Letter to the Editor

 “The Volante” welcomes letters to the editor. Letters submitted to the newspaper may be edited for length and AP style, but not for content. Opinions expressed in letters to the editor are not those of “The Volante,” its staff, the Department of Media & Journalism or the University of South Dakota, but solely those of the letter writer. 

I am writing to address the serious housing crisis that students at USD have faced for a long time. 

 I am sharing a personal story from this summer to illustrate the point, although since I moved to Vermillion from Elmira, Ontario, Canada three years ago, I have been dealing with it in one way or another. 

The one issue is that there is not enough housing. The other issue is that the city approves the use of dwellings that do not look like they have any place in a first world country. 

Beginning in June of 2022 and ending in June of 2024 I rented a trailer home through Grace Property Management. I had a lot of trouble with communication, repairs, and generally feeling taken advantage of, but the real problem came when I moved out at the end of the lease. 

According to USD’s student legal aid, South Dakota law requires the landlord to send a letter outlining how the rent deposit will be returned and then follow through within two weeks. I didn’t hear anything for six weeks, after which I reached out and asked about my $550 rent deposit. 

The manager said that all of it had been used for cleaning and repairs and actually there was an outstanding balance, but the owner wasn’t going to try to collect it. 

This had me reeling, as I had thoroughly cleaned before moving out and also fixed quite a lot of things in the trailer since their handyman often didn’t get things done. 

An example of something on quote- which was sent via text message- was $140 of general cleaning, in addition to $100.89 of just floor cleaning alone. (I know that a lot of real estate companies charge about $50 for carpet cleaning.) 

I hope that this story can divert students away from choosing Grace Property Management when looking for places to live. Perhaps they will save themselves from having their rent deposit stolen from them, and the anxiety of living under a property management system where they will be misused and mistreated.               

 – Marcus Klassen