Letter to Univ.Villa Management

May 15, 2005

Dear University Villa,

This letter is in response to the green notice you provided us on May 11, 2005, in which you described the renovation process which will begin on May 16, 2005. It is disappointing that this first written notice has been presented only 5 days before the renovation process, and we hope that further communication will be more timely.

This renovation process, as described, will result in the apartments not suitable for residence during the two week process. Among other things, the apartments will not be suitable for residence, as described in your notice, for the following reasons:

• No water to the building
• No usable bathrooms
• No usable kitchen
• Fumes in the apartment
• No consistent telephone number

We recognize that you are providing “crash apartmentsâ€? to live in during the renovation process. However, the inconvenience of the renovation process to current residents can not be ignored. Please note that some residents have only signed contracts for spring term only, and therefore will be displaced for almost a third of their contract period.

Unless the resident moves all of his belongings, the resident will have to make frequent and numerous trips between the temporary and regular apartments moving belongings back and forth. The resident will then have to choose to move, or live without for two weeks, belongings such as computer equipment, kitchen supplies and food, toiletries, clothes, entertainment equipment, bedding, books and course materials and supplies, and cleaning supplies.

Because such renovations were not fully disclosed in rental agreements, nor in writing before the May 11th notice, we ask that University Villa be as accommodating as possible during this renovation period. As expected, there are many concerns with this remodeling process. Attached is a proposed amendment to the rental agreement, which addresses these concerns. We feel it it both fair and appropriate. We ask that you accept it as soon as possible. If you feel any changes should be made, please contact me at jacob_brunson@byu.edu as soon as possible.

Thank you,
Jacob B, and others
Attached: Proposed addendum
cc: BYU off-campus housing office

[Proposed] Student Rental Agreement addendum for renovation periods

Alternate living areas
For all times where the tenant is not able to live in the tenant’s own apartment, the landlord will provide an acceptable alternate of approximate equal or greater size with similar furnishings in comparison to the resident’s current apartment. The alternate apartments will meet all standards required to be BYU approved. The landlord will respond to any work orders for these alternate apartments as outlined in the BYU Housing Handbook.

Financial Compensation
The landlord will provide financial compensation to the tenant in the form of rent credits. These credits would compensate the resident for time and financial expenses incurred during the construction. These expenses non-exclusively include moving expenses and efforts, purchase of convenience items and foods, communications expenses, and other efforts and expenses related to temporarily being displaced from the tenant’s own apartment.

The financial compensation will be $30 or 50% the daily rent amount ($2.10/day), which ever is greater. This compensation will be provided no later than the day on which rent is due following the construction dates.

Contact Information
The landlord will make additional efforts to be able to accept concerns from tenants.
During times of construction, the landlord will provide a phone number that tenants can call for after-hours concerns. The landlord will either post this number in the window of the landlord’s office, or distribute it in writing to the tenants.

The landlord will also post the office hours in the window of the office. If the landlord chooses to open the office on Saturdays, the landlord will post its Saturday office hours in the window of the office, no later than Friday evening.

Security and safety
The landlord will ensure that adequate security and safety is provided for the tenant and the tenant’s belongings in the apartment during times when it is under construction. The landlord assumes liability for any theft or damages to the tenant’s belongings during this time. This includes, but is not limited to, any theft or damage of property in the apartment by those employed or contracted by the landlord, and includes theft or damage of property which resulted in inadequate security, such as leaving an apartment unlocked or unsecured.

The tenant will make any claims of theft or damage of property in writing to the landlord within 7 days of the end of construction or maintenance to the apartment. The landlord will reply to the claim within 48 hours.

Utilities
The landlord will pay for all utilities in the apartment during construction or maintenance periods. Should the landlord not be able to measure or calculate utility cost during these periods, the landlord will credit the tenant an appropriate percentage (number of days in the construction periods divided by number of days in the utility billing period) of the total utility costs of the apartment.

As the tenant will not be able to respond to telephone calls to their apartments phone number, the landlord will credit the tenant an appropriate percentage of the monthly telephone communications fee.

Cleanliness
Upon completion of the construction or any maintenance, or during any period where the tenant is expected to live in the apartment, the landlord will ensure that the apartment is clean and sanitary to the same standard required during the normal monthly cleaning inspections. The landlord will have 24 hours to respond to a written complain from the resident regarding the apartment’s cleanliness or sanitation. If the landlord has not responded during this time, the tenant may charge the landlord cleaning fees not to exceed the cleaning fees that the landlord would charge the resident during a cleaning inspection.

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