Landlords placed ‘profit over safety,’ suit says
Parents of students who attend UCF sue apartment complexes
The privately owned apartment complexes that house thousands of college students in east Orange County are still demanding their residents pay rent, months after the coronavirus pandemic forced campuses to shutter and schools to halt inperson classes.
Two parents of students who attend the University of Central Florida and signed leases in offcampus apartments filed a classaction lawsuit this week. And a Valencia College student from
Haiti, whose father died from the virus, is getting no relief from a complex that refuses to allow him to cancel a lease he signed before his dad became ill.
UCF issued refunds of housing fees students paid for rooms they couldn’t use, but off-campus apartment complexes generally have not made those types of concessions, including at least one that benefited from a federal program intended to help small businesses continue paying workers during the pandemic.
The problem is exacerbated by a shortage of on-campus housing at UCF, which has fewer than 8,000 beds for nearly 70,000 students, forcing many to sign leases
with private landlords. Many of the apartment complexes encourage students to lock in new leases six months or more before school starts.
A suit filed this week in U.S. District Court against American Campus Communities, which owns Plaza on University and The Village at Science Drive near UCF, said the company “placed profit over safety,” by demanding payment for services it could no longer provide safely. The suit compared the two complexes, which offer units with private bedrooms but shared common areas, to “a cruise ship on land packed with college students.”
However, the complex continued to insist students pay rent as required by their leases.
“They took a hard-line approach and weren’t willing to make any concessions,” said Monique Perna, a St. Augustine mother and one of the parents who filed the suit.
The two complexes together have more than 2,000 beds available for rent, according to American Campus Communities’ website. The Texasbased company, which owns apartment complexes across the country and markets them to college students, did not respond to an email seeking comment this week. A spokeswoman told the Orlando Sentinel in March the company was temporarily waiving fees for online and late payments. She described the pandemic as “a black swan event” and said the company was working with residents and their families on a case-by-case basis.
UCF and other universities, the suit noted, urged most students to leave the school’s dorms as the number of coronavirus cases grew, “because these types of high-density, shared living space accommodations are simply unsafe to occupy.”
The apartment complexes, however, remained open and are continuing to collect rent for unused rooms and other facilities. Perna’s son Jake, for example, continues to pay monthly rent of $844, plus $45 for parking and $30 for utilities for his room at Plaza on University. He moved back to his family’s home when in-person classes were canceled in the spring.
“These companies are profiting off the backs of students and their families during a nationwide pandemic and what they should be doing is exercising good corporate citizenship and doing the right thing,” said Billy Howard, a Tampa-based attorney who is representing the parents. “They refuse to do the right thing, so we’re asking the court to make them do the right thing.”
Other UCF-area apartment complexes that cater to college students also have refused to budge. Terry Denis, a Valencia College student, rented a room at Campus Crossings on Alafaya for the 2019-2020 academic year and renewed his lease in the spring. His father, who was helping him pay for school expenses, died June 11 in Haiti after being infected with the virus. Denis said the complex has refused to cancel next year’s lease.
“I’m not financially stable due to the tragedy,” said Denis, who is 18.
He’s now staying with a relative in Miami and plans to return to Haiti and complete his schoolwork from there. Valencia has said most classes will remain online-only this fall.
Campus Apartments, the Philadelphia-based company that owns Campus Crossings on Alafaya, did not respond to an email seeking comment for this story. Like American Campus Communities, Campus Apartments operates dozens of apartment complexes near college and university campuses across the country.
Another UCF student who moved back to his home in Hillsborough County filed a suit against Campus Crossings on Alafaya in Orange County small claims court in May. That complaint argued that because the complex markets its units to students who need a place to live while attending UCF, it should refund rent paid while in-person classes were canceled.
While students say Campus Apartments has been unwilling to cut them any slack, the company received a break. It was awarded a forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loan valued at between $5 million and $10 million, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, which does not report the exact value of the loans.
It’s not clear whether any of that money will benefit students who rent units from Campus Apartments.
After Denis’ father died, he said he asked Campus Crossings on Alafaya for leniency, saying he no longer needed the apartment nor could he pay for it.
“They told me I have to find a replacement,” Denis said. “But the problem is that since there’s COVID going around, there are not many people looking for housing right now.”