The University of Wisconsin Law School has joined forces with local property management owners and city officials to launch a program geared toward students that will aid first-time renters in talking through problems with landlords and questions with renting.
UW clinical law professor Mitch said the Student Tenant Education and Mediation initiative came about when former Ald. Bryon Eagon, District 8, said he was hearing about a number of housing concerns from his constituents who did not know where to turn for answers. Although the program idea was introduced last year, Mitch said program law school students just completed training to be mediators.
The initiative will provide free services for students who are looking for a mediator in roommate-roommate or tenant-landlord conflicts regarding leasing law. Students can also come to the program advisers with questions or to receive information first-time renters are often unfamiliar with.
“We see a lot of confusion from students not being educated about housing rights with respect to who you can contact and what you can do,” Mitch said. “The idea is to provide peer credibility such that if there are roommate-roommate issues, they are not heard by individuals who are aloof strangers.”
Mitch said STEM is a cooperative effort to provide students with credible information.
He said landlords are also welcome to bring questions and concerns to the mediators who can facilitate communication with the tenants.
“It’s a wild idea to think that people who cannot solve their disputes between themselves should be provided with a mutually credible environment to help the parties understand each other better,” Mitch said. “This isn’t a mini-court, this is an evaluation of right and wrong.”
Eagon said the program is strongly needed in order to fill a void he said exists in student-specific information and education regarding rental issues in Madison.
He said so many students are first-time renters after moving out of the dorms, and a program like STEM could help inform students and make them better young consumers.
“A program like STEM can provide a needed service where there seems to be a void because they’re really are not too many student-targeted education programs, so a program like STEM gives a piece of the puzzle to help students make better decisions,” Eagon said. “Within the name itself, there are two main necessary components – education and mediation.”
The educational component allows students to approach STEM advisers with questions about concerns such as what amenities they should be looking for or what certain language in a lease should or should not be present. Future tenants can also learn about appropriate questions to ask a landlord, such as what a typical heating bill might look like for a certain complex or whether there are adequate locks on the doors and windows.
Eagon said STEM also facilitates mediation components that provide services for people who are currently in a lease and are looking for an efficient and effective pathway to resolve disputes or concerns within the involved parties.
“What’s unique about STEM is that it has the buy-in of students and the university as well as property management companies – that’s something that’s not often found in services like this,” Eagon said.
