If asked for an honest response of how many college students dissect their renter’s lease with a fine-toothed comb, I speculate that it would be only a few. That being said, the tenant legislation bill currently on the table should be of great interest to the Wisconsin student body, or at least those of us currently living in apartment buildings or those that plan on apartment living in the future. As a culprit of only skimming my lease, I may have missed information such as what is being presented in this prospective bill. It could take away the ability of the tenant to go beyond his or her landlord if the tenant deems necessary and alert a building inspector or local official of problems occurring within the building.

This presents a series of problems. For starters, the bill states that tenants must submit a request in writing to a landlord before contacting public officials or building inspectors. With many apartment buildings on campus housing hundreds of students, the likelihood of every submission being read, taken into account and responded to in a timely manner is low. What if the submission presents an imminent problem and the tenant doesn’t feel the landlord is equipped to handle the situation? Time is wasted while tenants have to undergo the run-around.

There is opposition to the bill, as not everyone agrees with the removal of a tenant’s ability to directly contact elected officials without first having to go through the landlord. The bill in question would make 20 changes to the current tenant and landlord law, all of which are in favor of the landlord.

Twenty changes? Does that number not shock anyone else?

The right of the individual to file complaints with authority outside of the building is eliminated. While the tenant is still free to submit requests with his or her landlord, the tenant voice outside of the building is silenced, albeit temporarily.

Say, for instance, a problem arises over the weekend. The office of my apartment is closed during the weekend, and I would be placed in a situation where I would be unable to reach out to a public official and would instead have to wait until Monday to submit my complaint. This, as opposed to solving the problem I may have, seems to draw it out.

It appears to me that this bill serves to allow dishonesty as well as distrust between landlords and tenants. The idea that every issue must be discussed primarily with one’s landlord leads me to believe that the landlord in question may have something to hide.

With removal of control from tenants in the place they call “home,” “home sweet home” doesn’t seem to ring too true anymore. With such a staggering shift and placement of power in the hands of the landlords as opposed to those of the tenants, what is to separate living in an apartment from living in a glorified prison? It seems only that the tenants choose where they live and inmates do not. 

Christin Wiegand ([email protected]) is a sophomore with an undeclared major.