Company helps students with PeopleSoft glitch

Travis Trestler said he knows what it's like to be a student paying the monthly rent.\nThe operations manager of Renaissance Rentals, a local realty company that rents houses, apartments and townhouses in Bloomington and Martinsville, Trestler grew up locally, graduated from IU, has moved 10 times and worked for two property management companies. \n"I feel like I have a good sense of the market and this business," Trestler said.\nTrestler's company was quick to react to the news that financial aid may be delayed to many students this year due to recent changes in the University's software. \n"We had some individual residents come in, and they were expressing some concern that they were having some problems with their financial aid coming through," Trestler said. "They were asking us for help, and we said, 'Of course, we understand.'"\nIn response, Renaissance Rentals will waive late fees for rent to students who can provide paperwork verifying a lapse in access to financial aid.\nThe Office of the Bursar also will be accommodating students who live on campus through Residential Programs and Services and are experiencing financial aid troubles, said Nancy Brooks, assistant to Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Services Don Hossler. \n"We have always worked with students who live in IU halls of residence and have student loans and delays," Brooks said.\nBecause all rental expenses are tracked through the Office of the Bursar when a student lives in campus housing, the delays of payments are easier to track than if a student lives off campus and deals exclusively with a landlord, Brooks said.\nFinancial aid is only one of many ways people make rent. Most property managers in Bloomington, even Renaissance Rentals, haven't reported large numbers of students requesting special assistance because of delayed financial aid. \nSherry Downey, general manager of Millennium Property, which owns one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments in Bloomington, said she had not had anyone report to her with financial aid troubles inhibiting them from making rent.\nDowney said her office does not pay any attention to how their tenants pay the rent; they just pay attention to whether or not the rent has been paid.\nTrestler said even though some students may not be expressing concerns, it doesn't mean students may not be affected or may not have any concerns.\n"I've been in the business for four years, and a lot of time, students aren't always the best at bringing you their problems," he said.\nTrestler said his advice to students who may be experiencing troubles with paying the rent in any situation, but especially when the delay results from financial aid problems, is to be honest and up front with their landlords and bring individual circumstances to their landlord's attention right away.\n"If you avoid us and we're constantly trying to contact you, that's what concerns us, and we'll apply our policies of late rent," he said. \nDenying a problem exists, he said, will hurt you more in the end.\n-- Contact senior writer Tony Sams at ajsams@indiana.edu.