The University of Michigan
announced its hybrid plan for the
fall semester in late June, allowing
dorms to reopen and remaining
flexible to students who do not want
to return to campus. However, com-
munity members have raised ques-
tions about off-campus housing and
what students are able to do about
leases if they do not plan to return
to campus in the fall.
Oxford
Companies
Associate
Director Katie Vohwinkle told The
Daily in an interview that they are
working with students who signed
a lease, but decided to not return to
campus amid COVID-19.
“We have been in touch with the
property owners, and every situa-
tion is a little bit different. But any-
one that has come to us so far and
expressed a need to get out of their
lease, we are assisting them and
trying to help them find someone
to take over their lease,” Vohwin-
kle said. “In years past, there have
been fees associated with that, us
marketing for them, but we (are) not
charging (now) and we have been
very successful in finding people to
take over leases, (but) they are still
responsible for the lease.”
Many
universities,
including
Harvard University and the Cal-
ifornia State University system,
have announced plans to go entirely
remote for the fall semester. Voh-
winkle said if the University were
to follow suit, they would have a
different approach to the decision
about their leases.
“We would look at the situation
differently if that were to happen,”
Vohwinkle said. “We would reach
out to the individual owner about
how to handle each individual prop-
erty. But, they all do have leases
(and) so far, we have been fortunate
and we have been able to help every
single person in that situation. We
do not have a clause in our leases to
break the lease… The students are
on a 12-month lease, these are not
academically driven (schedules).”
LSA junior Avaneesh Reddy told
The Daily in an email he signed a
lease last December and is strug-
gling to find a way to release his
commitment to living in the apart-
ment due to the pandemic.
“I signed my lease back in
December at Landmark, as apart-
ments were pretty much running
out for next year,” Reddy said. “It
seems like there’s no way to break
the lease. I’ve spoken to the manage-
ment and explained the situation
that I shall not be returning to cam-
pus during the next semester, but
they were pretty nonchalant and
dismissive of the financial strain
that it might put to continue hold-
ing such unoccupied space for most
families.”
As an international student,
Reddy said that the subletting pro-
cess is complicated and these road-
blocks have made a challenging
situation more difficult to navigate
since it is harder for him to return
to the U.S.
“Landmark has made things
worse by preventing subleasing and
only allowing reletting of the entire
lease,” Reddy said. “Since almost no
one is looking to take up a 12 month
lease now, it seems I have no legal
way to sublease my apartment. As
an international student who trav-
elled back to India due to the pan-
demic, I can say with confidence
that I’ll be staying back and com-
pleting the semester online. I’m also
considering taking a gap semester,
but there’s a lot to be considered,
and having a huge housing debt is
not making things easier.”
Landmark declined to comment
on their leasing and reletting poli-
cies. The Daily also reached out to
Arbor Blu, The Hub - Ann Arbor,
Zaragon West, Zaragon Place and
University Towers, all of which
declined to comment.
LSA junior Deedy Chang talked
to The Daily about her experience
working to sublease her room in a
house for the upcoming school year.
“I am currently trying to find
someone to take over my lease. If
it doesn’t work I’ll probably switch
to subletting,” Chang said. “I con-
tacted my landlord when I found
out that I might not return to cam-
pus or I might want to look for a
space with less people because I live
in a house of seven.”
2
Thursday, July 30, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NEWS
Scattered on the front steps of
the federal building in downtown
Ann Arbor, approximately 200
Michigan residents of all ages
and races gathered on Saturday
afternoon to protest against racial
injustice and the prospect of
federal officers entering Detroit.
Protesters across the country
have
marched
for
months
hoping to end police brutality
and dismantle systemic racism.
However,
Saturday’s
protest
in Ann Arbor took on another
cause after President Donald
Trump ordered federal officers to
Portland, Ore., to quell protests,
raising questions about whether
the U.S. government has exceeded
its authority and violated civil
rights.
In late June, Trump signed an
executive order to justify sending
federal officers to Portland in
order to protect federal property
from destruction. Portland, a city
known for its spirited activism,
has grown to become an epicenter
for protests in the wake of George
Floyd’s death at the hands of
police brutality.
The tense standoff in the
Portland has not just involved
protesters
and
the
federal
officers, as local officials have
also said the situation amounts to
federal overreach. Furthermore,
federal officers have deployed
tear gas into a crowd of Portland
protesters,
including
Portland
Mayor Ted Wheeler, in late July.
Trump
has
since
doubled
down and committed to sending
more federal officers to cities
like Chicago, New York City,
Philadelphia and Detroit, among
others.
These recent events were at
the forefront of the Ann Arbor
protesters’ activism Saturday.
The
event,
organized
by
Jeff Gaynor, Ann Arbor School
Board member, and local tutor
Amy
Lesemann
began
the
protest with speeches from local
activists and politicians including
candidates
for
Washtenaw
County prosecutor Hugo Mack,
Arianne Slay, Eli Savit and other
Washtenaw County officials.
Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher
Taylor said the U.S. must undergo
a major transformation to create
an inclusive community.
“The federal government, state
government, local government,
every community within the
United States of America requires
reworking and reimagining to
meet our goals and aspirations,”
Taylor said. “(Our goal is) a
community
that
embraces
everyone, where everyone has a
role to play, where everyone can
achieve what it is they wish to
achieve.”
Off-campus leases
present challenges
Downtown A2 lined
with 200 marchers
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Protesters fight against
prospect of federal
officers entering Detroit
As the pandemic rages
on, students struggle to
break housing contracts