Application
Process
On This Page
Eligibility Requirements
Proof of Eligibility
When Offered an Apartment for Rent
Signing a Lease
Security & Rent Payment
Waiting List
Other Alternatives
Family
Housing Application Form
Related Links
Commuter Services
/ Housing Resource Center
To Apply for Family Housing:
- Download the two-page application
form
- Pick up an application packet Monday
through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Family Housing
Office, Wysocki House, 911 North Pleasant St. Amherst, MA or
- Call (413) 545-3115 or email family.housing@housing.umass.edu and
have an application packet mailed to you
Note: There is a waiting
list for Family Housing.
Eligibility
Requirements
UMass Amherst gives priority for Family Housing apartments to full-time graduate and undergraduate students who have legal dependent children living with them. (Please note: Applicants who are expecting a child or who have a child under the age of six years are not eligible to reside in Lincoln Apartments.) Disabled students with physical disabilities are given priority for specially modified apartments. If space is available, faculty and staff are eligible to apply. The Family Housing Office ranks eligible applicants according to a list of three categories, which can be obtained at the time of application.
Unless waived by the Family Housing Office
in writing, residents must meet these conditions to qualify for a Family Housing apartment:
Only the resident affiliated with the University and, if applicable, the immediate family who will be living with you full-time may live in the apartment. All adults must be on the lease. The tenant is "affiliated" with UMass in one of the following ways:
- The tenant is officially enrolled as an active Graduate student working for a degree*
- The tenant is officially enrolled as an Undergraduate student taking at least twelve
(12) credit hours per semester and is currently working towards a degree for a
maximum of five (5) years*
- The tenant is officially a visiting faculty member.
- The tenant is a UMass staff member employed full-time (37.5 hours/week) by the
University, for a maximum of three (3) years (per household).
- Family Housing apartments must be vacated within thirty (30) days of graduation or
withdrawal from/or termination of affiliation with the University.
*Please note: A husband and wife may not combine their credit hours to meet the minimum requirement for graduate and undergraduate residency.
Proof of Eligibility
To be eligible to live in Family Housing, you must be married, in a domestic partnership (which has been registered with the Dean of Students Office) or have legal custody of a dependent child/children prior to being offered an apartment. To be on the Waiting List, you must be officially enrolled as a full time student working towards a degree. A copy from the Dean of Students Office of your Statement of Domestic Partnership or a copy of your marriage certificate and/or birth certificate(s) of your child/children must be on file with your application at the Family Housing Office.
Applicants with children will be required to provide Family Housing with a copy of their children's original birth certificate upon applying for housing. It is unlawful for Family Housing to make copies of birth certificates. For this reason, applicants must provide the copies themselves. If you are offered and accept an apartment, you will need to bring in the original birth certificate(s) so we can verify the documents on file.
If you are a newly accepted UMass student, please send a copy of your acceptance letter.
Family Housing is in the process of completing a lead remediation program in Lincoln Apartments. In the interest of health considerations and consistent with Massachusetts law and Family Housing policy, please notify Family Housing if you are pregnant or if a child 6 years old or younger will be a part of your household. If so, Family Housing will place you in an apartment unit which is free of lead paint. Thank you for your cooperation.
The Tenant must submit proof of the family status at the time of occupancy and family
members must reside with them on a full-time basis. The tenant covenants that s/he will give prompt notice to the Landlord of any change in household composition for the Landlord's sole use in determining the tenant's eligibility for tenancy under the lease. Occupancy of the leased premises herein shall be limited to the tenant, the tenant's
spouse and/or domestic partner and/or the tenant's children who must reside on a full-time basis, unless otherwise specified by the Landlord in writing.
The Family Housing Office reserves the right to require proof of identity and proof of any relationship.
Anyone living in Family Housing who does not meet Family Housing qualifications and who is not an authorized guest is trespassing, and the University may take legal action against that person when the person is the lease holder or the illegal tenant.
When Offered An Apartment To Rent
Throughout the year, Family Housing offers apartments to eligible students and staff based on their priority on the waiting list. Please be aware that the demand for Family Housing apartments far exceeds the number of apartments available; therefore, it is important that you decide quickly. An offer of an apartment is made through email.
Once you have an offer, you are given 24 hours in which to decide whether to accept. Payment will commence on the day of acceptance, if the unit is ready for occupancy.
Signing
a Lease
Before you move in, you need to sign a lease for North Village or a tenant-at-will agreement for Lincoln Apartments. The lease is valid for one fiscal year and runs through June 30. The names of all adults living in the apartment must be listed on the lease or agreement. This lease or agreement is a legally binding contract between you and the University and describes the obligations and rights of both parties. If you are affiliated with the University and you choose to move out of Family Housing before
the end of the lease period, you will be held responsible for the rent until the apartment
is re-rented.
Security
Deposit and Rent Payment
When you move in, you need to pay a security deposit equal to one month's full rent. The security deposit is used to pay for any damages you might incur, extra cleaning charges, or rent that you might owe when you move out. (The security deposit cannot be used to pay the last month's rent.) This money is deposited in a special bank account. We will provide you with the bank's name and account number. At the end
of each full year that you have lived in a Family Housing apartment, that is, on the anniversary of the day on which you signed your lease or agreement, your account will be credited with the interest for the previous year.
If you move out of your apartment before the end of one full year, you are not entitled to any accrued interest. When you leave Family Housing, the deposit plus any interest it earned will be refunded to you within thirty days (30) from the date you surrender your apartment keys. If charges are deducted for rent or damages to the apartment or for extra cleaning, you will receive an itemized list.
Waiting
List
The Family Housing Office will assign priorities based upon the following categories:
1. Members of specially designated academic and support programs/students and faculty
with physical disabilities
2. Students
3. Faculty and staff (with or without children)
Please be advised that the organization of the waiting list ensures that a #1 will be placed before a priority #2 or a #3, regardless of when either party applied to Family Housing. This is not to say that a priority #2 or #3 will never receive an apartment, rather when priority #1 is exhausted, priority #2's will be assigned and so forth.
To be eligible to live in a one or two bedroom apartment in Family Housing, you must be married, in a domestic partnership (which has been registered with the Dean of Students Office) or have legal custody of a dependent child/children prior to being offered an apartment. Supporting papers which need to be on file with the application include: a copy of the applicant's marriage certificate, a copy of the registered domestic partnership, and/or children's birth certificates.
If you are single and applying for Family Housing, the only accommodation available is a studio apartment in Lincoln. The University reserves the right to deny housing in any residence hall or apartment unit to any individual who has been convicted of a felony involving bodily harm to persons, damage to property, or the sale or distribution of illegal drugs. Specific cases will be reviewed on a case by case basis by the Dean of Students, who will make the final decision.
Students are encouraged to submit their applications to Wysocki House so that they may be added to the waiting list. Throughout the year, Family Housing offers apartments to eligible students and staff based on their priority on the waiting list. Please be aware that the demand for Family Housing apartments far exceeds the number of apartments available; therefore, it is important that you decide quickly. An offer of an apartment is made through email. Payment will commence on the day of acceptance, if the unit is ready for occupancy.
It is important to understand that due to our extensive Waiting List it may not be possible to offer you housing for the time period you have indicated. The Waiting List is made current by emailing waiting list applicants asking if they still seek an on-campus family housing option and wish to remain on the list. If we do not get an email response by the requested date, the waiting applicant is dropped from the list. Therefore it is extremely critical to tell the Family Housing Office of ANY email address change that has been made since you have applied to Family Housing. After you apply, it is your responsibility to make sure to notify us of the email address change as soon as it is made so we can assure that you remain on the waiting list.
Other
Alternatives
We also encourage students to investigate other living options in the area due to the length of this list. For more information about other apartment complexes in the local area, contact the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Off Campus Housing Referral website: http://www.umoch.org/areaAPTComplexes.php
General Assistance For Off Campus Housing
Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
235 Whitmore Administration Building
Tel: 413-577-1451
Fax: 413-545-1241
Email: OCH@gw.housing.umass.edu
