The Educated Landlord and Tenant Program has been brought to the table

Tenants, landlords and community members were invited to discuss the development of the ELT Program during town hall meeting

A study done by the CSU office of the chancellor found that one in five Humboldt State students reported being without housing one or more times last year.

Humboldt State’s off-campus housing coordinator, Chant’e Catt hosted a meeting on Nov. 30 in the Great Hall on campus to discuss this major concern of housing and other potential issues that lay ahead for student renters and landlords in Humboldt County.

“We’re looking to get feedback and create connections in the community,” Catt said.

Catt has been collecting data since Aug. to develop a program called the Tenant and Landlord Education Program. This program is centered around educating local landlords and student tenants. Catt’s goal is to raise awareness about equitable practices and cohesion between the two sides.

“We want to create open communication and bridge the gap between the community and campus,” Catt said.

Sasheen Raymond, a support administrator in the social work department on campus, explained the need for good communication between tenants and landlords. Raymond also called attention to the issue of finances in some cases.

“The goal is coming to some sort of agreement between students and landlords,” Raymond said. “ We want to know where the middle ground is for both sides.”

Raymond and Catt have been working to create a donor supported stipend that could be applied to student housing deposits in the future. This could help create a better system for student housing and alleviate some of the pressures students face when looking to find off campus housing.

Humboldt State’s associate director of housing, Todd Larsen supports the idea of the program.

“They’re trying to create a better future for the students,” Larsen said.

Catt and her associates have been working to reach out to students about their concerns by emailing well over a 1000 students and holding open meetings in the UC Quad. Students and landlords alike have come forward to express their fears in hopes of finding a balance.

“Today’s meeting was a synthesis of all the concerns students and landlords presented us with,” Catt said. “We asked them what they didn’t like and now we’re working on it.”