Student tenants are a huge economy in Madison. After tuition, rent will be most students’ single largest expense, and for most renters in the U.S., this will be at least one-third of their income.

Around 35,000 Badgers rent apartments in Madison, and the cash flow from student tenants comes to around eight figures per month for thousands of landlords in the area.

In return, students get a roof over their heads, a safe space for studying and socializing and a guarantee that if they do what they’re supposed to do, their contract (and the law) will protect them. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. Trouble is, as with so many things, what you don’t know can’t help you.

When something threatens a tenant’s home (or their bank account), the first and most authoritative solution they hear is often from the landlord. Suffice it to say, the last person you want explaining your options is the other party in a dispute.

And while landlords have some control over how they choose to do business, every person paying to live somewhere has rights on the federal, state and local levels. Unfortunately, these laws don’t go around teaching themselves. Without this information, students are an extremely vulnerable — and lucrative — population.

After three years of major changes to rental laws in Wisconsin, it’s more important than ever that students get accurate and impartial education on their rental rights and responsibilities.

At Tenant Resource Center, this is what we do — all day, every day, for the last 35 years. We have an office in the Student Activity Center to provide services by phone, email and on a walk-in basis. Our work is never done. Every year another 1,000 students sign their very first contract, and the list of things that can go wrong only seems to keep growing.

Most of our clients come to us with some crisis at hand: Raccoons living in their walls, the maintenance guy showing up when they’re just getting out of the shower or a $10,000 bill from when they turned off the heat over winter break and the pipes in their apartment froze.

All too often, we find simple ignorance of the law kept a student from using their rights, or got them in trouble for not doing what they were supposed to.

Sometimes we have great news for people: “Wait, you’re saying the landlord flat out refused to get wild animals out of your house? Here’s the number for the Building Inspector! And please call Animal Control, like, yesterday.”

Other times we might have to deliver some bad news, which we promise to do as nicely as possible: “Oh, you’re from Texas. Yeah, you gotta keep the heat set above 55 here. I don’t suppose you have renter’s insurance … ?”

Sometimes there’s just no simple solution and we usher you into the hands of the Dane County small claims court. We can’t give legal advice or enforce the laws ourselves, nor can we stop your roommate from putting your dirty dishes in your bed out of retribution, though we might refer you to an attorney or our Housing Mediation Program.

As for that landlord who came in without notice, there’s not a ton you can do about it after the fact — except warn the landlord (in writing of course) that you know your rights about landlord entry and will use them in the future! (Hint: This could result in huge fines to the landlord, so it can be a pretty persuasive threat.)

In most cases, our clients tell us they never would have known what their options were or how to approach their landlord without our help. That education is critical: The way the laws are designed, tenants must take it upon themselves to assert their rights.

This can be anything from informing the landlord the late fees they’re charging are illegal, or suing the landlord for unlawfully taking $2,000 from a security deposit.

For most students these remedies aren’t just about the money (although $2,000 is still $2,000). It’s also about fairness, and protecting the next person from a landlord who’s abusing their power.

Additionally, forfeiting a hundred bucks for routine carpet cleaning might not seem like a big deal, until you learn that it’s illegal, and you could get double your money in court.

A lease is one of the most important contracts a person can sign, and student renters have a lot of skin in the rental housing game.

Their home, their money, their credit and their safety depend on landlord following the laws, all of which were written because landlords weren’t doing these things until we told them they have to.

If students do nothing with these protections, they are an easy racket. But if they learn their rights and take action, they become a force to be reckoned with. So ask yourself: Do you know what your landlord can and cannot do?

Find out here: www.tenantresourcecenter.org

Walk-in: 3rd Floor of the Student Activity Center (333 E. Campus Mall)

Becoming a Housing Counselor: Training Oct. 17-18. For more information, visit tenantresourcecenter.org/volunteer or e-mail [email protected].

Anders Zanichkowsky ([email protected]) is the UW Campus Coordinator for the Tenant Resource Center and a Special Student in the art department.