2008 Woodie Awards
Committee formed to ease housing issues
Amy Eschenbauch
Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: News
Whitewater Student Government Sen. Dane Checolinski is heading up a committee to help students work with landlords and make sure rentals are to code.
Senators Harry Draayers, Sarah Herlache, and Brandon VerVelde are also on the committee.
"We want to see even better quality housing for students; that's what WSG is here for, to give students a voice," VerVelde said.
The committee is working to create checklists of common violations for students to use when moving into new rentals, and setting up a Web site with links to the statues and the checklist.
City Manager Kevin Brunner would like to see licensure for landlords and inspection.
"We are the only community in the UW system that does not have inspection programs on the physical level; we have been debating whether that would be a good thing for Whitewater," Brunner said. "The bottom line is we want safe sanitary decent housing in this community."
VerVelde made a series of letter templates students can send to landlords when they have problems in the rentals.
The first letter will tell the landlord what the problem is. If the landlord doesn't respond, a second letter will follow repeating the problem.
The third letter will state the tenant sent multiple letters and is looking into fixing the problem. The fourth will state, "I, the tenant, fixed the problem and will be sending the landlord a bill."
VerVelde also made a thank you letter template for when the landlord fixes the problem.
WSG's goal is to get the information to the students, and help facilitate relationships between the student tenants and landlords.
"We are trying to get information to students who care about where they live, and they can do it. "A lot these problems don't happen overnight. We are hoping to stop them before they start," Checolinski said.
Any promise made by the landlord to repair something should specify a date and time, according to the state statute. The tenant has to be notified if there is a delay.
Senators Harry Draayers, Sarah Herlache, and Brandon VerVelde are also on the committee.
"We want to see even better quality housing for students; that's what WSG is here for, to give students a voice," VerVelde said.
The committee is working to create checklists of common violations for students to use when moving into new rentals, and setting up a Web site with links to the statues and the checklist.
City Manager Kevin Brunner would like to see licensure for landlords and inspection.
"We are the only community in the UW system that does not have inspection programs on the physical level; we have been debating whether that would be a good thing for Whitewater," Brunner said. "The bottom line is we want safe sanitary decent housing in this community."
VerVelde made a series of letter templates students can send to landlords when they have problems in the rentals.
The first letter will tell the landlord what the problem is. If the landlord doesn't respond, a second letter will follow repeating the problem.
The third letter will state the tenant sent multiple letters and is looking into fixing the problem. The fourth will state, "I, the tenant, fixed the problem and will be sending the landlord a bill."
VerVelde also made a thank you letter template for when the landlord fixes the problem.
WSG's goal is to get the information to the students, and help facilitate relationships between the student tenants and landlords.
"We are trying to get information to students who care about where they live, and they can do it. "A lot these problems don't happen overnight. We are hoping to stop them before they start," Checolinski said.
Any promise made by the landlord to repair something should specify a date and time, according to the state statute. The tenant has to be notified if there is a delay.
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