NORTHRIDGE : CSUN Housing Rent Hikes Upset Tenants

For students, faculty and staff who live in apartments run by the Cal State Northridge Foundation, recent notice of $25- and $30-per-month rent increases was one blow too many in a year of tough breaks.

“We’ve been hit left and right, and I don’t see why we should be hit again from our own university,” said resident Robert Marshall, an archivist with the university who helped gather nearly 100 signatures from residents asking CSUN President Blenda J. Wilson to intervene.

Marshall and other residents of the University Village Apartments say that after two years of tuition increases for students--as well as heavier workloads and no pay increases for faculty--tenants have little patience left for the rent increase.

Wilson has agreed to an informal meeting with the residents and CSUN foundation board members today to discuss the increase, university spokeswoman Kaine Thompson said.

Most faculty, staff and students living in the 120-unit complex at 10021 Zelzah Ave. moved in when it opened last summer, said Marshall. The apartments are run by the foundation to provide housing at rents below market value. The increase brings the cost of a one-bedroom apartment to about $525, and a two-bedroom to $680, said Marshall.

CSUN foundation officials who decided to raise the rent were not available for comment Monday. But Ron Schaffer, history professor and member of the CSUN board, said it may be connected to several factors, including new fees on housing imposed on all Cal State universities.

Schaffer said faculty members on the board are concerned about the increase and may consider adjusting it, though the board normally deals only with policy issues and is not involved in the financial management of the foundation.

“We really don’t want to make things difficult for the residents,” he said.