LEASING FROM A CURRENT SCC RESIDENT

In order to lease from a current resident, students must complete the Lease Transfer process. This is the official process of transferring financial responsibility of an SCC lease to another eligible student (a re-lessor) prior to the lease end date.  Any student who studies abroad, withdraws from the University, or needs to leave due to financial constraints must use this process.

 

Once a resident transfers their apartment lease, they forfeit all rights and responsibilities to that space. This is a formal process completed through the Leasing Office; therefore, for a Lease Transfer to be legal, it must be completed through the Leasing Office. Please see below for more information about Lease Transfer.

Lease Transfer Information

 

On occasion students inquire about the difference between “Lease Transfer” and “Subletting” their apartment. Hopefully this information will shed light on the difference between the two and why only Lease Transfer is permitted at South Campus Commons.

Subletting means that you being allowed by someone to use their apartment that they are renting for a period of time in return for payment. When subletting the lease holder is still financially responsible for the apartment and any damages that might occur even though someone else is living there. Please review the section on “Illegal Subletting” for more information on this process. Subletting is not permitted at South Campus Commons.

Lease Transfer is the official process of transferring financial responsibility for a South Campus Commons lease to another eligible student prior to the lease end date in July.  Any students who study abroad, graduate, withdraw from the University, or need to leave due to financial constraints, must use this process.   Once and apartment lease is transferred, the lease is formally ended for the original resident, which means that they will no longer have access to that space and community services and they are released from the financial obligation.  The re-lessor is then fully financially responsible and receives full rights of access to the space and corresponding services.

This formal process, which is completed through the Leasing Office, is necessary in order to protect the original leaseholder and the incoming resident. Therefore, the process outlined below must be followed for a Lease Transfer to occur.

The Process

The following information is designed to help you navigate the Lease Transfer process, through which a leaseholder can end their lease early by transferring it to another eligible student. Please review this information carefully, as the leaseholder retains financial responsibility for their apartment until the Lease Transfer process has been completed in its entirety. After the leaseholder identifies their re-lessor, the process can take 1-2 weeks to complete (from submission to transfer). As such, we recommend that leaseholders start looking for a re-lessor as early as possible. The following steps are needed to complete the Lease Transfer process.

  • Step 1: The leaseholder finds a Re-lessor (a student who is interested in taking over your lease). It is the Leaseholder’s exclusive responsibility to find a Re-lessor. The Leaseholder can request the Leasing Interest list from their leasing office to contact students who have indicated interest. They may also post their space at no charge on the OCH Database.
  • The Re-lessor must complete a South Campus Commons/Courtyards Leasing Application for the leasing term for which they will be leasing. The Commons/Courtyards leasing application is found in the Housing Portal
  • Step 3: The Leaseholder and Re-lessor must each submit a Lease Transfer Form in StarRez. After the Re-lessor is approved, the Leaseholder will receive an email from the Leasing Office with instructions to complete the process.
  • Step 4: The Leaseholder and Re-lessor complete their Lease Transfer paperwork after receiving it via email from the leasing office.
Connecting Lease Holders and Re-Lessors
  • he OCH Database: A Resident Life resource that The Courtyards and South Campus Commons Lease Holders can use to post their vacancy and potential Re-lessors can use to search for vacancies.
  • Maryland Community Housing Facebook group: A housing resource that requires an @umd.edu email address to access.
  • The Courtyards and South Campus Commons Wait list: As a Re-lessor, you can join The Courtyards and South Campus Commons wait list by completing a Common/Courtyards Leasing application. Lease Holders can request this list so that they can reach out to interested students all at once.
  • You are also encouraged to use word of mouth! Ask your friends if they know of anyone looking to leave The Courtyards or South Campus Commons or if they know anyone who wants to move in to South Campus Commons or The Courtyards.
Eligibilty

A re-lessor’s eligibility will be determined after the Lease Holder and Re-lessor have completed the Releasing Form. Lease Transfer eligibility is determined by the University of Maryland’s Department of Resident Life and generally includes the following:

  • Students must be in good academic, financial, & judicial standing with the University to be eligible to sign a lease.
  • Re-lessor must be the same gender as the lease holder (unless the lease holder is in a pre-designated mixed-gender apartment)
  • Fall and Spring Re-lessors must be undergraduate students, have been in college for at least one semester (freshmen are NOT eligible to be approved for a Lease Transfer in their first semester), and registered full-time at the University of Maryland, College Park.
  • Summer re-lessors may be undergraduate students who are affiliated with the University of Maryland College Park.
Who is Eligible? Fall Re-leasing Spring Re-leasing Summer Re-leasing
Fall First Semester Freshman at UMD N Y Y
Spring First Semester Freshman at UMD N/A N Y
UMCP Undergrad enrolled for Fall Y Y Y
UMCP Undergrad who was enrolled in the Spring N Y Y
UMCP Undergrad Enrolled only in the Summer N N Y
Student returning from Study Abroad Y Y Y
Transfer Student (must have Confirmed Enrollment for Semester in which they want to re-lease) Y Y Y
Non-UMD student who wants to live in friend’s apartment while friend is gone and isn’t affiliated with UMCP N N N

* needs documentation if not a UMD student

For more specific questions about renewal eligibility, please email the Manager for Housing Partnerships with the Department of Resident Life, at pppleasing@umd.edu.

Deadlines
  • Lease Holders and Re-lessors can submit the Commons/Courtyards Lease Transfer Request Form anytime, but appointments are only available between the 4th and the 20th of each month (except August, February, and March).
  • Failure to complete your appointment by the 20th of the month will result in you retaining financial responsibility for the following month.
    Re-lessor approvals can take 2-4 business days to process after the both the Lease Holder and Re-lessor complete their Commons/Courtyards Lease Trasnfer Forms. The re-lessor will not be evaluated for eligibility until both parties have completed their Lease Transfer Request Forms.
Process Requirements
  • CURRENT RESIDENT:
      • Your $100 lease transfer fee. This must be paid in certified funds*. Personal checks and cash are NOT accepted.
      • You must have a zero balance.
      • If your transfer fee and balance are not paid at least 2 business days prior to your leasing appointment, they must be paid at the appointment in certified funds.
      • Installment payments are due on the first of each month. The person in possession of the lease on the 1st of the month is responsible for the installment payment. Installments are not prorated and Capstone will not issue refunds for installments owed prior to the lease transfer. Any exchange of money relating to partial installment payments or personal refunds is solely between the leaseholder and the re-lessor.

    *Certified Funds are available from a teller at your financial institution in the form of a cashier’s check. Money orders are available at 7-Eleven, CVS, The United States Post Office, Giant, and other retail locations.

    NEW RESIDENT:

     

    All paperwork is now submitted via digital appointments using the StarRez system and electronic signature on DocuSign (including the guarantor form)

    ILLEGAL SUBLETTING

    Illegally subletting a South Campus Commons apartment to an unapproved individual is strictly prohibited.  If you are found to be illegally subletting your apartment, the leaseholder and the illegal subletter may be referred to the University of Maryland judicial process according to the Rights and Responsibilities handbook, Section B, 26.  As the illegal subletter, you will be required to move out of the apartment immediately or go to the Leasing Office sign a lease at South Campus Commons.

    Failure to check in through the Landlord is subject to a $200 administrative charge.  Failure to check in or out at a designated Service Desk is also subject to a $100 improper check in/out fee. Furthermore, current residents who do not properly check their keys into a Commons staff member at the Service Desk are subject to $75 core replacement fee for the apartment lock AND a $75 core replacement fee for the bedroom lock AND a $25 replacement fee for the mailbox key. Only legal leaseholders will be permitted to sign out the replacement keys in such circumstances.

    To avoid incurring these charges and judicial sanctions, and to preserve the security of our community, it is imperative that all residents use the Lease Transfer process outlined here.

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