Apartment and Parking Leasing Definitions and Procedures

With the ever-increasing demand of some of our most popular buildings (see list of large apartments below), JSM generally begins signing leases at the end of September for a lease that would begin the following August. Following is information on our policies for signing leases with JSM Management.

Leasing Calendar
Our leasing calendar lists all of the important dates and deadline related to our leasing season. The leasing calendar is located on our website and is updated annually during the summer months.

Large Apartments
This term generally refers to JSM properties with 2 or more bedrooms and specifically to the following JSM Apartment buildings:

1001 W. Clark
201 E. Healey
301 S. Water St.
303 S. Wright St.
304 S. Busey St.
501 E. Healey St.
505 E. Healey St.
505 S. Fifth St.
502 E. John St.
608 ½ E. Green St.
700 S. Gregory St.
701 S. Gregory St.

712 W. High St.

Viewing Appointments
In order to view an apartment, prospective residents need to schedule an appointment by calling our office at 217-359-6108. JSM shows apartments from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday, and from 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm on Saturday. Though we gladly accept walk-in appointments, our schedule may not always be able to accommodate them. We recommend calling a few days in advance of your desired appointment time.

Please meet at our office promptly at your appointed time. If you are driving to our office, please use our parking lot located behind our office building – you may use any of the spaces, except the ones located along the fence which are reserved. If the weather is nice and the buildings close by, we may opt to walk you to the building. Otherwise, we will drive you to the building in one of our company vehicles.

Lease Applications
All prospective residents must submit an online application to JSM prior to calling (217-359-6108) the JSM office to schedule a lease signing appointment.

Lease Signing Appointments
Prospective residents who have already viewed an apartment and are ready to sign a lease must first submit an online credit application found on our web site. Afterward, you may call our office to schedule a “leasing signing appointment” or a “viewing and lease signing appointment”. If you are a current resident of JSM Management, you already have an approved application. Please remember that EACH individual resident of the group must have an approval application in order for lease signing appointment to be scheduled.

If you are interested in signing a lease for one of our more popular buildings, please submit your application far in advance of scheduling your lease signing appointment. We normally hold applications in our system for up to 6 months.

One person from the group of prospective roommates will call the JSM office at 217-359-6108 to schedule a lease signing appointment. JSM will require the names, email addresses and phone numbers of all people signing the lease. Appointments are scheduled based on availability Mondays through Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. If any member of the group has failed to submit his/her application prior to calling the office, an appointment cannot be scheduled and the prospective resident must call back to schedule the lease signing.

For all lease signing appointments, JSM suggests that all prospective residents attend. If scheduling difficulties arise, JSM will allow only one person in the group to sign the lease at a later date. However, the full security deposit will still be due at the initial lease signing appointment. The minimum number of people required to sign the lease is 4 for 5- bedroom, 3 for a 4-bedroom, 2 for a 3-bedroom and 1 for a 2-bedroom.

Prospective residents are encouraged to review the sample lease located on our website, and come to the lease signing appointment prepared with any questions they may have. At the appointment, prospective residents will pay the security deposit, sign the lease and receive a copy of the lease for their records. A security deposit is the damage deposit paid to JSM at the signing of the lease agreement. The amount of the security deposit equals the monthly rent amount, but is not to be used for rent payment. Instead, the deposit is returned to the lessees within 30 days after the lease expires less any deductions for new damages, necessary cleaning or painting and unpaid balances.

At a viewing and lease signing appointment, prospective residents will schedule a viewing appointment in conjunction with a lease signing appointment. After viewing several available units in the desired building, prospective residents will return to the office to sign for their selected unit.

At a standard lease signing appointment, prospective residents will select from a map of available units and then sign the lease. With the most popular buildings leasing at the end of the September (our busiest leasing time), JSM will allow a group of prospective residents to reserve one specific unit when scheduling their lease signing appointment. Residents will choose one unit from the pool of available units and are guaranteed that unit will be held for them until their scheduled appointment.

These reserved lease signing appointments will be scheduled on a first come, first serve basis. Residents can begin calling to schedule these appointments on the date specified on our leasing calendar which is located at the end of this section and on our web site.

An Overbooked List is a limited list of groups interested in being contacted should an apartment in their selected building become available for leasing. Should an apartment previously held for a reserved signing appointment become available, JSM will contact the first listed Overbooked Group to schedule a lease signing appointment for which the apartment will be reserved. If another apartment becomes available, the next group on the Overbooked List will be contacted.

Renewals
Renewals occur when one or more of the current residents of an apartment sign the lease for the same apartment for the following year. Residents understand that between the two lease periods, JSM will not assess the apartment for damages nor clean the apartment. Due to the popularity of many of our larger buildings, JSM will inform our current residents of the new rent rates as early as move-in day so that residents can begin renewal discussions as soon as possible. Current residents wanting to renew for the following year must call the JSM office to request that a renewal lease be mailed to the apartment address. Current residents must inform JSM of all names of people who will be signing the renewal lease. The minimum number of people required to sign the lease is 4 for a 5-bedroom, 3 for a 4-bedroom, 2 for a 3-bedroom and 1 for a 2-bedroom. Any prospective resident (not currently signed onto a JSM lease) must submit an online application at least one business day in advance of the request for a mailed renewal lease.

Renewing residents can begin calling to request the mailed renewal lease on the start date of their current lease, but must submit their request no later than the deadline specified on our leasing calendar. Upon receipt, residents will be required to sign the lease and any accompanying paperwork, include check(s) for the balance of the security deposit and hand-deliver the paperwork to the JSM office by the deadline specified in the cover letter accompanying the mailed lease. If time permits, residents will be given a copy of the signed lease. If not, JSM will mail the lease copy to the apartment.

Transfers
Transfers occur when one or more of the current residents of an apartment choose to sign a lease for the following lease year in a different apartment with JSM.

Using the dates and deadlines found on our website’s leasing calendar, prospective transfer residents can call the JSM office during a specified time period in order to schedule a lease signing appointment during a specified time period.

If an apartment is available, JSM will reserve it until the lease signing appointment. When scheduling a lease signing appointment, JSM will require names, phone numbers and email addresses of all people who will be signing the lease. The minimum number of people required to sign the lease is 4 for 5-bedroom, 3 for 4-bedroom, 2 for 3-bedroom and 1 for 2-bedroom. Current residents need not submit another application, but prospective residents who are not currently JSM residents must submit an online credit application at least 24 hours before calling the office to schedule a lease signing appointment. At the appointment, the security deposit balance must be paid. If possible, residents will be allowed to remain in their current apartment beyond the lease end date in order to transfer directly into their new JSM apartment. Please inquire with the JSM office.

Passdowns
Passdowns occur when the current residents of a particular apartment decide not to renew the apartment for the following year. Instead they provide JSM with the names of prospective tenants who want this particular unit. These prospective tenants may be relatives or close friends who are interested in leasing the apartment for the following year. Passdowns enable these prospective residents to reserve the apartment until their lease signing appointment.

JSM must received the names of the prospective tenants from the current residents before prospective residents call the office to schedule a lease signing appointment and no later than the deadline specified on the leasing calendar. Current residents need not submit another application, but prospective residents who are not currently JSM residents must submit an online credit application at least 24 hours before calling the office to schedule a lease signing appointment. At the appointment, the security deposit balance must be paid. These prospective passdown tenants may begin calling the JSM office to schedule a lease signing appointment during the time period specified on the leasing calendar found on our website.

Parking
When signing their apartment lease, prospective residents will be given the option to sign for one parking space per apartment. However, if individual residents currently leasing parking spaces want to renew the same spaces along with their apartments, they must request JSM to mail their renewal parking leases along with the renewal apartment lease. Both the renewal apartment lease and parking lease must be signed and returned with payment by the deadline specified on our website’s leasing calendar. If residents transfer from one apartment to another within the same building and they would like to renew the same parking spaces, they must request for their parking spaces to be reserved until they can be signed at the apartment lease signing appointment. As a result, residents will be able to sign for either one space or for the number of renewed parking spaces.

Prospective residents signing for a new parking space will choose from a map of available spaces and sign the lease for that particular space. The yearly parking fee will be due upon signing in either a single full payment or with two checks (the first check dated for that day payable for half the parking fee plus any remote deposit, and the second check dated for 30 days later payable for the remaining half of the fee).

If an apartment needs more than one parking space, one resident should sign the for the first parking space while the other residents can place their names and contact information on the parking waiting list for the building. Each apartment will be allowed to sign for one parking space if they sign by the deadline specified on the leasing calendar. If residents miss the deadline to sign for their first parking space, they can place their names and contact information at the bottom of the parking waiting list for the building.

After the deadline, JSM will count the number of parking spaces still available at each building. JSM will call the same number of people listed at the top of the parking waiting list for that building and provide a deadline to come to the office to sign a parking lease. After the deadline expires, JSM will recount the number of available spaces and call the next people on the waiting list.

If parking is no longer available at your specific building and the waiting list has been exhausted, JSM will allow residents to sign for any spaces available at other nearby JSM locations.

Subleasing Information
Current residents may sublease their apartment to another person by signing a sublease agreement through JSM. This sublease contract is an agreement between the original resident (sublessor) and the new resident (sublessee). The original resident will still be ultimately responsible to JSM for the lease obligations should the sublessee not fulfill her sublease obligations.

Current residents are responsible for locating their own sublessees. Choose responsible individuals as your sublessees. Residents can place their names on JSM’s online sublease referral list, http://www.jsmapts.com/client/SubmitListing.aspx. We also suggest that residents searching for sublessees place an ad in the Daily Illini and/or post flyers throughout campus.

All sublease applicants must submit an online application. Once a sublessee is found, please instruct them to submit their application located on our website, www.jsmapts.com, before an appointment can be scheduled. Original residents must call our office (217-359-6108) to schedule a sublease signing appointment. Potential sublessees not passing the credit application will not be allowed to sign the sublease agreement. Any outstanding balance must be paid in full before the sublease signing appointment.

Before the appointment, original residents and potential sublessees must discuss and decide upon the following items which will be written into the sublease agreement: start date of the sublease, end date of the sublease (cannot exceed the lease end date), sublessee payment amount and security deposit. If the agreed sublease amount is short of the lease amount, the sublessor will be responsible for paying the difference to JSM.

JSM strongly suggest that the sublessor require the sublessee to pay a security deposit. JSM recommends $200 per person but can be any amount agreed upon and is paid directly to the original resident. At the sublease signing appointment, residents will be given a new “Inventory & Condition Report”. JSM recommends that on or near the start date of the sublease, one of the current residents and one of the sublessees inspect the apartment together noting the condition of all items on the Report. Both individuals should sign it, date it and keep copies for themselves. If the sublease end date coincides with the end of the original lease, the sublessor will wait to receive the information on deductions from the original security deposit paid to JSM. The sublessor is required to return the sublessee’s security deposit within thirty days of receiving information on their security deposit from JSM. If the sublease end date is prior to the end o the original lease, the sublessor will need to inspect the apartment for damages. The sublessor must return the security deposit within thirty days of the end of the sublease agreement.

If all roommates of an apartment (with more than one lessee) are subleasing, the current residents need to designate one roommate to act as their representative to sign the sublease by signing an “Authorization to Designate Sublease Signing Representative” form. This form can be obtained from our office or downloaded from our website, but needs to be signed and presented at the sublease signing appointment. The representative is the only person from the current roommates that needs to come to the signing appointment. However, all new sublessees must be present at the signing appointment.

If only some of the roommates are subleasing, the remaining roommates not subleasing must sign a “Sublease Authorization” form which can be obtained from our office but needs to be presented at the sublease signing appointment.

Summer sublessees (those who sublease from May through August only) as well as the original residents must pay the entire summer rent amount to JSM at the lease signing appointment. Summer sublessees must pay by cash, cashier's check, money order or credit card – no personal checks. Original residents may pay with personal checks, cash, cashier's check, money order or credit card. Regular sublessees can pay their rent in monthly installments on the first of each month in accordance with the original lease agreement by personal check, cash ,cashier's check, money order or credit card. ** If you choose to pay by credit card for summer subleasing purposes, the payment must be made on our website at least 24 hours prior to your appointment. You must also print our your payment receipt and bring it with you to the appointment.

If any of the original residents has automatic withdrawal for rent, he/she must fill out a summer withdrawal form. If a summer withdrawal form is not turned into the office, the original amount will continue to be deducted.

If a parking space is also being subleased, an “Agreement to Sublease Parking Space” can be obtained from our office and must be completed by the original parking tenant and the person to whom the space is being sublet.