybody is treated

the same based on symptoms,”

Oppenheim said. “The only time you

stay home is if you are symptomatic,

so if you were exposed and are

completely
asymptomatic,
then

you’re just going to monitor your

temperature and continue to work.”

Michigan Medicine spokesperson

Mary Masson said she had no

information to share with The Daily

regarding the criteria that employees

must meet to be tested at the moment.

Nursing junior Rachel Quigley,

who also is currently working as an

aid at Michigan Medicine, said she

has faith in the organization’s ability

to protect students and workers.

“Michigan Medicine is really

committed to protecting us, I feel

really comfortable and they have an

employee hotline and everything,”

Quigley said. “They update us

numerous times every day, our

supervisors have been really excellent

at keeping us updated, we’re not really

in the dark or anything, and there’s

information being sent out all the

time.”

Reporter Hannah Mackay can be

reached at mackayh@umich.edu.