Question about riding out Waitlists Forum

[instride91]

So, I'm not sure if this question has been asked already, but I haven't seen anything on it myself.

If you are riding out a waitlist and also planning on living off-campus, what's the best approach to take regarding a lease? At some point, you obviously have to find a place to live and depending on the school, you may need to find roommates to live with in order to reduce the cost of housing.

Example: Let's say you are deposited at School A and a week before classes begin, you are scheduled to move into an apartment near School A (without roommates for the sake of simplicity).

Scenarios:

1) You are admitted from School B's waitlist before your lease starts: Do you still have to pay for the lease? (Assuming you already signed the lease?)

2) You are admitted from School B's waitlist the day before classes begin (your lease near School A has already begun): Are you now forced to pay for 2 leases?

Question: Given this problem, how do people ride out waitlists until the very last minute? If you are unable to afford paying for both leases, how should you communicate this to School B?

[instride91]

.........

[anyriotgirl]

sometimes landlords will let you break your lease, sometimes you can find a subletter

I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about this until it actually becomes an issue

[fallingwater]

I'm in a similar situation. Just ask the company/people you are renting from about their policy regarding early lease termination. It might seem like an awkward thing to ask, but usually apartment complex companies close to college campuses are accustomed to this sort of thing, which is probably why you should avoid individual landlords who own the property. I was lucky enough to find a decent complex that would find someone to cover the lease for me and only hold me responsible for the deposit + first month's rent.

Also, a couple of years ago my friend got off a better school's waitlist the week before classes started. The school was pretty understanding and offered to help him find a new place, but other than that he was pretty much on his own. Good luck!