A Higher Glyphic

Susannah Price is like many of the students who live off campus. She lives in a rental house that is owned by the Home Rentals agency. Her monthly rent is moderate, if now low, but Susannah feels that she should not have to pay her rent for the month of April.

When the April showers came Susannah could not escape the rain.

Her roof had been leaking above her kitchen during the previous months, and repairs were done to stop the leaks in that area. The repairs held through the winter, but this spring season proved to be too much. The roof could not withstand the days of downpour that also caused flooding in the Southern Illinois area.

Susannah notified Home Rentals, and maintenance came to assess the situation. Water saturated spots had begun to peak through the ceiling above Susannah's bedroom. With each rain, new water spots developed as older spots grew. Eventually, the cork-like ceiling material soaked in all the water it could hold and its own weight brought it down, exposing insulation and the home's wooden frame.

The continuing rain meant that repairs to the roof would have to wait.

"I had no place to live," Susannah said.

Susannah moved her personal belongings out of her bedroom to avoid water damage, and she was able to stay with her boyfriend while she waited for her bedroom ceiling to be repaired.

"I have had to deal with this twice now," Susannah said, referring to the need for roof repairs to the rental property. "It is a major inconvenience…Justice would be served if I didn't have to pay my rent for that month," Susannah explained.

Home Rentals office manager Alicia Niemeyer said all of the proper procedures were followed while dealing with this situation. The weather was the only factor that kept the repairs from happening sooner, she said.

The property was inspected by the City of Carbondale Code Enforcement, and the house was never deemed as unfit or uninhabitable. Tom Grant, the manager of Building and Neighborhood Services Division for the City of Carbondale, said having no heat, no water, extreme condition of disrepair, and structure deficiency to the point of near collapse are just a few of the criteria that would allow a structure to be deemed unfit or uninhabitable. Grant said the recent flooding in the area has also caused a minimal increase in code complaints and violations.

Susannah requested rent reduction for the month that she could not sleep in her own bedroom. Home Rentals has not approved the reduction.

Currently repairs are underway at Susannah's house, and fixing her bedroom ceiling was a first priority. When the weather permits, workers arrive in the early morning hours to put a new roof on the house. When rain does come, tarps are used to keep the roof and building materials from getting wet.

The loud hammer thuds and piles of what use to be the old roof, as annoying as both are, provide some hope to Susannah. She has a little less to worry about while studying for the end of semester finals that are only a weekend away.

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