Imagine signing a lease in August and being asked to commit to the next one by November. That has been a common experience for renters in College Park. Landlords have been able to ask tenants to renew their leases nearly a year in advance, sometimes while students were still settling into a new semester. A new city law is now changing that.
Two School of Public Policy juniors helped push forward the Early Lease Ordinance, a new law that gives renters more time before landlords can ask them to renew a lease. Through their roles as student liaisons to the City of College Park, Nick DiSpirito and Amira Abujuma worked with city officials to draft the proposal and guide it through the legislative process. The City Council passed the ordinance unanimously in February. The new law prevents landlords from offering a lease renewal until 180 days before the current lease ends. For many students whose leases begin in August, that means renewal offers cannot be made until February.
The issue was already on their radar before they began their liaison roles. DiSpirito said he experienced the pressure firsthand while living in College Park. “My roommates and I were told to resign our lease or potentially lose it to someone else in November after we had just signed for that year in August,” he said. “This pressure was very stressful and made us feel like we had no choice or power over where we could live.”
This pressure was very stressful and made us feel like we had no choice or power over where we could live.Nick DiSpirito
As student liaisons, they worked with city leaders to draft and revise the ordinance. Early in the process, they collaborated with former councilmember John Rigg and the city attorney to develop the proposal. Public hearings later brought testimony from both students and landlords. The entire process took about eight months. Early drafts focused primarily on student housing, but feedback from residents and smaller landlords led to revisions so the rule would apply across the city.
DiSpirito said the experience reflected many of the ideas he studies in his policy courses, particularly the need to work with different stakeholders when shaping legislation. “This law ended up gaining bipartisan support from both students and landlords because we made the effort to talk to both sides of the aisle,” he said
With the ordinance now in effect, city officials and the student liaisons are focused on making sure renters and landlords understand the new rules. Students who receive a renewal offer earlier than the 180-day window can report it to the city, which can enforce the ordinance and issue fines. Tenants who want to renew earlier may still do so, but landlords cannot ask them to waive their rights under the law.
For Abujuma, the experience also reinforced how community advocacy can shape policy. “Your elected officials are your representatives, and it is our job as policy students to let them know about the problems plaguing our communities,” she said. “We have more power to create change than we realize. As long as we show up, use our voices and be persistent, we can transform our communities for the better.”