One of the most trying parts of college is where you live. Every place — the residence halls, greek system and off-campus — has its ups and downs. However, with each of these living options, students must make sure their rights are protected.

Most of you can tell by looking in the classified ads that there are many housing options on the block in the off-campus sector. There are a few things to remember if you plan to move off-campus this summer, next fall or anytime in the near future.

First of all, know how much you will be paying. Yes, you’ll know how much rent is because it will be on your lease, but don’t think you are getting by cheap if your rent seems low. Utilities and additional costs can hound you. Save on costs by finding out the average utility bill for the residence from the City of Ames. Add up what the costs will be for garbage removal, natural gas, cable, telephone and any other expenses. You’ll want to include transportation costs to class. Will you be driving to the commuter lot? (Gas costs, even when the bus is free.) Are you going to buy a bus pass, or will you be hoofin’ it to class no matter how cold it is? And consider whether you are likely to get parking tickets. Those can add up, too.

Second, the landlord must explain all utilities. Be sure to listen. One landlord of mine promised that our electricity bill would be no more than $40 per month. Well, it’s more than that, and they told us when we signed the lease that they would pay the difference, if we give them copies of all the bills when we move out. Turns out that they only pay half the difference. Be sure to read the fine print about this.

Third, the biggie, at least for me, is access. It always seems that my landlords have bestowed upon me the joy of having my apartment shown to every person who wants to see the layout because my roommates and I have always been clean tenants.

One summer, I was sleeping in my bedroom in the afternoon because I had worked at 6 a.m. that morning at one job and had to close that night at another. I was dead to the world, but woke up when I heard unfamiliar voices in my apartment. I had no clue who the strangers were, but it was the landlord showing the place to possible tenants. However, there was no phone call the day before, only a knock at the door that I didn’t hear.

Under the Iowa Uniform Residential Landlord/Tenant Act, “except in the case of emergency or if it is impractical to do so, the landlord should give the tenant at least 24 hours’ notice of the landlord’s intent to enter and enter only at reasonable times.”

The “impractical” wording of the law protects landlords who wish to make repairs or to show the apartment or house to possible tenants, Ellen Fairchild, coordinator of the Office of Adult Learner and Commuter Student Programs, said. Giving 24-hour notice isn’t always practical, she said, because of the sheer fluidity of people looking at apartments.

However, a tenant can put into writing an explanation of life practices that can warn the landlord when it’s best not to be visiting the your dwelling. For example, tell them when you take a shower or warn them that you have a pet, and try to outline better times for the landlord to stop by. And keep a copy of your written request. Fairchild said doing this is simply good landlord-tenant relations.

The code is ambiguous, and that’s what confuses people and mixes their interpretations, Fairchild said.

Fourth, if your residence is less than up to par, meaning you need repairs to about everything and your landlord won’t do anything, check out the city’s building and housing codes. If your landlord isn’t living up to code standards, you can legally get out of your lease. You must give the landlord a written notice to terminate the lease, including that repairs are to be completed in two weeks, or the lease will end 30 days after your notice.

Fifth, if you are a bad tenant because you don’t pay your rent, you can be evicted. If the landlord serves you with a notice of eviction, pay your rent within three days or face the torment of legal action. Not a good thing for poor college students.

And last, an important issue is deposit. It hits your pocketbook hard, so be sure that when you move out, you clean the walls up and down. That will ensure you get a larger portion of your deposit returned.

But make sure your landlord is using your deposit money for legitimate expenses that you caused, not things that were wrong with the property before you moved in. As a renter, you can request of your landlord a list of what your deposit money cleaned or fixed. Ask for receipts for these expenses. Although the law doesn’t explicitly say receipts have to be shown, Fairchild said it’s not unreasonable to ask to see them.

If you have severe problems about your rental deposit — like friends of mine who didn’t get a single penny of a deposit that totaled more than $1,200 — visit Student Legal Services, B11 Memorial Union, to see what action can be taken.

Protect yourself and read the law. If you need clarifications or have questions, talk to the Off-Campus Center, B6 Memorial Union. There are a lot of things in it that renters can do that I wasn’t aware of, and I don’t think that most students know about them either. It may seem like a hassle, but we’re talking about that hard-to-come-by-for-students commodity — money.

Erin Payne is a senior in journalism and mass communication and political science from Rock Rapids.