The time is almost here for students to begin thinking about where they want to call home next fall.

While this can seem like an overwhelming task, there are services like the University of Illinois Tenant Union and Student Legal Services, both located on the third floor of the Union, that can aid in the process.

“Start at the Tenant Union, that will save you a lot of time if you just start your search with us,” said Esther Patt, coordinator of the Tenant Union.

The Tenant Union provides four basic services that are essential to future tenants; help finding an apartment, lease review, landlord complaint records and resolution of landlord-tenant conflicts, she said.

“We’ll help with any problem to whatever extent we can,” Patt said. “But we’re so much more successful, and it’s so much easier to prevent problems.”

Reviewing landlord complaint records through the Tenant Union can help prevent future problems, she added.

“Pick a good landlord, that’s 95% percent of having a successful housing situation,” she said.

Matt Popielarczyk, junior in LAS, said he had an unsuccessful experience renting an apartment last year and students should begin at the Tenant Union.

“I never went to the Tenant Union so that was my fault” said Popielarczyk. “I was kind of pushed into it by friends last minute.”

An additional service that future student tenants can utilize is UIUC Student Legal Services, which provides legal assistance for students in a wide range of subject matters including housing problems and sometimes works with the Tenant Union, Patt said.

“Students have usually seen the Tenant Union first,” said Thomas E. Betz, director and attorney at the Student Legal Services. “We tend to see the students that need a lawyer rather than just advice, and sometimes it goes a little beyond the capacity of the Tenant Union.”

Most issues can be prevented before they even begin by working with the Tenant Union from the start, but when problems do occur, students can utilize the benefits of Student Legal Services.

There is a misconception that students need to rush into a lease agreement before all of the housing opportunities are rented out, which causes most of the problems, Patt said. According to Betz there is property in Champaign and Urbana that remains empty throughout the school year.

“I think students start shopping way too early,” Betz said. “The assumption is that there is not enough property out there.”