BOISE, Idaho — The last month for Joe Goode and Max Falore has been a little hectic. They’re both seniors at Boise State University and are getting ready to graduate. They were also roommates until the end of April. They were given a 30-day notice by their landlord to vacate the property at the end of March.
"We never signed on to a new lease after the first year which moved us to month-to-month basis with our landlord and we were unaware of this,” Falore said.
Both students agree the timing could not have been any worse.
“We were bombarded with final papers and school in general,” Goode said.
They now had to find a new place to live, and they say they weren't bad tenants either.
“Great situation, always paying our rent on time,” Falore said.
While unfortunate, this situation wasn’t illegal. The 30-day notice wasn't breaking the law because they were on a month-to-month lease, but they were unaware.
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"We just assumed we were going to go another year with our lease, so it caught us at surprise,” Goode said.
It was in their lease though. Any change to this 30-day notice requirement from landlords would have to come from either legislators at the state level or the city council.
"The 30-day notice isn't working in emergency situations,” Rep. John Gannon said. He’s a Democrat who represents the 17th District, part of the Boise Bench area. "Where there is an emergency, extending the termination notice period to 60 days by statute is something we need to look at.”
In addition to serving a 30-day notice, the landlord could also increase someone’s rent as much as they want.
"Idaho does not have any caps on rent or rental increases,” Gannon said. "There is a specific statue the Legislature passed some years ago that restricts cities and counties from implementing rent control."
It all comes down to reading a lease before signing it. Because once someone signs it they’re agreeing to the terms in order to live there. As for that 60-day notice for terminating a lease, Gannon said the main problem in Boise is the low vacancy rate. He said 30 days isn't a long enough time to allow someone to find a new place to live.
Some other aspects that would need to be addressed by lawmakers are regulating the application fees and how much a would-be renter is charged, and repealing that statute that doesn't allow cities to place their own rent control when needed.