Usually when the lease is signed…the lease is signed.

It’s not the typical case for off-campus residents to be asked to relocate because 400 incoming students had no place to live. As 284 students moved into Greenbriar Inc. apartments — instead of the dorms — a new sentiment is boiling.

As dorm-leased students moved into apartment buildings at 514 N. Enterprise, 929 and 935 Thurstin Ave., Columbia Courts, and 516 E. Merry St. apartments, those that came before them were given limited options, according to a number of students who were moved.

Students who were originally occupying the apartments before the dorm shortage received notices of the plan less than a month before move-in day stating their future options.

One, they could not give up their lease but could relocate at a different Greenbriar-owned apartment, or they could stay.

If they chose to stay, they would live another year among resident advisors and under-agers.

Fourth-year student, Melissa Restaino and her roommates were contracted to Columbia Courts, apartment 69, one of the buildings taken over by the University.

“Greenbriar contacted one of my roommates about three weeks before we were supposed to move in,” Restaino said. “We had no idea this was coming and now had little time to find somewhere else [to live].”

Restaino believed they were lucky enough to find another good apartment through Greenbriar.

“It seems irresponsible of the University, but we couldn’t dwell on it because there wasn’t time to. We just moved,” Restaino said. “It’s our senior year and we just want to be happy.”

Now, with almost 144 students moved into the University’s apartments at Columbia Courts alone, other leasers are not happy. No other leasers were given the option to move, nor were they notified about the new deal before they moved in.

Chad White, a third-year student, and his fellow roommates moved into Columbia Courts in the building across from the University students. They had a surprise waiting. On move-in day banners hung announcing: “Welcome BGSU students to the on-campus apartments.”

“It was all just one big surprise,” White said. “I had only heard the deal was an apartment building across from Offenhaur.”

Most students caught in the deal are frustrated about parking issues, trash and having RA’s next door.

“I am paying $350 a month and don’t want to be baby-sat,” White said. “They can still call the cops if we have friends over even if the University says there will be no supervision over the rest of us.”

However, it is not so much this issue that has many residents fired up. Greenbriar also issued the new students parking passes for the Columbia Courts parking lot. There are approximately 190 parking spaces for tenants at Columbia Courts and far fewer for E. Merry residents.

“There are about 144 students crammed into the apartments and each was issued a parking pass for the lot,” White said. “We are fighting for spots every night if our cars are not already towed because there was nowhere to park.”

Senior, Mike Yurmanovich and his roommates chose to stay in their leased E. Merry apartment because they found out too late and had no better options. He also agrees that parking is a major issue that needs to be dealt with.

“Most of us in apartments are working or student teaching,” Yurmanovich said. “I have to park far enough away that it frustrates and annoys me.”

White and several other off-campus students have also complained to Greenbriar about overflow trash issues and nothing has been done.

“The garbage dumpsters are always full and there are at least 20 to 30 bags thrown on the ground around it,” White said. “It’s disgusting.”

Greenbriar refused to do an interview with The BG News.

“We really wanted to get out [of the lease] but [Greenbriar] wouldn’t work with us,” Yurmanovich said. “We didn’t want to be in this environment … they didn’t know how to handle the situation.”