93 UMass grad students evicted

By Kristin Palpini
Staff Writer

Published on September 05, 2008

A dispute over a 6 percent rent hike has led the University of Massachusetts to issue 93 eviction notices this month to students living in family housing on the campus.

The notices were issued to 93 students, many with children, tenants in about 40 units who refused to sign new leases for this academic year or who have not paid the higher rent rate that went into effect July 1.

Students have until Sept. 30 to sign a lease with the university or be evicted, according to a copy of an eviction letter obtained by the Bulletin. It is unclear whether an eviction would affect a student's enrollment at UMass.

A number of students declined to pay the higher rent, which is an increase of $42, raising the total rent from $704 to $746 a month, as part of a rent strike organized by the student Tenants Association. The new rate marks the first time UMass has increased rent in four years.

"Things have already been pretty tight for these students, and so from their perspective the 6 percent rent increase is actually a lot. They are already struggling," said Mohammad S. Raunak, a UMass graduate student. "I can't tell you how scared people are.

"We don't want to continue living under such a stressful situation," said Raunak, who has decided not to pay the higher rent. "No one wants to be intimidated and threatened by the people and the institution that they thought they were guests of. All we want from the administration is to talk to us and not harass us."

UMass officials say the rent increase is necessary to maintain housing and help cover rising energy and labor costs.

Edward F. Blaguszewski, director of news and information at UMass, said since the eviction notices were delivered, many students who had not agreed to leases have decided to sign housing contracts.

UMass students with families were hit hard this year by the rent increase, the loss of a fuel assistance program and higher day-care costs.

The Graduate Employee Organization, the UMass student labor union, estimates all the increases combined add up to a $900 to $1,200 jump in the annual cost of living for UMass community members, mostly graduate students, living in the university's 333 family housing units at North Village and the Lincoln Apartments.

<h4>Low income</h4>

The average student living in family housing earns $13,000 to $15,000 per year, GEO estimates, and students are spending more than half their salaries on housing.

Most of these students are graduate students, and many are from foreign countries.

Students who attend UMass while on a visa are not allowed to work off campus.

Through their contracts, graduate students can work a maximum of 20 hours per week. Also, the spouses of students who attend UMass on a visa are not allowed to work, said Timothy Sullivan, GEO's vice president.

Noting the hardship some families living at UMass are facing, Blaguszewski said the university will provide credits to cover the rent increase for residents who lost their fuel assistance for one year.

Rent increases were moderate, overall. Rent for a student living in a two-bedroom apartment at North Village, a condo-like network of single-story dwellings, increased by 6 percent, or $42, from $704 to $746 a month.

Single-bedroom apartments at North Village increased by $36 and apartments at Lincoln increased by $35 to $36.

This amounts to a $420 to a $504 increase in rent for the year. UMass officials informed the students of the rent increase in May.

According to Blaguszewski, the university determined that rents increased at higher rates - about 9 to 10 percent - in Amherst and Northampton since 2004.

On the other hand, graduate students maintain that when figured on a per-square-foot rate, UMass apartments, which have not been renovated since 1984, were more expensive than the average Amherst rent.

For example, at 505 square feet, a two-bedroom apartment at the UMass complex North Village costs $1.39 per square foot to rent each month. A 900-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment at Alpine Commons - a complex that is not affiliated with UMass - costs $1.27 per square-foot. Both complexes include heat, water and electricity. The Alpine apartments also include cable and Internet.

GEO and the Tenants Association are seeking legal help for students participating in the rent strike.

They are pinning their hopes on what may be a technical flaw in the eviction notice that would negate the letter's legality.

Organizers are also pursuing recourse for what they say are building code violations. Sullivan said a number of family housing units have mold and vermin problems. Sullivan said students are seeking to discuss the rent hike with UMass administration.

"The ultimate goal of this action," he said, "is to get the university to talk to us - not necessarily bargain over the terms of a new lease, but to get them to listen to the actual impacts of what they're asking."

Kristin Palpini can be reached at kpalpini@gazettenet.com.