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Thank
you for your interest in leasing an apartment with Elm Campus Partners, LLC. We
look forward to working with you to find a home for the coming year. This page
contains information which will help prospective tenants approach their housing
search as effectively as possible. Please read on for the answers to some of
our most-received leasing inquiries. If you still have any questions about the
rental process, please
contact us online
or call the office at (203) 776-4466.
We will be happy to work with you by email to find the right home for
your time at Yale. Approximately 1/3 of our tenants find their
apartments without traveling to New Haven, and we are very experienced
at conducting leasing representations with future residents around the
world.
Please begin by reviewing the Rental Properties section of our website.
This will introduce you to the types of properties you may lease from us
and answer many of your initial questions.
Next,
complete the Rental Application, listing the specific properties you are
interested in or indicate the general location and apartment size you hope to
lease. This application establishes your place in our Applicant Queue.
In the spring, once we reach your position in the Applicant Queue, we will
invite you to apartment showings
based on the rental interests expressed in your on-line application. The e-mail invitation will have instructions on how to respond if
you cannot attend.
Because you will not be able to attend apartment showings, upon request one of our associates
will send pictures of units to you (if they are available.) You may also choose to have a friend or associate attend showings
on your behalf and report back to you. We offer apartments to prospective tenants in the order
that we receive their applications on our website, and we work hard to ensure
that applicants who cannot visit New Haven
are not at a disadvantage in securing a rental.
Once
you have been offered an apartment, all lease documents will be sent to you
electronically along with detailed instructions. We will ask you to download
them and sign where indicated, enclose checks/money orders (in US dollars) for
the required payments and return the leasing package to our office via mail or
courier service. We will contact you when we receive the signed documents.
Prior
to your move in date you will be notified when your apartment will be ready for
you. At that time we will make arrangements for you to pick up your keys.
Please be assured that our staff will be available to answer any questions you
might have throughout the leasing process.
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I’m
interested in leasing a multi-bedroom unit with some of my friends. How can I
include them in my apartment search?
We
know how confusing it can be to find an apartment on your own; trying to lease
with one or more friends can be even more challenging. To make the process
easier for everyone in the group, please note the following:
All
lessees must have a current Yale affiliation. Only individuals who
have a full-time affiliation with Yale University are eligible to sign new
leases for University Properties’ units.
Each
member of the group should complete a rental application. Sometimes plans
change for one or more members of an applicant group, but if everyone has
submitted an application, each person will have an opportunity to view the
apartment offerings and make his or her own decisions. Applicants are welcome
to express interest in any or all apartment sizes, and are not restricted to
their original size choices. Non-applicants will not be in a position to lease
a unit on their own if the original group should fail to materialize.
You
will all be invited to apartment showings. All members of a group do not need
to attend the same showing. However, we feel strongly that all prospective
tenants should attend a showing if possible before signing a lease. Tenants who
are ‘leasing from a distance’ as part of a group will want to stay in contact
with their co-tenants during the apartment selection process. Representative
photos of most buildings should be on our website under the Rental Property
descriptions.
Should
your group choose to lease a unit, all co-tenants will need to agree to the
terms and sign a lease agreement with Yale University. As property managers for
Yale, we will conduct the lease signings at our office. We will need to meet
with all of the new tenants for a given apartment to complete the leasing
documents. There is an additional $100 lease processing charge if all
tenants do not come in for their lease signing at the same time. If one or more group members are unable to travel to New Haven, we
will need all local co-tenants to visit our office to sign the documents,
whereupon we will send the documents to the distant roommates for wet ink
signatures as well.
At the
time of lease signing, we will need to collect a security deposit in the amount
of 1.5 x month’s base rent. Due to tax reporting requirements we ask that just
one check be submitted at lease signings for the security deposit. At the end of your stay we will
issue a single refund payment plus
interest, less any deductions for unusual wear and tear or unpaid balances.
Tenants should be prepared to indicate a single party to receive the refund at
the end of their stay.
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How will you conduct apartment showings?
Each Friday we email the appropriate segment of the Applicant
Queue, inviting them to attend tour(s) of specific buildings for the upcoming
week. The tour invitations are based on the rental interests expressed in your
on-line application. Depending upon your application, you may receive multiple
tour invitations each week. Please check your email regularly during leasing
season for our showing invitations. Applicants will be invited to tours until
they either commit to a rental or ask to be withdrawn from the invitation list.
The tour invitations instruct applicants as to where and when we will meet to
view apartments. We limit the number of applicants invited to each tour to
provide a manageable viewing experience, while increasing the probability that
invitees will be able to secure a rental. Group tours reduce the number of
necessary showings for our current residents, while also allowing our applicants
to view as many options as feasible before selecting a home for the coming year.
Applicants who cannot attend tours are provided instructions on how to lease an
apartment at a distance and are not at a disadvantage in securing a rental.
At
each tour we provide a unit information sheet containing details on apartment
location, monthly rent, lease commencement date, and utility responsibilities. ECP
Leasing Agents escort applicants through apartments on the tour, fielding any
questions that may arise. Applicants are requested to refrain from
photographing occupied apartments without the express permission of the current
resident; some interior photos are available on our website, and additional
photos for many units are available upon request.
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I've found an apartment that I really like. How do
I rent it?
At the end of the tour we give all applicants time to consider their rental
options so that people do not feel compelled to make an immediate decision
under duress. This reduces the stress for all applicants, and it allows
applicants renting from a distance an equal chance at securing an
apartment. All interested applicants are asked to rank their favored
apartments (1st choice, 2nd choice, etc.) from those listed on the tour
sheet(s) (this may include apartments from more than one building.)
Applicants should only submit a ranking for apartments they are willing to
lease. We ask that all apartment preferences be submitted by 8 AM the
following morning. We then compile the responses and extend rental offers
by noon.
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Will it improve my chances if I declare my preferences
at the tour?
No. Whether you submit your preferences immediately after the tour or the
next morning at 7:59 a.m. does not affect your ability to get the rental you
desire.
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Will
I get my first choice?
There are multiple factors affecting who gets offered which unit, but first and
foremost it is the applicant themselves. Frequently we run a tour where each
applicant selects a different first choice. Some people like dark apartments,
others seek the light. Some applicants prefer higher floors, others want ground
level living. Self-selection typically results in most applicants receiving one
of their top selections.
We compile submitted preference sheets in the order that we received your
initial rental applications on our website, without regard for whether the
applicant was able to attend the tour or not. The earliest applicant will
therefore be offered his or her first choice of apartments. The second-earliest
applicant will receive his or her first choice, unless it has already been
offered, in which event he or she will receive an offer on their second choice.
All applicants submitting a preference sheet will receive either a rental offer
e-mail or an email notifying them that we could not make a match.
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What
happens once I receive an apartment rental offer?
Applicants who receive an apartment rental offer are given an additional 24
hours to consider and confirm their rental intentions. If they reject their
offer or do not respond by the deadline, the apartment goes back onto the
market and we will offer it to other interested applicants.
Once an applicant confirms that they want to lease the unit, they are given
one week to visit our office to sign their leasing documents, if they reside
in New Haven. Applicants who lease their apartments from a distance will
receive their leasing package via e-mail, along with complete instructions,
and they are asked to place it into the mail within a week’s time.
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Other rental / tour questions?
Our leasing associates will be happy to answer any other questions you might
have about the leasing process, either during the apartment tours or via
phone or e-mail (rentals@elmcampus.com). If you have specific questions about a specific apartment(s), we will do our best to answer them.
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