The Cottages of Doom
The Cottages of Doom
It is that time of the year in Boone when students living off campus must choose to renew their lease or search for alternative places to live.
With 70% of Appalachian State University students living off campus, according to U.S. News, they are in a race against their peers, as well as future sophomores, to either renew or sign with a different housing company. Many students, like Avery Miller, ask themselves certain questions before making their final decision.
“I asked myself if I was receiving the best quality of housing and services from management and the answer to that was no,” Avery said. “I made the decision to move from The Cottages of Boone to Highland Crossing. As students, we’re already paying thousands of dollars to go to school, we should not have to pay an absurd amount of money for rent for cheap and crappy housing and unprofessional and unreliable management.”
The cost of living in Boone for Appalachian State University students has risen dramatically over the past few years. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the median gross rent from 2015 to 2019 was $900.
Compare this number to the median gross rent from 2010 to 2014 which, according to USA.com, was between $828. From 2008 to 2012, it was $792; and from 2006 to 2010, the median gross rent was between $731. The ongoing trend here is that every four years, the median gross rent rises.
Sheri Everts, Appalachian State University chancellor, expresses her ongoing concern about the high cost of living in Boone in an article on Watauga Online. She says she has been “acutely aware” of the high cost of living in the area since 2014 Everts goes on to say that she sent out a survey to help assess housing and transportation needs to not only students but to faculty and staff as well. Everts stresses the importance to faculty, staff, and students to voice their concerns to help address these concerns, “that has affected the members of our university community for many years.”
According to The Appalachian, in April 2020 the Boone Town Council, with help from Appalachian State University student Dalton George, presented a resolution asking the North Carolina attorney general to “investigate unfair and deceptive rental housing practices in Boone.”
Among these practices are: renting by bedroom but asking each resident to pay full rent for an entire apartment, varying but high prices for application fees, charging a series of fees on residents that not disclosed in the lease, landlord’s refusal to refund security deposits on account of “damages” that are considered normal deterioration, etc.
Brianna Quinn, a current resident, said that the Cottages of Boone rent by the bedroom, their houses ranging from one-person bedroom houses and apartments, and three, four and five-bedroom houses and apartments. Each roommate pays full rent for their room, but split utilities. She also said that the trash fee, which used to be $5, has risen to $30 due to a change in trash companies.
“At the beginning of this past semester, they took our trash cans,” said Brianna. “Everyone had to walk to this big dumpster and throw their trash in it. It was there for months, overflowing and started to smell. Finally, after like three months, they gave us two new trash cans, but they were smaller than the one I have in my own kitchen and can barely fit a full bag of trash.”
As of May 2020, the Watauga Democrat reports that the attorney general’s office responded to the resolution. Boone Mayor Rennie Brantz received a letter from Daniel Mosteller, special deputy attorney general in the N.C. Department of Justice Consumer Protection Division, who wrote that the office has the authority to examine the deceptive practices, but “legislation may be required to fully address at least some of the listed predatory practices.”
As stated in an article on Rent Prep, North Carolina has no limits on what landlords can charge for a nonrefundable application fee. George found that in Boone, the biggest rental agencies such as Winkler, Holton, and Boone High Country Rentals charge application fees that range from $50 to $60.
Although the Cottages of Boone are part of their agency, Cardinal Group Companies, they too charge $50 application fees among other fees as well.
Compare this to George’s finding that New York City caps their application fee to $20 as of June 2019, he did not think it was fair, especially since the cost of living in New York City compared to Boone is dramatically higher. USA.com reports that the median gross rent from 2010 to 2014 was $1,234 while more than 33% of the population paid even more than that for rent.
Along with application fees, utilities are not included in prices. However, utilities fluctuate depending on the season and therefore range from $20 to $120. Utilities are split up between the number of roommates in the residence, whether that be two, three, four, or five roommates.
Altogether, students are not only paying for their education but they are paying an average price of $900 for rent, an application fee of at least $50, utilities which fluctuate seasonally, and a security deposit.
According to North Carolina’s Residential Rental Agreement Act, residents' security deposits cannot exceed one and a half months’ rent and it usually is not returned to the renter for reasons that are up to the owner of the property.
“One of the biggest reasons I left The Cottages was because of the crazy amount of unnecessary and sketchy sounding fees,” Avery Miller said. “There was, of course, the $50 application fee, a $50 administration fee, a $250 redecoration fee, a $25 green fee for a total of $375. For recurring fees, it was a $5 trash fee and then I had mine furnished which was an extra $35 and then of course rent which was $690 for a total of $730. Like a green fee? What even is that? The crazy thing is when I called to ask what it was, management didn’t even know.”
Along with presenting a resolution to the Boone Town Council, according to his LinkedIn page, Dalton George also founded the Boone Fair Housing Task Force. According to their Instagram page, @boonefairhousing, their goal is to keep residents informed about the resolution passed by the Boone Town Council and to encourage the investigation of predatory housing by Attorney General Josh Stein and Senator Deanna Ballard.
Along with their Instagram page, they also have a Facebook and Twitter page to stay up to date on the latest news regarding the investigation.
Each year it not only gets increasingly more difficult for students to find somewhere affordable to live off campus, but also increasingly difficult to find anywhere at all.
In August 2021, Appalachian State University recorded its largest enrollment to date with 20,641 students which is a 3.1% increase from the previous year.
Appalachian State University has a total of 20 residence halls housing about 6,200 students. Although the university did open a new dorm building in August, Laurel Creek, this only adds 640 more beds for students who choose to live on campus. This means the university can only house 30% of students.
Of the 20 residence halls, the prices range from $4713 to $7000 a year depending on the location. The residence halls include electricity, water, and maintenance and take into account the amenities available such as air conditioning, private bathrooms, and kitchenettes.
Miller asked herself if she was receiving the best quality from management and from the house itself, which is a start in her fight against predatory housing in the high country.
Sources:
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/appalachian-state-2906/student-life
Avery Miller: student, former Cottages resident, in person interview at my own house on 10/6/2021, noon, millerae6@appstate.edu
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/dashboard/boonetownnorthcarolina/PST045219
http://www.usa.com/boone-nc-housing.htm
https://wataugaonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Landlord-Tenant-Practices-Resolution.pdf
https://rentprep.com/tenant-screening-news/the-landlord-guide-to-charging-rental-application-fees/
http://www.usa.com/new-york-ny-housing.htm
https://www.appstate.edu/about/facts/
https://today.appstate.edu/2021/08/27/enrollment
https://today.appstate.edu/2021/08/05/laurel-creek
https://housing.appstate.edu/halls
Brianna Quinn, current resident at the Cottages of Boone, in person interview at my own house on 12/3/2021 at 5 p.m. quinnbm1@appstate.edu
