Most freshmen at the University of Maine are required to live on campus for their first year. After that, it is completely up to the students. Many students choose to move off campus to major apartment complexes. The Avenue, The Reserve and Orchard Trails are three complexes off campus that only host students as their tenants. These complexes only harm the students in Orono. These apartments have predatory leasing policies, and actively ignore the health and safety needs of their tenants.
Just this week, the Avenue sent an email to UMaine students. The email said “Now is the time to secure your spot at The Ave before rates go up!” with the subject line “Act Now- Limited apartments available…”
The Ave, with some of the most expensive leases in Orono, is implying that you must apply to their complex immediately, or you will not be able to afford to live off campus next year. This messaging worked. There were students in tents outside the Ave’s leasing office the night before leases opened up. Spending a night on the cold concrete to live in an apartment is unnecessary and motivated by this predatory leasing language.
Orchard Trails, another popular complex off campus, sent similar emails. It is misleading to receive an email with the subject line “don’t miss out” for an apartment complex that still had open units at the start of this academic year. Another example of creating a false sense of urgency to pressure students into signing a lease.
It is not normal or necessary to have to sign leases for apartments ten months in advance of moving in. The leasing culture in Orono is based on students feeling rushed to make a decision that is not in their best interest. They will either be rushed to sign a lease they cannot afford or sign a lease to live off campus, when they still do not really know how living on campus benefits them as a student. There are plenty of houses and apartments in Orono with cheaper leases than these complexes. However, this pressure to “act now” takes students out of shopping around for the best priced apartment.
As someone who visited Orchard Trails, I am astounded to receive an email that implies I would be “missing out” if I do not live there. The only thing that I feel like I am missing out on from Orchard Trails is dirt-covered hallways, smoke alarm battery beeping and trash littered throughout the buildings. The condition of Orchard Trails, and to an extent the Ave and Reserve as well, is disgusting. With higher-than-average prices, these complexes pride themselves on ripping off their tenants. What does $800 a month go toward? Students at these complexes are being mistreated by corporate landlords. There is no universe where the filth of an Orchard Trails building is acceptable from a landlord.
Outside of filthy, overpriced apartments, these complexes rarely have the student’s best interest in mind. Going online, you can find countless horror stories of tenant experiences at the Ave. One tenant was charged $18 for a battery added to their smoke detector. No reasonable, non-predatory landlord would ever charge $18 to change the battery in a smoke detector. The Ave turns a blind eye to student safety. Every year, on Maine Day, there is a large gathering of students in between units at the Ave. This gathering is typically dangerous with numerous students being sent to the hospital in years past. The biggest issue is binge drinking. UMaine wanted to make Maine Day safer for students. On the Maine Day task force, there was at-length discussion about bringing trash cans, water and medical aid to the Ave for Maine Day. The property manager immediately shut it down, actively discouraging harm reduction at a notoriously-dangerous gathering.
If you are a student thinking about moving off campus, wait it out. Do not feel pressured by corporate slum lords to sign up for an $800-a-month cardboard box. These complexes exploit young students in Orono every day. These major complexes are one of the worst things to happen to Orono and UMaine.