WOW! What a time in a young students life. An opportunity to gain a little freedom by renting a condominium by campus! Get a feeling what “real” life is like. Clean up after themselves, pay their bills, cook dinner and hang around with friends. All only a stones throw from the Quad and classrooms.
Brief History Of The Property
We purchased the property in 2003 from the original developer who built it in 1987. From 1999 through 2008 the property was leased to URI for additional housing for undergraduate students. In 2008 we mutually agreed with URI to terminate the lease and then start renting directly to students with their parents as notarized co-signers. Since that time the quality of the tenants has increased significantly and the condition of the property has dramatically improved! Many of our neighbors have commented that the property looks great and the tenants that live there are polite and respectful!
Will My Student Actually Cook?!
Our condos offer a fully remodeled kitchen. Most of our tenants enjoy cooking their own meals. But sometimes they (and their parents) find it easier to continue to use the dining halls at URI. If you have one of these students then please take a look at “Dining Flex Plans” offered by URI Dining Services. These plans offer varying number of meals per semester at the dining halls or in the Ram’s Den. Any unused value on these plans from the fall semester can buy used in the following spring semester. Please see the following link for more information: http://web.uri.edu/dining/compare-and-purchase-a-meal-plan/
A Short Description Of Our Rental Philosophy
Parents and prospective tenants easily pick up on a common theme when it comes to living in the condos…Respect The Property, Respect The Neighbors! We stress this as soon as we meet with any prospective tenant. Everyone quickly learns that Zach has a degree in engineering from URI…that he remembers what it was like to have to study. We are trying to create an environment in which the students will be able to get their work done. There are no RA’s or managers on site. We tell all prospective tenants up front that if they are huge partiers then this is not the place for them. We understand they will be having friends over…we just expect our tenants and their friends to act as responsible young adults. Respect The Property, Respect The Neighbors!
Timing - When Is The Best Time To Apply?
Prospective tenants and their parents often ask us how long it takes to go through the rental process. We tell them it is entirely up to them how quickly things move along. Simply stated, the ball is in their court. We will not chase groups down looking for the information we need to make a rental decision. We evaluate completed applications when they are submitted to us. This means all the information from all members of the group is in our hands. Once we have all the information from all members of the group we can usually have an acceptance or denial in about one week. Once a group is accepted it takes about one more week to sign the lease and collect payments that are due. At that point the unit is officially reserved for the lease term.
Prospective tenants will also ask how long they have to get all the information to us. We tell everyone…”Zach is an engineer, not a sales guy…so move at your own pace. If you want to move slowly that is fine, just be aware that we fill up very quickly as we offer a great place to live that is so close to campus!” We suggest if they are truly interested they act as quickly as possible. If they decide to take it slowly we tell them they will likely end up on the waiting list.
School Year Payment Schedule
A security deposit in the amount of $1,200 per person is collected when the lease is signed. Please see information below for details on security deposits, as we want to give every penny back!
The yearly payment is broken down into thirds. First third due at the latter of: February 1, 2024 or Lease Signing. The second third is due by August 11, 2024 and the final third is due by December 1, 2024.
Summer Payment Schedule
A security deposit in the amount of $750 per person is collected when the lease is signed. Please see information below for details on security deposits, as we want to give every penny back!
The summer payment is broken down into halves. The first half is collected when the lease is signed. The final half is due by June 15, 2024.
A Quick Word About Security Deposits
Starting in 2009 we have been investing heavily in the property to create a top-notch living experience for our tenants. Over that time we have performed the following upgrades: new roofs, windows, exterior doors, sliders, kitchen cabinets, dishwashers, granite counters, flooring, bathroom tile, fixtures, lighting, high efficiency heating systems, first floor full bathroom and laundry area, living and dining furniture, updated landscaping, pavement, seal coating and plantings in the parking areas.
The reason we tell you this is the property is important to us. We want to make sure we have a terrific product for our current tenants as well as our tenants for years to come. To help us achieve our goal we collect a security deposit from every tenant that will be living in the complex. Our goal is to return every penny to every tenant when they move out at the end of their lease term.
We do well in our selection of tenants. This results in our tenants taking care of the property while they are living there and in the end…a full return of their security deposits. One way we help them get all their security back is by sending them a very detailed list of what is expected of them when they move out. Assuming there has been no damage to the unit during their tenancy we just ask them to clean thoroughly…we just ask for the property to be returned to us in the same condition it was in when they moved in. If it is then a check is mailed forthwith.
We cannot stress enough…we are NOT in the business of improperly keeping security deposits. We want to return every penny to every tenant…it is up to the tenant to make sure they follow our directions on how to get it all back!
Steps to Signing the Lease
Since we require parents to co-sign the lease for their student it is probably easiest to have the parents start with the original copy. To do this parents should go to our website (www.uritownhouses.com) to download the lease and print it. The lease is located on the “Rent a Condo” page. When printing you may need to adjust your printer’s margins to make sure all the info on each page is printed. The bottom of each page has a footer for all people to initial. There should also be Page x of y next to the initial blocks. If you have that information you are all set…print the document.
Start filling out sections in the lease.
- Page one paragraph B: Unit number ____ leave blank for now, we will fill this in with your student.
- Page one Section I: Condo # ___ leave blank for now, we will fill this in with your student.
- Page two Section III: Lessee: Leave blank, we will fill this in with your student.
- Page two Section IV: Co-Signer: Please fill this in.
- Page two Section V: Occupant Listing: Leave Blank we will fill this in with your student.
- Page three: Paragraph one: condo # _____ and from _____ through _____ leave blank for now. Rent will be $ _____: please fill this in based on how many students are living in the unit…for academic year rentals it is $14,940 for 3 people or $12,000 for 4 people or $10,350 for 5 people. For summer rentals it is $3,500 for 2 people, $2,430 for 3 people or $1,950 for 4 people.
- Page three: Enter the payment per installment. For academic year rentals it is $4,980 for 3 people or $4,000 for 4 people or $3,450 for 5 people. For summer rentals it is $1,750 for 2 people, $1,215 for 3 people, $975 for 4 people.
- Page three: Security Deposit: Please enter $1,200 for academic year rental or $750 for summer rental.
- Please read all pages and initial at the bottom of each page next to “Co-Sign,” there is no need to initial in the main body of the text as this is for your student to initial.
- Please read pages 9 and 10 detailing “Move Out Charges” and “Wear and Tear,” then initial at the bottom.
- Please co-sign lease on page 8 in the presence of a notary public. Parent signature only for the notary public.
- Send signed lease and security deposit and first payment to your child, please make check payable to Fortin Place, LLC.
- Once all leases have been received by all students in their group we will meet with them to review the lease, have them fill in all pertinent areas, initial and sign where required, we will sign also.
- The unit is officially leased for the defined rental period!!! All done!!!!
- We will email copies of signed documents which will be sent to parents for safe keeping.
- We will make contact with renters and parents in the first two weeks of August concerning utility hookups for the fall or early May for summer rental!!!
Tory – Golden Retriever…we got her as a puppy.
Trooper – Black Lab…we got him as a rescue when he was 1 1/2 years old.
Our tenants are never allowed to have pets. But they are always welcome to pet our Mascots! They are frequently seen about campus with their heads out the back window of Zach’s truck!