TALLAHASSEE, FL ( WTXL) -- Many university and community college students are getting settled into their new dorms and apartments...and many of them have never signed a lease before.
From roommate disagreements to being charged new fees, many new renters may jump to conclusions about how to approach these issues.
For roommates, it always helps to sit down together and come up with a formal or informal agreement that all parties can live by.
When it comes to fees, those should be listed in the lease, which is why legal experts strongly recommend that you should not only read it thoroughly before signing, but also ask for a copy of the signed lease or renter's agreement.
New renters may easily get confused while reading a lease. It's at that time that they should ask questions and seek advice.
"They should definitely seek legal advice," says Robert Churchill, an attorney at Churchill & Wells, LLC. "There are people here locally, and I'm certainly one of them, who will review a lease and talk about pitfalls that are present in that lease or other ones. You want to make sure that if you are concerned with the provisions in your lease, you're getting good advice."
Churchill suggests that all renters, not just young adults, keep a copy of work requests, documentation of payments and interactions with the landlord. He also suggests that a lease should be broken if absolutely necessary and after receiving advice.
