Safe, Clean, Reliable
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - UC Housing
What utilities am I responsible for?
Tenants are responsible for gas & electrical service in all DBJ Properties house leases. This powers electric for your house including all lighting and outlets in the living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms, basement, exterior along with the air conditioner, kitchen appliance & bathroom electrical usage. The gas service is provided for the hot water heaters and furnaces in the winter.
Tenants are required to transfer gas & electric service for their apartment at the start of the lease using Duke Energy. DBJ Properties does not allow tenants to contract with alterative energy service companies without prior written consent of DBJ Properties. Duke Energy contact information is www.duke-energy.com or phone number 800-544-6900. All utilitiy bills received by DBJ properties during the term of the lease will be payable by the tenant upon receipt by DBJ Properties.
How does garbage service work?
Garbage Service is provided by the city of Cincinnati. Garbage pickup is on Mondays for the Clifton area. Contact information for Cincinnati Public Works is www.cincinnati-oh.gov or phone number 513-591-6000 for details on garbage services.
The City of Cincinnati’s policies are very clear and easily understood on their website. Garbage, rubbish, and other trash shall be disposed of only in the receptacles provided. Trash containing food shall be securely wrapped before being placed in a receptacle. Hazardous wastes must be disposed of according to state and federal laws. No hazardous wastes, toxins or comparable dangerous substances are to be disposed of in the trash cans. This includes batteries, paints, oils, tires, etc. Residents are responsible for removal of discarded furniture, appliances, or other bulky items from the property. These items may not be placed in the trashcans. If anything is placed on the street for pickup that is not in receptacles provided, the house will be fined and payment in full is tenant’s responsibility.
Garbage is picked up on Monday mornings. Tenants are responsible to move the cans to the street on Sunday evening and bring them back to your house on Monday afternoon.
Tenants are responsible for picking up items on the lawn. This includes cleanup of cans, bottles or broken glass from any gatherings. Every tenant is expected to maintain the interior and exterior of the building in a clean manner.
Am I responsible for the Water & Sewage bills?
Water & Sewage costs for your house may be covered by DBJ properties as a part of your rent payments or you may be responsible for payments of the quarterly water & sewer bills from the Cincinnati Waterworks. We have shifted our leases of the past few years to have water bills paid by tenants directly.
If your lease includes a clause requiring you to pay the Cincinnati Waterworks directly then you need to contact them at 513-591-7700 to transfer water billing to the tenants at the start of the lease.
It is a tenant’s responsibility as a part of their lease agreement to conserve water usage and report any plumbing or water problems to DBJ Properties immediately. This includes faucet leaks, toilets running, basement water leakage signs, etc. DBJ Properties reserves the right to charge any tenant for excessive water fees.
Why do we have individual leases for a house that I share with my roommates?
DBJ Properties has our UC students sign leases individually. However, you are jointly accountable for the entire lease with your roomates. For example, if there are 5 people sharing a house together, when you enter into a lease with a group of 4 other roommates you are jointly accountable for the total lease amount due for the full term of the lease. If one roommate would default on paying their share of the rent under the term of the lease then the other roommates would be accountable for the remaining amount due outstanding.
Why do my parents have to sign a Parental Guaranty?
Leasing a house is a significant financial commitment we are making between DBJ Properties & a group of tenants. The housing we provide is a significant investment in time and money. College students don’t have substantial assets or a credit history to be financially accountable if there is a default on the lease agreement or there is damage to the property you leased. Therefore, we require each student to have a parental guarantee signed at the time of the lease agreement between DBJ Properties & a group of tenants.
Why am I paying for a full year when my lease does not start until the middle of August?
DBJ Properties leases for UC housing are annual leases that start near the middle of August and terminate on July 31. Our leases are not monthly. We pride ourselves in taking the time to clean and perform annual maintenance on our properties in the first half of August. It’s not possible to provide quality housing options for UC students without taking this time to maintain the properties.
Our standard payment terms are for the first half of the lease payments due on August 1st and the remaining balance due on January 1st. We have made special exceptions for students to pay quarterly or monthly who are working their way through school and paying their own rent.
Can I sublease my room and why is there a subleasing fee?
Subleasing is only permitted with prior approval of DBJ Properties and with the approval of every other tenant you originally leased our property with. We realize that co-op positions can take you out of Cincinnati for a portion of your lease and will work with you and your other roommates to not unreasonably withhold your ability to sublease.
Your lease does state that you will have to pay the equivalent of 1/12 of the annual lease or approximately one months rent to sublease your room. This fee is to cover our transition expenses and to stop tenants from subleasing for short periods of time.
I changed the battery in my smoke detector and it still keeps beeping?
First of all it’s critically important that you keep every smoke detector we provided in your house mounted on the wall and fully operational. If you have any problems with malfunctioning smoke detectors or issues changing batteries please contact DBJ properties immediately.
Changing the batteries requires that you follow a very specific set of steps to make sure they are reset and stop beeping. First, twist the smoke detector and remove it from the ceiling or wall. It may be hard wired to the electric in the house but can be easily removed from it’s connection. Replace the battery. It’s important that you now hold down the test button until the smoke detector stops beeping. This is to reset the device so that it knows a new battery has been installed. Reconnect the smoke detectors to the electrical plug and twist it back in place.
My washer, dryer or dishwasher is not working and needs a maintenance call?
Maintenance of these appliances are a common need for our tenants. They are used often and simply have more frequent repair needs than other devices. If you have a maintenance issue with one of these devices, please follow a standard maintenance call procedure. With our approval, we will have our appliance repair person dispatched to repair the issue. Our team is usually available within a day of us placing a maintenance request.
Since our repair person needs to get access to your house it’s easiest for DBJ properties, our tenants and repair person if they can contact you directly to make arrangements to be in your house at a time that works for everyone. After we have approved the repair you can pay the repair person directly and deduct the expense from your next rent payment or DBJ Properties will make arrangements to pay him directly.
NOTE: It’s important to understand that you can be charged for the repairs. Our dishwashers will get clogged with food that sits in the bottom of the dishwasher that can cause water to gather in the bottom of the dishwasher. Dryers can malfunction if they are not operated property (ie, removing of lint). Dryer motors can burn out from not removing lint after every drying. These are easily avoided and fixed by a tenant behavior. If any of the repairs are the result of improper usasge the tenant will be billed.