2The Tar HeelThursday. July 31. 1986
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By SCOTT GROG
Gty Editor
While some Chapel Hill merchants
prepare for the students41 return to the
UNC campus and the Franklin Street
area, some of their fellow business
men say they didn't feel the effects
of the long summer drought that
annually afflicts merchants who
depend on students as customers.
For Kathy Sapp of Carolina Pride,
it has been "a great summer," but
for Richard Layne. whose Record
Bar store is less than half a block
away, it has been "boring as hell."
Sapp, who manages Carolina
Pride. 151 E. Franklin St., said the
store, which specializes in clothing
and souvenirs aimed at the UNC fan,
has done very good business all
summer.
"All in all, it's been a very good
summer for the store. With all the
camps and other things going on this
summer, theye kept us busy the
entire time."
Sapp said she does not expect the
jump in business at the beginning of
the upcoming semester to be that
significant for Carolina Pride.
"Students have other expenses to
worry about at the beginning of the
year," she said.
"They have to buy books, supplies
ami rwver else. Students dont
have money to be throwing around
downtown when they first get here,
but we are expecting a few big
weekends when parents come into
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town for football games or. other
activities. Nobody can leave Chapel
Hill without buying some sort of Tar
Heel item, so we do a good, steady
business."
Sapp said the only increases of any
significance she expects will be in the
area of customized t -shirts and other
speciality items for dormitories or
fraternities.
Layne. manager of the Record Bar
at 131 E. Franklin St., said he was
probably being very conservative
when he estimated his expected rise
in business to be about 40 percent
when the students flock back to
Chapel Hill.
He said he hasn't seen any of the
business that Sapp had mentioned
coming from the various University
run camps on campus.
"It's gone from slow to slower,"
said Layne. "People around here just
arent finding Franklin Street like
they do during the regular year."
Asked if new specials or other
advertising devices were used to draw
in customers during the slow,
summer months, he replied that they
run specials all year long and have
a "happy hour" every day with
reduced prices.
"We couldn't survive without
students," Layne said.
"It's about time they started coming
back now. I think everyone around
here is glad when the students first
leave for the summer because it's a
little break.
13
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" "We all take our vacations during
the summer because we have the time
to. But that feeling doesn't last long.
Pretty soon they want the students
back again because students repres
ent business."
But for some merchants, students
are only are a part of their clientele,
and they are able to survive the
summer months without them.
That's not the case for the majority
of Franklin Street businesses,
however.
"I dont think Franklin Street's
stores could survive in this town for
a really extended period of time
without students around to pump
money into them," Mary Logan, a
Students' should know their tights
to avoid poor lease arrangements
By DWIGHT MARTIN
Staff Writer
During the next few weeks thou
sands of UNC students will become
part of an important legal contract
the rental agreement or lease.
Signing a lease is not something
to be taken lightly. A UNC Student
Consumer Action Union publication
reads, "The majority of leases are
typically one-sided and it's not the
tenant's side (that is favored)."
The purpose of the one-sided lease
is to make the tenant think the
landlord is all powerful, SCAU
reports.
But that is not the real story,
reports "The Southern Part of
Heaven: A Housing Guide to Chapel
Hill and Carrboro," available in
SCAU's office, Suite B of the Carol
ina Union.
The one-sided lease is only effec
tive when tenants do not know their
rights, according to the SCAU. A
thorough understanding of the lease
and its language is the beginning of
such knowledge.
The SCAU publication offers
several lease reading tips:
: Read every word in the lease.
"More often than not, it's the
sentence buried 16 lines down within
a paragraph that tells you what you
really should know."
Be aware that sections of the
lease, divided by subtitles, are not
consistent. "The sections seem to be
University Square Chapel Hill 967-8935
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local shopper, said.
"You'd end up having a stretch of
town with nothing but one or two
gas stations, a few scattered drug
stores, maybe a clothing store and
a restaurant or two. There really
aren't any operations on Franklin
Street that dont rely heavily on
students for over half of their income,
probably. You can walk down the
street and it just feels dead compared
to the regular school year. People
arent here and merchants are feeling
it." -
Restaurants, bars, music stores
and clothing boutiques are part of
the everyday life of the 20,000-plus
students, faculty, and others asso
ciated with UNC. It's as if the town
thrown in at random with no logical
order." One section might prohibit
excessive noise, but the consequence
eviction may appear several
paragraphs down in another section.
Be aware that a "substantial
violation" refers to an evictionable
action.
Be aware that all changes to the
lease made by you or the landlord
need to be made in writing. Both
parties should initial the altered
sections.
Tenants are legally protected in
this state, according to SCAU. The
Rental Agreements Act, passed in
1977, requires landlords to provide
housing that is safe, sanitary and
habitable.
After the act was passed, some
landlords attempted to dodge the
requirements of the law by evicting
or threatening to evict those who
complained about their living con
ditions to them or local housing
officals, SCAU says.
The Retaliatory Eviction Act,
passed in 1979, makes it illegal for
landlords to evict tenants who pursue
their rights to safe and decent
housing, according to SCAU.
SCAU's guide also translates
several phrases often found in leases
from legal language. Many leases
contain these phrases:
"The lessee shall render the lessor
harmless for any damages which may
arise and accrue however caused
were a commercial village built up
around the campus to supply the
needs of the University. When school
is in full swing during the fall and
spring semesters, local merchants feel
the influence of all that- money
floating around. When 16,000 stu
dents leave for the summer, and only
summer school students remain to
support those businesses, the mer
chants feel the influence in a different
way, but just as much.
For now , local businesses wait out
the remaining two and a half weeks
until the new crop of UNC freshmen
arrive, money in hand, followed
closely by the returning
upperclassmen.
whether in whole or in part to acts
of negligence on the part of the
lessor."
This means that if someone is hurt
or something damaged due to land
lord negligence, the tenant agrees not
to bring suit. However, tenants may
still have recourse against the land
lords in such situations. UNC stu
dents can go to Student Legal
Services for details.
"The tenant hereby pledges to
the landlord all the goods and
chattels of said tenant which are upon
the premises as security of payment
of rent."
This means the landlord may claim
the tenant's belongings if for some
reason he does, not pay his rent. But
it is . not that easy for the landlord
to obtain all the tenant's "goods and
chattels." The landlord cannot lock
you out or enter your apartment
without a court order.
"In the event there shall be an
increase in (costs) the tenant shall pay
his. proportionate share of said
increase."
This means that the landlord can
raise rent, but the landlord must
apply a formula to the rent increase
and itemize the specific cst
increases. A reasonable proof of cost
increase must be established.
After you have signed your lease
and moved into your apartment,
SCAU recommends a straightfor
ward approach to landlord commun
ication. This type of communication
maintains your personal credibility
and acknowledges the landlord's
rights and concerns.
SCAU stresses that off-campus
living should be a rewarding expe
rience. Planning adds to the rewards.
Before choosing an apartment, con
sider whether you want to live quietly
and privately or be part of an active
social scene.
Library classes
UNC's Health Sciences Library
has designed several one-hour orien
tation sessions to introduce faculty,
students and staff , to the library.
Sessions will be held in the afternoons
Aug. II, 14, 19, 22, 25, 28 and Sept.
2, 5, 8, 11, 16, 19, 22 and 25. Call
the library at 962-0700 for more
information.