A new housing policy from University Property Management will displace some of the residents living in off-campus housing beginning next semester.
Residents of University Park North and University Park South who are no longer students will not be offered new leases, Philippe Cumia, Director of the Student Housing Program, said during a town hall meeting Feb. 4.
Those who are not affiliated with the school but who lived in the apartments before they were bought by the University in 2005 can retain their agreement. Students living in the off-campus housing through the furnished bedspace program will not be affected.
“Basically everyone is going to be evicted except for the legacy holders,” said Lauren Utterback, a graduate student in the English literature department. “All the alumni will have to move out. My roommate is going to be evicted.”
A change in leasing agreements will also impact how long incoming residents can stay in the off-campus housing.
Residents can choose between a primary or individual license agreement. Students with the primary licensee program will be able to find their own roommates as long as they are enrolled at SF State.
A sole leaseholder will be in charge of rent, parking spaces, extra storage and problems such as lockouts. If the primary leaseholder graduates, they must move out along with the rest the people living with them.
Individual agreements, called the “bed space” program, will allow students to sign their own lease without having to worry about finding roommates, according to UPM Administrative Analyst Melanie Danielle Kemp.
UPM anticipates that an overwhelming amount of students will choose individual leases and will hold a lottery for spaces, Kemp said.
Leaseholders will bear sole responsibility for paying rent, and will be penalized with a hold on their registration for unpaid financial obligations to the University.
UPN and UPS residents will have until April 30 to inform the housing office of their lease agreement choice.
“I have mixed emotions, it’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be,” political science major Balerio Reyes said. “I’m probably going to go with the primary licensee program since it allows you to stay in the same apartment with the same roommates.”
UPM will host two additional meetings, one Feb. 6 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m and the other Feb. 9 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Towers Conference Center.
“We are not kicking people out, we’re just trying to make space for students coming in,” UPM Director Jim Bolinger said. “Once a student graduates they have to move on.”
