Finding a subletter requires early start

Even for students who have secured off-campus housing for next fall, another challenge awaits many of them -- finding subletters.

There are several options available for students seeking subletters -- people who temporarily rent from a tenant while he or she is away -- ranging from classified-ad Web sites to posting flyers around campus.

The real key to finding subletters, however, is simply starting early.

Many students who sign year-long leases need subletters in the summer to cover rent while they are not on campus.

But finding a subletter often means asking for rent significantly lower than what the landlord charges, since "the only thing that matters to people is price. ... We have to go low," College and Wharton junior Adam Altman said.

The Office of Off-Campus Living -- located at 4046 Walnut St. -- provides students the option of advertising their rooms on the office's Web site for 30 days for $5.

Some students -- like Altman -- post on classifieds site Craigslist.com, which allows students to list, for free, rooms available for subletting. Altman said he also put up flyers around campus.

This way, Altman succeeded in finding subletters for his apartment in Hamilton Court, located at 37th and Chestnut streets.

Many students turn to their own acquaintances while looking for subletters. By doing this, College junior Sam Rosenbaum found subletters for his shared apartment in Hamilton Court.

"We just worked it out with friends who were going abroad in the spring," Rosenbaum said.

But Rosenbaum said his subletters left his apartment "a disaster area," noting that tenants and subletters should lay out ground rules for apartment care before subletters move in.

"I could imagine that it would be an even more ugly situation if we didn't know the subletters," Rosenbaum said.

Altman said he faced even more extensive problems with a subletter whom he had never met.

The subletter, he said, did not pay rent on time and attempted to negotiate how much money he owed because he said he was not satisfied with the room's amenities. For example, Altman said, he tried to pay less rent because he did not get satisfactory cable reception.

Instead, Altman recommends that students inform their landlords of subletters -- that way, the subletter will be held responsible for any problems. Some leases prohibit subletting; others require a fee.

"If somebody just destroys the place, [landlords] are going to go after the subletters," he said. "Otherwise, the responsibility rests on the people who are subletting out."

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