Landlords are struggling to find students to rent off-campus houses. Jack Cote | Collegian
Landlords are struggling to find renters after Hillsdale College granted fewer students off-campus permission for next year.
“It is very difficult because I have a list of people who really want to sign a lease but simply can’t because they haven’t been approved yet,” said sophomore Maliq Brock, whose family owns a house they rent to students.
After the college bought four houses on E. Fayette Street from Vice President and General Counsel Bob Norton, and as construction on a new women’s dormitory continued, the college decided to allow 110 fewer students off-campus permission than last year.
According to Roo Kendzicky, a local landlord and Hillsdale alumnus, many students signed leases before they got off-campus permission.
Kendzicky said two of his houses already filled before the college’s off-campus process started.
“The school’s decision to permit mainly seniors this year to be selected did unfortunately force us to turn away an entire group of guys who were planning to live at one of our houses and has left another group a little uneasy on whether their group will get permission,” Kendzicky said. “But we were blessed to find another group of guys to fill our first house and we’re staying positive that the second group will be able to keep everyone together.”
The Kendzicky family owns four houses in Hillsdale. Their father built the first one in 2016.
“We love Hillsdale and have plenty of proud alumni within our family so we respect and honor the school’s process for off-campus housing and how they go about their business,” Kendzicky said. “It has just been another technicality added that we have to navigate.”
Kendzicky said athletes usually rented the family’s houses in the past, as each house offers a different sports theme.
“It’s been a success for us and our renters to match sports players with their respective sport’s house so we usually base our selection off that criteria,” he said. “With this off-campus permission situation, we’ve just had to incorporate that as a higher priority in our selection process for athletes.”
Landlord Benjamin LeCompte said he has had difficulty finding renters for one of his three houses in Hillsdale.
“I almost always get at least a couple calls for my properties each year, but this year it’s been nothing,” LeCompte said. “I have two houses rented for next year, but one of them I have received no calls for.”
According to Kendzicky, the decision’s timing has been the main challenge.
“With the school acquiring more on-campus housing and not permitting as many students off, we were beginning to wonder if the school was heading toward not letting students get off campus entirely,” he said. “But after talking to the school, we realized the circumstances this year were unique and don’t see this as a foreseeable issue in the years to come.”
