The Issue: Students are being evicted for “no more than four”
What we think: BC should support UGBC in fighting the code
This semester marked the first overarching implementation and enforcement of the Boston zoning ordinance since it was passed in March 2008, which prohibits more than four unrelated undergraduate students from living in a single unit. Many students living off campus this year, however, continue to live in houses or apartments that are in direct violation of this ordinance. Students who aren’t provided four years of University housing must venture into the housing market in the expensive Allston-Brighton community, a mainly middle class residential neighborhood of families with a steady income. Often times the rent prices are too high for only four students to afford, leading some to ignore the law and have more students living in a house than are indicated on the lease.
The Boston City Council asserts that the ordinance was originally proposed in order to protect students from unsafe housing conditions. We feel that they had alternative motives, though. Local residents have always been concerned about neighborhood “animal houses” and they are also reacting against rising housing prices that are affecting current and prospective residents. The Council is not only showing preference for certain groups over others when it passed this ordinance, but is openly discriminating against students and their equal right to housing.
The Boston College administration should do its best to make the already expensive and inconvenient process of moving off campus less difficult for students by being supportive of measures undertaken by the newly resurrected UGBC Off-Campus Housing Committee to help students who have been affected by this ordinance, and should actively work with students to either help find alternative housing off campus or provide on-campus housing.
The administration should also support the UGBC Committee in their attempts to draft a formal petition to the mayor. Only if the University is fully supportive will the Committee be able to approach and unify with other area universities in their appeal. As BC works toward its goal of providing 100 percent University-controlled housing, the administration needs to focus on doing all they can to facilitate off-campus transitions, inform students about the potential disingenuous nature of landlords, and, when necessary, defend the students’ rights even when they are off University-controlled property.
Despite the negotiations being planned by the University and the UGBC, there are still students currently living off campus and signing leases for next year who are being coerced into violating the ordinance by realtors who are anxious to sign and may not have the students’ best interest as their first priority. To those who are in this situation or plan to be next year, we would caution you to be prudent in your decisions. It is necessary not only to know the law, but also know your rights as a renter in the city of Boston.
Those who currently live off campus should be aware of their neighbors because this can prevent them from contacting Inspectional Services and Boston Police, although they can only legally search your home with a warrant. Those who are making the move next year should know that realtors and landlords may encourage you to willfully defy the ordinance and while this is a risk for them as well for the renters, they will see the resulting fine as just a cost of doing business. The person who will be most inconvenienced by being caught in violation is the student that will be evicted and forced to frantically find another apartment or home. Only through the good sense of students and support of the University can we make steps toward improving off-campus relations and change this ordinance.
2 comments
A: If you have any questions you may contact the property owner.Q: How many people live here?
A: If you have any questions you may contact the property owner.Q: "You don't mind if I come in and take a look around do you?"
A: "I'm sorry, I know you're just doing your job, but I cannot let you in without a warrant."