Houses located on Ward Place are (pictured above) some options through off-campus real-estate management. Some students reported issues with lack of communication from management, reduced security deposits as well as condescension from landlords (UdeshI Seneviratne/photo editor).
Off-campus living presents communication and monetary issues between students and landlords. Upperclassmen have recommended that students conduct a thorough review before choosing where to lease.
Geneseo alumnus Tyler Cook posted in a student Facebook group outlining issues with High Street Property Management—a Geneseo real estate company— alleging that his security deposit was unfairly deducted at the termination of his lease.
Cook explains that he lost more than two-thirds of his security deposit for reasons he believes were unclear and unjust.
“Last year I lived at Ambassadors and I got my whole security deposit back no deductions at all,” Cook said in a phone interview. “I kept this new place the same, but they deducted.”
Cook cited lack of communication during his time leasing with the company as a major issue. After graduating, he attempted to contact the owner about his security deposit over the phone every week for a month.
“The communication wasn’t great throughout living there. If I ever needed something they gave us their phone number but wouldn’t pick up,” Cook said. “[They would] answer emails, but it was a delayed response.”
Cook eventually received a response from the company over email mentioning that photographic evidence indicated the apartment was messy, but Cook insists he never saw the pictures.
Manager and owner of High Street Property Management Rocco Dragani explains how the landlord has the right to charge the tenant the cost of restoring the property to its original conditions under state law.
“The law of New York State basically says that a tenant has to return that unit to the landlord at the end of the occupancy in the same condition [with] usual wear and tear accepted,” Dragani said. “If they don’t do that, the landlord has every right to charge the tenant the cost of returning it back to the form it was in prior to that tenant taking possession of it.”
High Street Property Management began renting to students in 2008 and currently rents to approximately 250 students from the college, according to Dragani.
The most common issues students encounter involve maintenance. There is a structured system for handling those issues, Dragani said.
“We have an email address because all SUNY Geneseo students are carrying email around in their hand and they can go on our website and they can put in a work order request,” Dragani said. “We have a full-time staff of maintenance people who I delegate out to one of those or more of those people to correct it.”
Some students, who have leased with Dragani’s company in the past also cite issues with communication and maintenance requests, this involveseconomics and international relations double major senior Alexandra Basile, who now rents under a different landlord.
“This year’s better so far,” Basile said. “[Rocco] was very bad at responding to a lot of stuff unless it was urgent … if we had a problem, it took a while for them to get back to us.”
There were issues with the manner of communication and some students, such as psychology major senior Caroline Bucher, felt uncomfortable as a result
“It was in general his demeanor towards us, he would send very aggressive emails and [was] condescending ... which was very frustrating,” Bucher said. “If something was broken in the house he would push it aside and try his best not to deal with it.”
Cook wants to use his experiences to advise college students looking to live off-campus to explore their options, read reviews and ask fellow upperclassmen about the landlords in the area.
“I didn’t know ahead of time people at High Street Property Management aren’t the most honest people,” Cook said. “Current college students that want to live off-campus in Geneseo should know about this.”
Dragani also encourages students to explore their options and not rush into signing a lease.
“I would strongly [advise] the students considering living off campus before hastily signing a lease. Shop around and see what’s out there,” Dragani said. “The variety of units is vast.”
The overall experience of living off-campus has been positive for Basile who believes that living off-campus is more fun. She also advises students to look into the available options.
Dragani’s interactions with students from the school have overall, however, still been satisfactory.
“I wouldn’t be in this business if I didn’t like SUNY Geneseo students,” Dragani said. “I’m not sure if I would do this at some other universities because not all universities are the same.”
Associate news editor Kara Burke contributed reporting to this article.