Opinion

Students being taken advantage of 
by those with wealth and power 
on college campuses isn’t new; 
graduate students had to go on 
strike this fall in order for the 
University of Michigan to meet 
their basic requests and needs. 
It’s now clear that reopening as 
the University did was not safe, 
and landlords benefitted. This 
situation is indicative of a much 
broader problem of businesses 
and institutions in our community 
taking its backbone — college 
students — for granted, leaving 
students with their hands tied. 

One reason why Ann Arbor 

landlords 
are 
able 
to 
take 

advantage of students in such a 
way is the scarcity of good housing 
options, 
which 
incentivizes 

students to lock in houses as 
early in the season as possible. 
Landlords 
likely 
do 
this 
to 

combat one of the few safeguards 
students have in the off-campus 
housing market, which is a city 
ordinance requiring landlords to 
wait a minimum of 70 days from 
the beginning of a lease-term to 
officially show or lease a property 
to prospective new tenants. This 
early leasing period requires many 
students to pay housing deposits 
almost a full year in advance. This 
may be particularly difficult for 
low-income students who cannot 
afford to let a leasing company 
hold onto a large deposit for almost 
two years.

The difficulty of paying a 

housing deposit a year early 
has been exacerbated by the 
pandemic and resulting economic 
downturn, where many families 
lost 
their 
primary 
source 

income and need the increased 
flexibility of holding onto this 
money for several more weeks 
or months. While the pandemic 
would seem like a great time for 
landlords who cater primarily to 
students to be accommodating 
and understanding, many have 
instead decided to capitalize on 
the insecure nature of student 
housing. 
The 
pandemic 
has 

enabled landlords to act with 
greed, and to act quickly, pushing 
students into a corner where they 
must choose between housing 
insecurity 
for 
the 
following 

school year or risk putting down 
a security deposit, sometimes over 
$1000, on a property in which they 
may never live. These landlords 
are, in essence, preying on an 
inescapable vulnerability shared 
by and fairly unique to nearly all 
college students. 

Rising rent prices in Ann 

Arbor further exacerbate the 
stress of the financial burdens 
that an early lease cycle creates.
The city consistently ranks as 
one of the most expensive college 
towns to live in. Rent prices have 
been rising at a whopping 15.9% 
year-over-year, second only to 
Gainesville, Fla., the home of the 
University of Florida. There are 
several factors that have led to 
this high rent inflation in Ann 
Arbor. With off-campus student 
property occupancy at 98%, Ann 
Arbor is a landlord’s market that 

leaves little power to tenants. 
Landlords are therefore able to get 
away with higher rents. Further, 
the fact that the University of 
Michigan has a relatively wealthy 
student body doesn’t help with the 
rising rent prices. According to 
a study by The New York Times, 
the median income of the U-M 
student’s family is $154,000, with 
about 9.3% students belonging to 
the Top 1% families in the U.S. by 
household income. Only 3.6% of 
students come from the bottom 
20% in terms of household income. 
As long as students are able to pay 
the increasing rents, the trend of 
rents increasing will continue. 

Therefore, 
The 
Michigan 

Daily 
Editorial 
Board 
urges 

the Ann Arbor City Council 
to extend the Early Leasing 
Ordinance. 
Moving 
back 
the 

leasing deadline is necessary to 
allow students to fully consider 
their housing needs and options 
for the next year. For example, in 
Pittsburgh, Pa., which is home 
to the University of Pittsburgh, 
Carnegie Mellon University and 
Chatham University, the typical 
lease renewal cycle for off-campus 
student housing doesn’t start 
until spring. That gives students 
ample time to decide if they like 
their 
current 
apartment 
and 

roommates, both of which are 
major factors in considering a lease 
renewal. It also allows students to 
have increased financial flexibility, 
since they don’t have to pay a 
housing deposit a year in advance. 

However, it’s important to note 

that 
extending 
the 
ordinance 

will not solve all of the problems 
with early leasing. Many Ann 
Arbor real estate companies have 
found ways to creatively interpret 
this 
ordinance. 
These 
leasing 

companies 
allow 
students 
to 

reserve, with a deposit, properties 
several weeks before the deadline. 
Students will then be provided with 
the official paperwork and tour on 
the 70th day of the current lease. If 
a student fails to sign the lease, they 
will lose their reservation deposit. 
This in effect allows real estate 
companies to lease their units 
before they are legally allowed, 
with no official leasing paperwork 
completed 
until 
the 
deadline 

passes. So, while regulations help to 
an extent, the onus is on students to 
unanimously organize themselves 
to sign leases only in the spring 
semester in order to bring a lasting 
change in moving the leasing cycle 
to later in the school year.

Therefore, the Editorial Board 

also urges students themselves 
to fight against this early leasing 
period that landlords enforce on 
campus. While the situation may 
appear hopeless, students do have 
the power to inform themselves 
of the risks of buying into this 
transparent money-grab by our 
community’s landlords. We can use 
our voices to direct fellow students 
to resources that inform them of the 
nature of a student tenant-landlord 
agreement. We can use our voices 
to direct students to landlords 
who treat tenants with dignity and 
respect. And we can use our voices 

to make very public the leasing 
companies in our community 
whose efforts are transparently 
profit-based. Unfortunately, our 
primary source of power in this 
instance is merely to expose 
large Ann Arbor landlords like 
Landmark and Campus Realty, 
who have long-standing, well-
known reputations on campus of 
treating their tenants poorly — at 
least according to online reviews.

Because 
getting 
the 
entire 

student body together will become 
a challenge as long as there is a 
dearth of good housing options, 
an effective way to tackle this 
challenge is for the University to 
step in and offer more low-cost 
on-campus housing at convenient 
locations across campus. Since 
applications 
for 
on-campus 

housing start later in the spring, 
this reduces the pressure on 
students to quickly lock in off-
campus options this early in the 
year. And regarding rising rent 
prices, the onus is once again on the 
City Council to enforce rent control. 
Alternatively, the University should 
step in to offer more low-cost, 
on-campus housing. This will help 
reduce rents and make the housing 
process more equitable for students 
from all sections and financial 
backgrounds. There is urgency in 
taking such measures, particularly 
in the wake of the pandemic which 
has disproportionately impacted 
students 
from 
lower-income 

financial backgrounds.

At least on the local level, 

politicians have attempted to make 
housing more affordable around 
Ann Arbor through the proposal 
of a new tax levy, revenues from 
which would be dedicated to the 
construction of new affordable 
housing units throughout the 
city. The proposal, commonly 
referred to as Proposal-C, is on the 
November election ballots. 

That’s a huge step for the City 

of Ann Arbor, but as of yet there 
are little details as to where these 
new units may be constructed. 
Students have a voice in this. Ann 
Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor 
(D) has been vocal in his desire to 
maintain flexibility with regards 
to potential sites for new affordable 
housing 
construction. 
Students 

who agree should feel empowered 
to contact the mayor’s office and 
communicate their beliefs. Student 
agency has been lacking on campus 
for much of this year, especially 
with regard to the University’s 
substandard 
protocols 
for 

managing COVID-19. Affordable 
housing can make a tangible 
difference to thousands of students 
at the University, just as improving 
COVID-19 safety measures made a 
tangible difference to the Graduate 
Employees’ Organization. Students 
with a vested interest in obtaining a 
more affordable living situation on 
campus should make their voices 
heard, just as the GEO did. This 
year has shown us nothing if not 
that progress has to be driven from 
the grassroots.

ERIN WHITE
Managing Editor

Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building

420 Maynard St. 

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.

ELIZABETH LAWRENCE

Editor in Chief

BRITTANY BOWMAN AND 

EMILY CONSIDINE

Editorial Page Editors

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

JENNA SCHEEN | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT JSCHEEN@UMICH.EDU

Ray Ajemian

Zack Blumberg

Brittany Bowman

Ajit Chilukuri

Emily Considine

Elizabeth Cook
Jess D’Agostino
Jenny Gurung
Cheryn Hong
Krystal Hur
Min Soo Kim

Zoe Phillips
Mary Rolfes

Gabrijela Skoko

Joel Weiner
Erin White

Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building

420 Maynard St. 

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.

ELIZABETH LAWRENCE

Editor in Chief

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of The Daily’s Editorial Board. 

All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

Wednesday, October 21, 2020 — 8
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

FROM THE DAILY

Combatting exploitative off-campus 

housing in Ann Arbor

I

t is now October in Ann Arbor and along with midterms comes another 
stressor for students: signing off-campus leasing agreements for the 2021-
2022 school year. As with every year, landlords across the campus have 

started sending notices for renewals with a short time-frame for decisions. While 
the ongoing pandemic has created uncertainty around an in-residence 2020-2021 
school year for students, this has not deterred landlords from pushing ahead with 
the lease renewals. This action brings into question not just the long-standing 
problem of early lease-renewal cycles and rising rent prices in Ann Arbor but also 
the ethics of landlords who do not put students’ best interests at the forefront.

C

ollege 
students 
have 

done 
everything 
they 

can 
to 
acclimate 
to 

the 
new 
pandemic 
lifestyle. 

Months of quarantine followed 
by continuous social-distancing 
and adherence to public health 
guidelines brought us to a point 
today where grabbing a mask 
before heading out the door 
has become a natural instinct. 
Though maintaining six feet 
of 
space 
between 
ourselves 

and those we encounter is not 
exactly how we planned to live 
our lives as students at a Big 
Ten university, we’re making 
it work. After all, University of 
Michigan students, for the most 
part, understand the severity of 
the pandemic and do their part in 
keeping our community safe.

What I have not been able to 

acclimate to is remote learning, 
and I believe I speak on behalf 
of the rest of the student body 
when I say that it’s extremely 
challenging to do so. Quite 
frankly, 
our 
current 
virtual 

learning environment is making it 
hard to do so. 

Back in August, as the fall 

2020 semester was approaching, 
University 
President 
Mark 

Schlissel’s 
optimism 
about 

in-person 
instruction 
and 

eagerness to get back on to 
campus made many students 
believe in the possibility of 
a 
positive 
virtual 
learning 

experience. Despite returning 

students’ 
apprehension 
to 

resume virtual learning after 
a dismal, lonely ending to our 
winter 2020 semester, it seemed 
like logging back on to Zoom and 
Canvas this time around would be 
different. After all, the University 
administration and instructors 
alike had four long months to 
brainstorm and execute new ways 
to create an effective and valuable 
virtual learning environment. 

Other than a few courses being 

offered in a hybrid format, very 
little has been modified since 
the commencement of remote 

learning in mid-March. It seems 

as 
though 
many 
instructors 

have done nothing to alter their 
curricula to better accommodate 
these circumstances, thinking 
that students would fare well 
learning material at a similar 
structure and pace as semesters 
past. We’re not well. This is not 
the “Michigan Difference” we 
signed up for. 

In no way am I denying the 

necessity of remote learning; it is 
the safest option for continuing 
our education amid the adversity 
we 
are 
facing. 
That 
said, 

University instructors need to 
recognize that they are no longer 
in the classroom. They need 
to recognize that the majority 
of students no longer enjoy a 
refreshing walk to class in the 
morning, the ability to greet 
and catch up with their friends 
in the Diag or collaborate on 
assignments with classmates in 
the library. 

Our minds are continuously 

working while our bodies stay 
put; we spend the majority of 
our day in a cramped space, 
staring at a screen with little 
pause or break. This change of 
pace correlates to a decline in 
mental health across the student 
body — instructors and the 
administration need to adjust 
their current methods of virtual 
teaching to better accommodate 
our needs.

Let’s further examine student 

mental health and why the 
current means of virtual learning 
is digging us into a deeper hole. 
In early August, the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention 
released research in light of the 
pandemic which reported that a 
disproportionately high number 
— roughly 25% — of American 
citizens between the ages of 18 
and 24 “seriously contemplated 
suicide in June.” 

To reiterate, one in four young 

adults between 18 and 24 years 
old reported having grievous 
thoughts of ending their lives. 
This research was conducted in 
June, a time when the weather 
was finally warm again and 
most students were relieved 
from their studies. If a quarter 
of young people in that age range 
were 
seriously 
contemplating 

suicide then, I cannot begin to 

imagine what that statistic is 
now. October brings colder 
weather and shorter days, and 
though we used to look forward 
to this month to celebrate fall, 
game days and Halloween, our 
celebrations largely have been 
put on pause. 

The 
remainder 
of 
this 

semester is going to be dark — 
literally and figuratively. Student 
mental health is only going to get 
worse as school work picks up. 
Instructors must acknowledge 
this moving forward and reflect 
it in their teaching. 

On 
behalf 
of 
students, 

please attempt to make virtual 
class both more manageable 
and enjoyable. Enable rolling 
deadlines to account for the 
possibility of adverse situations. 
Make lectures more interactive 
and entertaining. Make yourself 
a resource for students to reach 
out to with concerns regarding 
mental health or any troubles 
they are facing. It is not enough 
to include a statement on COVID-
19 in course syllabi and never 
again address the topic for the 
remainder of the semester. 

This is not to say that 

virtual learning is necessarily 
easy 
for 
instructors, 
but 

you are the ones in control. 
University 
administrators, 

too, need to do their part, as 
they are the ones to oversee 
and facilitate our education. It 
is their responsibility to urge 
instructors to assess the needs 
of their students and adjust 
their curricula accordingly. 

Some 
students 
might 
be 

managing these changes well, 
but many feel lost, unable to 
break away from the mental 
fog that virtual learning is 
pressing upon us. We are not 
doing well now and it will 
only get worse, and we must 
reflect this in our approach to 
virtual learning. There was an 
expectation among instructors 
and faculty at the University 
that taking past curricula and 
implementing them virtually 
without any changes would 
work seamlessly. 

It does not. We are not coping. 

Let’s work together to make 
this virtual format as bearable 
and effective as possible before 
it’s too late.

SPIROS KASS | COLUMN

Revamp virtual learning, our well-

being depends on it

Student mental 
health is only 

going to get worse 

as school work 

picks up.

Spiros Kass can be reached at 

spikass@umich.edu.
Read more at MichiganDaily.com

