All University housing leases and contracts end on May 31, and graduating students must vacate at that time. Because of the needs of incoming students, it is not possible for the University to extend graduates' leases beyond May 31; most incoming Law students move in during the last week in July /first week of August, with many students in other graduate programs moving in as early as June.
However, there are still options available for students who wish to remain in the Columbia area for the summer months; please read the following for more information.
In order to help you with your post-graduation housing needs, the University has a variety of resources available to graduates seeking assistance finding long-term or short-term housing. If you are interested in staying near the University for the summer, you can:
sublet a University Apartment Housing (UAH) unit
contact the Off-Campus Housing Assistance (OCHA) Office – for help subletting, finding an off-campus apartment, or short-term accommodations, OCHA has a wide range of services available.
More information about these options is below, with general guidelines for vacating at the end of this memo.
Subletting a UAH unit
Many continuing students who are going away for the summer list their apartments for sublet online, at the LawSchool's bulletin board for sublet information (http://coursewebs.law.columbia.edu/sabb), and/or (if they live in UAH) at OCHA's sublet database (http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ire/ocha ). Most apartments are listed in March and April, with sublets commencing in May. The tenant and subtenant determine the length of the sublet; the rent charged can be no more than the UAH rent + 10%. Keep in mind that if you sublet from a UAH tenant, he/she must file the ColumbiaUniversity sublet application before beginning the sublet. Applications for sublet are available at the OCHA office and on the OCHA web site: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ire/sublease/subregistry.html
Off-Campus Housing Assistance
The Off-Campus Housing Assistance (OCHA) office helps Columbia affiliates in their search for rental housing in non-Columbia owned buildings located in the metropolitan area. OCHA maintains a Web site and regular office hours to provide advice, resources, and an online database of available housing. The office is equipped with computers that can be used to search OCHA's online database, and is stocked with printed information relevant to your search. Examples include lists of realtors and temporary housing, as well as neighborhood and transit maps.
Although OCHA's services are provided free of charge, some listers and all real estate agents and brokers charge fees.
OCHA is located at 419 West 119th Street-Lower Level, on the north side of the street between Amsterdam Avenue and Morningside Drive. They may be reached at (212) 854-2773; their fax number is (212) 854-5333. Their Web site is located at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ire/ocha/ and it is possible to send the OCHA staff e-mail via their site's Feedback section.
Vacating your UAH apartment
UAH’s vacancy guidelines, as well as a copy of the vacancy form you need to file prior to moving out of your apartment, are available at the UAH reception desk, as well as in the Tenant Information section of the UAH Web site: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ire/newres.html#vacating .If you live in an apartment for which rent is billed monthly, your security deposit will be refunded to the forwarding address you provide, approximately 60 days from the date you vacate and return your keys to your Superintendent.If you live in an apartment billed by term (Lenfest, Harmony Hall, etc.) you will not receive a refund upon vacating, because your $400 room deposit was credited to your Student Financial Account during your first term of residency.
