There are two types of leases in the on-campus apartments:

 

Joint Leases

Joint leases are the most prevalent type of lease, and are the lease that renters will most commonly see in off-campus properties.  A joint lease is one in which all roommates in a particular apartment sign the same lease.  This means everyone is equally responsible for for all rules and regulations of the lease (including rent payments), and that any one tenant is responsible for the actions (or inactions) of all the others.

Therefore, it is important to make leasing plans with all of your roommates in mind.  For example:

• If you want to sign for the academic year, but your roommate only wants to sign for the fall semester, you would be responsible for the full apartment (including rental payments) for the spring semester.
• If you plan to sublet your apartment to another student, all roommates involved must agree to it (since everyone is jointly responsible for the overall lease).
• If you have 4 roommates sharing a 3-bedroom (possible in Frenn and parts of Campus Town), everyone is billed equally for rent - even if some people are sharing a bedroom while others are not.

 

Individual Leases

Individual leases are a bit less common, but offer different flexibility for renters.  An individual lease means that you alone are renting a space (or bedroom) within a larger apartment. Nevertheless, these leases also require advance planning on behalf of you and your roommates:

• You are not beholden to your roommates' leasing plans.
• You do not have to pay for empty spaces (bedrooms) if you alone book a larger apartment.
• If a roommate chooses to sublet their room in your apartment, they may do so on their own.
• You may end up with random roommates in your apartment, since you are only leasing your space - not the entire apartment.

While leases in Campus Town, Frenn, and McCabe are joint leases, they are treated as individual leases during the summer term.  Please see the Summer Leasing Page for more information.

 

By default, single-occupancy (one-person capacity) apartments are individual leases:

• All studio apartments (Gilman, McCabe, Campus Town East, The Marq)
• Some one-bedroom apartments (Gilman, Campus Town East Addition, The Marq)

 

Summary

While you cannot choose the lease type for any apartment, it is good to consider the features of each in order to find the best apartment community/building for your situation. 

 

Additional Information

Individual vs Joint leasing options are closely interwoven with the flexible leasing options and the summer leasing options.  We recommend viewing the following pages for additional context:

• Flexible Length Leasing
• Summer Leasing Options