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livinginlandmarketing · 3 years

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In late January, Sana Jaffery, a 19-year-old public policy student at UC Riverside, signed a lease to rent a private, off-campus apartment for the 2020-21 school year.

Jaffery was careful to reserve a room well before the September start of fall quarter.

UC Riverside student Sana Jaffery, seen outside her home in San Jose on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020, is among hundreds of UCR students who found themselves locked into private off-campus apartment leases they no longer needed after classes moved online because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Anda Chu, Bay Area News Group)

“There’s a housing shortage everywhere,” she said. “So they tell us, ‘You need to get your housing locked and loaded so that you have a place to live.’”

Then the world flipped upside down.

The novel coronavirus struck. And, on March 13, Riverside County closed all schools, including universities.

Seven months later, the vast majority of UCR classes — 97% — are being taught online. It may be many more months before students return to the classroom.

Because of the pandemic, Jaffery no longer needs an apartment for classes she takes online from a laptop in her San Jose home. But when she tried to get out of her lease, Jaffery said she ran into a wall of resistance.

Hundreds of other UCR students have, too — and continue to.

It’s a problem occurring across California and elsewhere in the Inland Empire, though the biggest impact in the region appears to be at UCR.

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Leticia Gutierrez-Lopez, associate vice president of student health and wellbeing at Cal Poly Pomona, said about 50 Cal Poly students are in leases for off-campus private housing from which they have been unable to get out.

Cal State San Bernardino spokesman Joe Gutierrez said his university’s housing director wasn’t aware of similar problems there.

At the private La Sierra University in Riverside, spokeswoman Darla Martin Tucker said officials received a few reports about students renting private off-campus housing who “found it difficult or impossible to break their leases.”

Jaffery said some housing providers appear focused on the fact that students entered into rental contracts.

“Yes, we signed a contract,” she said.

But Jaffery said students could not have known a deadly disease would sweep the globe. She managed to get out of her 12-month lease the last week of July.

Since then, she has assisted 200 other UCR students locked in leases. Jaffery launched an online petition and a website — breakingucrent.com — to call attention to the issue.

Jaffery said students generally lease rooms in four main off-campus complexes: University Village Towers, The Palms on University, GrandMarc and Highlander at North Campus.

Apartments say they still have bills to pay

Operators of two of these complexes responded to requests for comment; two did not.

Keith Thompson, vice president of property operations for The Scion Group in Chicago, which manages The Palms on University, said his company is sensitive to students’ situation.

“In fact, as soon as we learned last summer that UCR would be primarily online this Fall, we invited any of our future residents whose plans had changed to contact us, so we could attempt to replace them and potentially release them from any obligation,” Thompson said via email.

Thompson wrote that The Palms, which primarily serves UCR students but is not exclusively reserved for them, isn’t “in a position to simply allow open cancellation” as it still must pay its mortgage, property taxes, payroll and utility bills.

He said the “vast majority” of student residents moved in and are studying online “from the relative comfort and safety of their homes in our community.”

Besides Jaffery’s efforts, Riverside Legal Aid and the Fair Housing Council of Riverside County have teamed up to try to solve problems for more than 60 students.

Legal Aid attorney Ernie Reguly said those students have complained about GrandMarc and University Village Towers and only a few have gotten out of leases.

Nathan Cieszynski, the council’s program manager, said, “It would be nice if we could get the property owners to come to the table to work with the students to find an equitable solution. But they really don’t seem to want to have those conversations.”

Students stuck in unpredictable situation

Cindy Finley, the community manager at University Village Towers, acknowledged “the unprecedented circumstances facing the student community” in an email. And she said her complex is exploring ways to “offer flexibility to our residents.”

“We are committed to working with each of our residents on an individual basis,” Finley wrote.

A person answering the phone at GrandMarc referred an inquiry to the corporate office of HH Red Stone Properties in Maryland, where an employee said the inquiry would need to be addressed to Kelley Brine, executive vice president. Multiple attempts to reach Brine were unsuccessful.

Highlander at North Campus did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, Joshua Howard, a spokesman for the Sacramento-based California Apartment Association, called the situation “an unfortunate consequence of the pandemic.”

The plight of students in private housing stands in contrast to the experience of those who reserved rooms in university-owned campus housing. UCR spokesman John Warren said the university refunded campus housing fees and canceled leases upon request.

“UCR does not have any legal leverage over matters involving non-university housing,” Warren said in an email.

But he said officials are trying to work with apartment complex owners and are “hopeful of a positive outcome.”

Problem adds to students’ stress

As for students with whom Jaffery has worked, she said some moved into apartments, figuring if they are going to pay they might as well live in the place they are paying for. Others elected to stay home, including Tammy Wang, 19, a second-year biology student who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Los Gatos.

“I can’t afford $840 a month when I’m not even staying there,” Wang said by phone recently. “I never even picked up my key.”

Wang thought she had found someone to take over her University Village Towers lease. But she said the person “scammed” her out of incentive money she put up and didn’t take the apartment.

“I just really want out of the lease because that’s a lot of money down the drain,” she said. “I have been trying to find a replacement for so long, I don’t know what to do anymore.”

Reguly, the attorney, said housing companies are “abusing” students.

“These kids are stressed,” he said. “They are already dealing with a nonstandard school year.”

Howard, of the California Apartment Association, said operators of rental properties are facing financial challenges, too.

“As the pandemic lingers and vacancies rise, it’s becoming increasingly difficult – especially for mom-and-pop landlords – to pay their mortgages, payroll, property taxes, repair bills and other expenses,” Howard wrote.

The association urges members to “be flexible and try to come up with solutions,” Howard said, adding that the federal government should provide rent relief for student tenants and property owners.

Nicole Ryan, spokeswoman for the National Apartment Association in Arlington, Virginia, which has 85,000 members representing more than 10 million apartment homes nationwide, said the pandemic has been hard on the rental industry.

Ryan said by phone that vacancy rates are expected to peak in the fourth quarter at 7.2%, a more-than-3-percentage point increase from the fourth quarter of 2019. She said rent amounts are projected to slide down 8.1% during 2020.

‘Doubling up’ in rooms could end

Besides paying for unneeded housing, there is the concern about exposure to the virus.

Riverside City Councilman Andy Melendrez is working to help UC Riverside students stuck in apartment leases. (Photo courtesy of Andy Melendrez)

Riverside City Councilman Andy Melendrez said the larger housing complexes typically assign four students to four separate single-occupancy rooms that share a common living room and kitchen area.

But, because of a student housing shortage, Melendrez said city ordinance lets up to 15% of those single-occupancy rooms be assigned to two people, which he said is unsafe.

Melendrez said he plans to ask the Riverside City Council to temporarily suspend the “doubling up” policy.

Related links

Online petition protests lease policy for student housing

‘Zoom University’ students stuck with unwanted leases

UC Riverside weighs axing sports to balance coronavirus-battered budget

No relief for UCD students locked into apartment leases

UC Riverside unveils on-campus coronavirus testing lab

As for what students should do about their leases, there are differing opinions.

Scott Talkov, landlord/tenant attorney for the Associated Students of UCR’s legal clinic, said he counsels students to ask for lease termination on grounds the pandemic is an extraordinary emergency, and to be willing to withhold rent if they encounter resistance.

“It’s a game of chicken and the students need to learn how to play the game,” he said.

Talkov said he recently reviewed 122 cases involving apartment owners who rent to UCR students and found no evidence they have sued students over breach of contract. He said the risk involved in withholding rent is small.

But Cieszynski, the housing council manager, said owners don’t have to sue to send someone to collection, which would potentially ruin one’s credit for years.

“I will never, never advocate just walking away,” he said.

-on November 06, 2020 at 08:11AM by David Downey

#riversidenews

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onipress · 7 years

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Oni Press at Emerald City Comicon 2017

Oni Press is returning to the 15th Annual Emerald City Comicon! All weekend long, we’re debuting a plethora of exciting new books, merchandise, and convention exclusives. Plus, throughout the weekend, we’re hosting a number of exciting panels and creator signings for our fans.

his year’s Emerald City Comicon is being held in Seattle, Washington at the Washington State Convention Center from Thursday, March 2nd through Sunday, March 5th. Fans attending ECCC can find Oni Press at booth #216 all weekend long.

Hit the jump below to see what we’re offering!

EXCLUSIVES AVAILABLE ONLY AT ONI PRESS BOOTH (#216)*

*Limited quantities available. Prices reflected below are before sales tax.

WE LOVE FINE ELECTROGOR PLUSH *Limited to only 100 units for sale. No holds or guarantees on this item. Price: $25.00 Snuggle up with Kaijumax’s MOST WANTED! From the Eisner-nominated comic series by @zandercannon this official plush toy is the perfect cellmate to cuddle up with while reading Kaijumax!

ASSORTED STICKER SHEETS (not all stickers are shown here) Make your life better with these adorable sticker sheets, FREE with purchase of their respective titles—Space Battle Lunchtime Volume 1, Princess Princess Ever After, Another Castle: Grimoire, and Our Cats Are More Famous Than Us: A Johnny Wander Collection!

ENAMEL PINS Price: $10 each Available EXCLUSIVELY at Emerald City Comicon! Get enamel pins of Kim Reaper, Space Battle Lunchtime, The Damned, Princess Princess Ever After, and the Oni Press logo!

INVADER ZIM #17 ONI PRESS EXCLUSIVE VARIANT Variant cover illustrated by @matthewseely Price: $10

RICK AND MORTY TREASURY #2 EMERALD CITY COMICON VARIANT Variant cover illustrated by @katyfarina Price: $15

KIM REAPER #1 B&W ASHCAN FREE! Can’t wait for the debut of KIM REAPER #1 by @sarahssketchbook on April 5? Stop by the Oni Press booth for a black-and-white ashcan! Only 100 copies available, so get one as soon as possible!

FRESH ROMANCE TPB ONI PRESS EXCLUSIVE VARIANT Variant cover Illustrated by @babsdraws Price: $24.99

INVADER ZIM VOLUMES 1-3 ONI PRESS EXCLUSIVE VARIANTS Variant covers illustrated by series creator @jhonenv Price: $19.99 each

RICK AND MORTY VOLUMES 1-4 and RICK AND MORTY: LIL’ POOPY SUPERSTAR ONI PRESS EXCLUSIVE VARIANTS Variant covers illustrated by @jujujulieta Price: $19.99 each

SCOTT PILGRIM VOLUMES 1-6 EVIL EX VARIANT COVER EDITIONS Variant covers illustrated by series creator @radiomaru Features the heroes on the back cover! Price: $40.00 each

NEW COMICS AT ONI PRESS BOOTH (#216)*: ON SALE EARLY—GET THESE BOOKS BEFORE ANYONE ELSE!

*Limited quantities available. Prices reflected below are before sales tax.

REDLINE #1 VARIANT COVER by Neal Holman (Art Director and Producer of FX’s Archer), @eatdeadmeat (Sean Murphy’s Cafe Racer), and @kellyfscribbles (Bitch Planet) Variant cover illustrated by Archer show artists David Kuettel and Kat Stockton! Price: $3.99

THE DAMNED VOLUME 1: THREE DAYS DEAD by @cullenbunn @brihurtt with Bill Crabtree, the creative team of THE SIXTH GUN Price: $10!

BAD MACHINERY VOLUME 1 POCKET EDITION by @scarygoround Price: $10! Now in a new size that’s easier to shelve!

THE MIGHTY ZODIAC: STARFALL by @jtorrescomics-blog @rinpin @pencilcat Price: $14.99

OUR CATS ARE MORE FAMOUS THAN US: A JOHNNY WANDER COLLECTION by @ananthhirsh @aidosaur Price: $39.99

DEALS AT ONI PRESS BOOTH (#216)

$10 TPBs and $1 First Issues!* *Limited quantities available. Prices reflected below are before sales tax.

LETTER 44 VOLUME 1 by Charles Soule and @ajastudio with Guy Major and Dan Jackson Price: $10!

THE LIFE AFTER VOLUME 1 by @joshfialkov @galvo Price: $10!

INVADER ZIM #1 by @jhonenv and @aaronalexovich with @dinolich and @huttart Price: $1!

LETTER 44 #1 by Charles Soule and @ajastudio with Guy Major Price: $1!

THE LIFE AFTER #1 by @joshfialkov @galvo Price: $1!

KAIJUMAX #1 by @zandercannon Price: $1!

FREE Oni Press Starter Pack 2016 with purchase of $20 or more! *While supplies last. Purchase must be at least $20 before sales tax. Over 200 pages—seven first-issues of our flagship comics! THE SIXTH GUN, LETTER 44, THE BUNKER, STUMPTOWN, KAIJUMAX, HELHEIM, and THE LIFE AFTER!

ONI PRESS PANELS

Monster Battle Time! Sunday, March 5, 2:45–3:45 PM, TCC 304

It’s MONSTER BATTLE TIME once again! Five artists team up to draw monsters described by audience members IN THE MOST EXTREME BATTLE OF 2017! Featuring @cattifer (Emily the Strange), @galvo (Albert the Alien), @katyfarina (Steven Universe), @jovaline (Jem and the Holograms), and @gearfish (Space Battle Lunchtime)! Come to laugh, come to cry, and come to just watch amazing artists draw amazing monsters in an intense competition that’ll make Battle Royale look like a game of checkers!

SIGNINGS AT THE ONI PRESS BOOTH (#216)

FRIDAY, MARCH 3 Noon–12:30 p.m. Neal Holman, @eatdeadmeat and @kellyfscribbles (Redline) 2:15—3 p.m. @zandercannon (Kaijumax) 3:15—3:30 p.m. @erikamoen and @plustenstrength (Oh Joy Sex Toy) 4—4:45 p.m. @gearfish (Space Battle Lunchtime) 5—5:45 p.m. @christophersebela @robertwilsoniv and Nick FIlardi (Heartthrob) 6—7 p.m. @sketchhero-warren and @matthewseely (Invader ZIM)

SATURDAY, MARCH 4 11—11:30 a.m. @tednaifeh (Night’s Dominon, Courtney Crumrin, Princess Ugg) Noon–12:30 p.m. Neal Holman, @eatdeadmeat and @kellyfscribbles (Redline) 2—2:45 p.m. @erikamoen and @plustenstrength (Oh Joy Sex Toy) 3:15—3:45 p.m. @ananthhirsh and @aidosaur (Our Cats Are More Famous Than Us, Lucky Penny) and Tessa Stone (Buzz!) 4—4:45 p.m. @katyfarina (Rick and Morty) 4:30—6 p.m. @sketchhero-warren and @matthewseely (Invader ZIM)

SUNDAY, MARCH 5 10:30—11:30 a.m. @sketchhero-warren (Invader ZIM) 11—11:30 a.m. @tednaifeh (Night’s Dominon, Courtney Crumrin, Princess Ugg) Noon—12:45 p.m. @gearfish (Space Battle Lunchtime) and @rinpin (The Mighty Zodiac) 1—1:30 p.m. @katyfarina (Rick and Morty) 1—2:15 p.m. @sketchhero-warren and @matthewseely (Invader ZIM)

TWITCH LIVE STAGE CREATOR INTERVIEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 3 1:15—1:30 p.m. Archer Producer Talks New Comic Redline, featuring Neal Holman, @eatdeadmeat and @kellyfscribbles 3:30—3:45 p.m. @zandercannon Talks Kaijumax Season 3

SATURDAY, MARCH 4 11:30—11:45 a.m. @gearfish Talks Space Battle Lunchtime 2:15—2:30 p.m. @tednaifeh Talks Night’s Dominion Season 2 5:00—5:30 p.m. Oni Press 2017 Preview with Editor-in-Chief James Lucas Jones

SUNDAY, MARCH 5 11:45 a.m.—12 p.m. Sex in Comics with @erikamoen and @plustenstrength (Oh Joy Sex Toy) and @limerencepress Editor Ari Yarwood

ONI PRESS CREATORS IN ARTIST’S ALLEY

Charles Soule (Letter 44) V1

Christopher Sebela (Heartthrob) I15A

Christos Gage and Ruth Fletcher Gage (The Lion of Rora) B6

Corin Howell (The Mighty Zodiac) M2

D.J. Kirkland (Black Mage) P2

Gabo (The Life After) N4

Jackie Lewis (Merry Men) Q2

Jake Myler (Orphan Blade) X4

Justin Greenwood (Stumptown, Stringers, Wasteland) U11B

Katy Farina (Rick and Morty) DD15

Mildred Louis (Rick and Morty: Lil’ Poopy Superstar) P9

Monica Gallagher (Part-Time Princesses) I1

Natalie Riess (Space Battle Lunchtime) DD14

Ray Fawkes (The People Inside, One Soul) J4

Robert Wilson IV (Heartthrob) I14

Sean Dove (BroBots) U5

Ted Naifeh (Night’s Dominion, Courtney Crumrin, Princess Ugg) X1A

Tessa Stone (Not Drunk Enough, Buzz!) M9

Trungles (Fauns & Fairies: The Adult Fantasy Coloring Book) L14

Yuko Ota and Ananth Hirsh (Our Cats Are More Famous Than Us: A Johnny Wander Collection, Lucky Penny) M10

Zander Cannon (Kaijumax) G4B

ONI PRESS CREATORS IN THE EXHIBITORS’ HALL:

Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan (Oh Joy Sex Toy) 1102

Meredith McClaren (Hopeless Savages Break, Super Fun Sexy Times) 208

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sinceileftyoublog · 5 years

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Live Picks: 8/14-8/15

Parker Millsap; Photo by Tim Duggan

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Americana lore, comedy, and the dream of the Nineties.

8/14: Parker Millsap, FitzGerald’s

We previewed the Oklahoma singer-songwriter’s show at Lincoln Hall last summer and subsequent appearance on Live From Here with Chris Thile. He returns to the Chicago area with a year’s experience of touring his latest album Other Arrangements, plus a recorded cover of Sly & The Family Stone’s “Everyday People”.

Singer-songwriter Jack Klatt opens.

8/14: Spektral Quartet + LJ White feat. the music of The Shaggs, Constellation

Tonight at Constellation, as part of their Once More, With Feeling! series, local string group Spektral Quartet plays The Shaggs’ “My Pal Foot Foot” as reimagined by composer LJ White. (They’ll be playing with a disassembled drum kit in addition to their usual instruments.) As is consistent with the series, the Quartet and White will participate in a Q+A session and then perform the piece again.

8/15: Leslie Jones, Vic Theatre

SNL star and Ghostbuster Leslie Jones delivers a stand-up set in advance of the release of The Angry Birds Movie 2 (supposed to be conspicuously better than the first one) and her upcoming 2020 Netflix special.

Comedian Lenny Marcus opens.

8/15: Jupiter & Okwess, Millennium Park

Jupiter Bokondji’s genre-bending collective Jupiter & Okwess project headlines Millennium Park tomorrow night. Their last album was 2017′s great Kin Sonic, which featured collaborations with Damon Albarn, Warren Ellis, and Massive Attack’s Robert del Naja. Earlier this year, they released a new song, the buoyant and percussive “Kwe Ngienda”. The song begins with layered drums and chanting before introducing sharp rhythm guitars and airy lead tones.

Mauritanian griot, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist Noura Mint Seymali opens.

8/15: Smashing Pumpkins, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, & AFI, Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

I’m not sure any setlist could top the last time we saw Smashing Pumpkins, a tour consisting almost exclusively of songs from the first five albums. Now that they’ve released their new record, the set won’t be as satisfying, even more so because they’ll be playing more post-MACHINA material, but it will be worth seeing because the original lineup sounds so damn good live.

Opening are Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, the musically talented brother’s band that thankfully tends to play some Oasis songs and Beatles covers, and California emo stalwarts AFI, who haven’t topped Sing the Sorrow and tend to play nothing from before it. Don’t worry: “Girl’s Not Grey”’s in there.

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