Guidelines for Property Owners or Sublettors

Beware of Scams

It has come to our attention that several landlords have been contacted by prospective “renters” via email who are anxious to rent the apartment. They are so anxious they are willing to provide a full years rent in advance. Payments are forwarded to the landlord in the form of a check or money order and are often in excess of the full years rent amount. The landlord is then asked to remit the overpayment to the renter to cover travel expenses, furnishings, etc.

If this happens to you, Do Not Send or Return Money to a prospective renter until the check or money order has had ample time to clear. Banks will often unknowingly accept fraudulent checks at first, and contact the accountholders and discredit the check only later when the fraud is discovered. You may choose also to decline to accept the check or money order at all.

If you suspect a scam is in progress, you may request that the bank, post office or police investigate the situation.

How to protect yourself:

• Ask for references! (The Yale departments will be happy to verify the enrollment status of possible tenants.)
• Be suspicious of anyone who contacts you with requests like those described above.
• Do not feel pressured to respond or send money back; that is part of the scam.
• Wait for checks and money orders to clear before proceeding.

Guidelines for Submitting a Property Listing

• Yale University upholds the principle of equality in housing opportunity. We insist that landlords or agents who list with Yale Off Campus Housing abide by the Connecticut Statutes prohibiting discrimination based on race, creed, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, gender, marital status, age, lawful source of income, mental or physical disability or sexual orientation.
• If a complaint is filed with en enforcement agency we may remove all listings placed by the defendant until the complaint is resolved. If it is proven that illegal discrimination has occurred, listings will not be allowed to be re-entered into the system until we have received written certification that the landlord or agent will abide by the statues in the future. The landlord or agent’s ability to use the system will be suspended.
• We also reserves the right to deny listings and/or prohibit landlords from placing listings if:
  • Substandard accommodations have been listed with Yale (verified by the Building Inspection office)
  • There is evidence that the rights of tenants have been violated or that inaccurate information was provided to Yale Off Campus Housing.
• For both Rental and Sale Listings, up to five pictures less than 1 meg each in jpg format are permitted. If the pictures that are submitted for entry to the Property Listing are deemed inappropriate, the listing will be edited to reflect University guidelines.

Student Subletting Guidelines

You can list a room, apartment or house on our website. On the listing be sure to include that those interested have to assume the lease, if that is the case. We suggest you check with your landlord to confirm that it is ok to sublease your place. A discount is available for student with valid Yale ID advertising a summer sublet opportunity. A coupon code can be obtained from the Off Campus Housing office for online payments.