Leasing at South Campus Commons & The Courtyards

Who is eligible to lease at South Campus Commons and The Courtyards?

• Students must be registered full-time at the University of Maryland, College Park and in good academic and student conduct standing.
• Students who live in on-campus residence halls will have selection priority before students who live off-campus (including fraternity and sorority chapter house students).

Students must submit a 2025-2026 SCC/CTY leasing application by February 6, 2025 at 11:59 p.m.

Leasing Priority

The leasing application is the same for both South Campus Commons and The Courtyards at UMD (i.e. you only need to submit one leasing application for the academic year). Completing the no-obligation leasing application does not affect your status as Residence Hall student or prevent you from participating in Room Selection if you are eligible to do so and decide you don’t want to select an apartment in Commons or Courtyards.

Only those residence hall students who go on to sign a lease at South Campus Commons or The Courtyards will pay the $300 lease reservation payment and lose their ability to participate in room selection.

Leasing Process

1. Apply: If you are considering leasing at South Campus Commons or The Courtyards, completing an online leasing application is your first step. Completing this application carries no obligation to sign a lease; it only indicates your interest in leasing at the South Campus Commons or The Courtyards. The 2025-2026 leasing application is available online by logging into the StarRez Housing Portal and selecting the “Commons / Courtyards Leasing” link.
2. Notifications: After the application deadline passes, applicants will be notified of their eligibility to participate in SCC/CTY Apartment Selection 2025 and will be provided with additional information about the next steps in the Apartment Selection process, including a link to a webinar reviewing group formation and apartment selection steps.
3. Group Formation: Students will be able to form groups and to find other students who may be compatible as potential roommates.
4. Apartment Selection: Eligible applicants will receive an Apartment Selection appointment time. The selection appointment remains active until a student selects a South Campus Commons or The Courtyards room for 2025-2026, or until the process closes.

In-person information sessions will be offered for students who would like to learn more about leasing at South Campus Commons and The Courtyards. Each session will include information about the Mixed Gender Leasing option.

Students who are interested in living with students of a different gender than their own may apply for the Mixed Gender Apartment option. To be eligible for the Mixed Gender option, you must either be a current South Campus Commons and Courtyards resident, or a rising junior (3-4 semesters) or rising senior (5-6 semesters) and living in the on-campus residence halls in the spring semester.

Priority for selecting spaces among new Mixed Gender applicant groups will first go to current South Campus Commons and Courtyards residents who are eligible to renew their leases and have applied for Mixed Gender Leasing, followed by prospective residents who match the eligibility criteria above and complete the Mix Gender Leasing Application by the deadline.

Please note that applying for the Mixed Gender option in South Campus Commons and The Courtyards does not guarantee a space in a mixed gender unit. The likelihood of your applicant group obtaining a mixed gender unit depends upon:

1. The number of current residents of Mixed Gender apartment residents who will renew their leases for the 2025-2026 lease year.
2. The number of new eligible groups who apply for mixed gender units in South Campus Commons and The Courtyards.

Students are welcome (but not required) to attend Information Sessions for South Campus Commons and The Courtyards. Mixed Gender Option information will be included in all South Campus Commons and The Courtyards Information Sessions.

New applicant groups to the Mixed Gender Apartment Option in Commons and Courtyards must apply as a group of 2 or 4 eligible students (all Mixed Gender units are 2 or 4 bedroom units). Each person in the group must submit an individual 2025-2026 Commons/Courtyards Leasing Application. Each group will then select a group leader who will formally invite all group members to join their group in the StarRez Housing Portal. 

Lease Transfer is the official process of transferring financial responsibility of a Courtyards (CTY) or South Campus Commons (SCC) lease to another eligible student (a re-lessor) prior to the lease end date. Any student who must leave their apartment prior to the end of their lease (i.e. because s/he studies abroad, withdraws from the University, graduates, or needs to leave due to other reasons) must use this process to end their financial responsibility.

Once a resident transfers their lease, they forfeit all rights and responsibilities to that space. This is a formal process completed through the Leasing Office; therefore, for a Lease Transfer to be legal, it must be completed through the Leasing Office. Please see below for more information about the Lease Transfer Process.

The Process

The following information is designed to help you navigate the Lease Transfer process, through which a leaseholder can end their lease early by transferring it to another eligible student. Please review this information carefully, as the leaseholder retains financial responsibility for their apartment until the Lease Transfer process has been completed in its entirety. After the leaseholder identifies their re-lessor, the process can take 1-2 weeks to complete (from submission to transfer). As such, we recommend that leaseholders start looking for a re-lessor as early as possible. The following steps are needed to complete the Lease Transfer process.

• Step 1: The leaseholder finds a Re-lessor (a student who is interested in taking over your lease). It is the Leaseholder’s exclusive responsibility to find a Re-lessor. The Leaseholder can request the Leasing Interest list from their leasing office to contact students who have indicated interest. They may also post their space at no charge on the OCH Database using their UMD login. 
• Step 2: The Re-lessor must complete a South Campus Commons/Courtyards Leasing Application for the leasing term for which they will be leasing. The Commons/Courtyards leasing application is found in the Housing Portal
• Step 3: The Leaseholder and Re-lessor must each submit a Lease Transfer Form in StarRez. After the Re-lessor is approved, the Leaseholder will receive an email from the Leasing Office with instructions to complete the process.
• Step 4: The Leaseholder and Re-lessor complete their Lease Transfer paperwork after receiving it via email from the Leasing Office.

Eligibility

A Re-lessor’s eligibility will be determined after the Leaseholder and Re-lessor have both completed the Lease Transfer Form. Re-leasing eligibility is determined by the University of Maryland’s Department of Resident Life and generally includes the following:

• Students must be in good academic, administrative and judicial standing with the University to be eligible to sign a lease.
• Re-lessor must be the Same Gender as the leaseholder (unless the leaseholder is in a pre-designated mixed-gender apartment)
• Fall and Spring Re-lessors must be undergraduate students, have been in college for at least one semester (freshmen are NOT eligible to take over a lease in their first semester), and registered full-time at the University of Maryland, College Park.
• Summer Re-lessors may be undergraduates or graduate students who are affiliated with the University of Maryland College Park (i.e registered for summer classes, have an internship in a university office-proof of hire may be requested)

* Graduate students are eligible to live in The Courtyards Building 6 only

** Needs documentation if not a UMD student

For more specific questions about eligibility, please email the Manager for Housing Partnerships with the Department of Resident Life, at pppleasing@umd.edu.

Connecting Leaseholders with Re-lessors

• The Courtyards and South Campus Commons leaseholders may post their upcoming vacancy at no charge on the OCH Database, a University affiliated housing search database that is managed by the Off-Campus Housing Services Office
• Ask friends if they know of anyone looking to leave The Courtyards or South Campus Commons or anyone who wants to take over a lease from someone
• As a re-lessor, complete the Commons/Courtyards Leasing Interest Form in the StarRez Housing portal to be added to a list leaseholders can request when they need to transfer their lease.

Deadlines

• You can submit your Commons/Courtyards Lease Transfer Form at any time, but Lease Transfer Forms are only processed on Mondays and Wednesdays between the 4th and the 20th of each month (except in August, February, and March), typically in the morning
• Failure to complete your Lease Transfer Form prior to the 20th of the month will result in the leaseholder retaining financial responsibility for the following month.
• Re-lessor approvals can take 2-4 business days to process after both parties have completed the Lease Transfer Form.

Lease Transfer Requirements

Current Resident

• Your $100 lease transfer fee (unless you are graduating in December. This must be paid via the Resident Portal)
• You must have a zero balance on your Commons/Courtyards account.
• Installment payments are due on the first of each month. The person in possession of the lease on the 1st of the month is responsible for the installment. Installments are not prorated and Commons/Courtyards will not issue refunds for installments owed prior to the lease transfer. Any exchange of money relating to partial installment payments or personal refunds is solely between the leaseholder and the re-lessor.

New Resident

• $300 lease reservation (applied toward the first month’s installment payment). Paid through the Resident Portal.
• Social Security Number. While your card is not required, you must be able to provide your SSN on the lease.
• Completed Guarantor Form (this will be sent to your Guarantor as a Docusign form)
  • South Campus Commons Guarantor Form
  • The Courtyards Guarantor Form

Illegal Lease Transfers

Illegally sub-leasing a Courtyards or South Campus Commons apartment without completing the approval and Lease Transfer process is strictly prohibited. If you are found to be illegally sub-leasing an apartment, the leaseholder and the illegal sub-lessor may be referred to the University of Maryland judicial process according to the Rights and Responsibilities handbook, Section B, 26. As the illegal sub-lessor, you will be required to move out of the apartment immediately or go to the Leasing Office to sign a lease at the property.

Failure to check in or out at a designated Service Desk or office is subject to a $100 improper check-in/out fee. Furthermore, current residents who do not properly check their keys into a Commons/Courtyards staff member at the designated Service Desk or office are subject to lock core replacement fees for the front and bedroom doors. Only legal leaseholders will be permitted to sign out the replacement keys in such circumstances.

To avoid incurring these charges and judicial sanctions, and to preserve the security of our community, it is imperative that all residents use the re-leasing process outlined here.

What is the difference between “Sub-leasing” and “Lease Transfer”?

“Subletting” means that a leaseholder is allowing someone to use the apartment that they are renting for a period of time in return for payment. When subletting, the leaseholder is still financially responsible for the apartment and any damages that might occur even though they are allowing someone else to rent from them.

“Lease Transfer” is the official process of transferring financial responsibility for a lease to another eligible student prior to the lease end date. Any students who study abroad, withdraw from the University and need to leave due to financial constraints, and many other reasons, must use this process. Once someone transfers the lease to their apartment, the individual lease is formally ended which means that the original leaseholder will no longer have access to the space and community services and they are no longer responsible for their financial obligation.

This formal process, which is completed through the Leasing Office, is necessary in order to protect the original leaseholder and the new occupant, as well as other roommates in the affected apartment. Therefore, the process outlined above must be followed for a Lease Transfer to occur. Note: there is no partial or short-term lease transfer option at The Courtyards and South Campus Commons.

How do I know if I am eligible to take over someone’s lease?

If you are a full-time undergraduate UMCP student who has completed at least 1 semester (fall or spring) of undergraduate study, and you are in good standing with the University (meaning you do not have any academic, administrative, or judicial blocks) then you are eligible to lease in Commons/Courtyards. On-campus and off-campus students are eligible.

Accepted transfer students who have confirmed their enrollment with the University are eligible. Incoming first-year students are not eligible, students enrolled at other institutions, and Graduate students are only eligible to lease in Building 600 in The Courtyards (exceptions may be made for Summer Re-leasing). Each person who applies will be reviewed for eligibility to lease with/CTY.

If you have questions about leasing eligibility, please email the Resident Life-Housing Partnerships team at pppleasing@umd.edu

Someone contacted me about taking over their lease. What do we do now??

Once you have been contacted by a current leaseholder and have agreed to take over their lease, you will go through an official Lease Transfer process. You and the leaseholder will log into the StarRez Housing Portal and complete the Commons/Courtyards Lease Transfer form which indicates that the leaseholder wishes to transfer their lease to you and you wish to receive their lease from them. Once the forms are submitted, both you and the leaseholder should receive a confirmation email and your eligibility to be a re-lessor will be checked. If approved, both you and the leaseholder will receive an email notification that you are approved and the appropriate Leasing Office will contact the leaseholder with the next steps of the process. After the leaseholder has completed their part, the Leasing Office will contact the Re-lessor to finalize the process. Please contact the appropriate leasing office for questions related to the Lease Transfer process after the Re-lessor has been approved. You can reach the leasing offices by contacting them at:

South Campus Commons
Southcampuscommons@cocm.com
(301) 314-2499

The Courtyards
thecourtyards@cocm.com
(301) 314-2466

Is there a waitlist I can be added to?

Potential Re-lessors can complete the Commons/Courtyards Leasing Interest List in the Housing Portal to be added to the Commons/Courtyards Leasing Interest List.

Leaseholders may request the Commons/Courtyards Leasing Interest List from their leasing office and reach out directly to interested students.

I have a Residence Hall Housing Contract, can I still be considered for an apartment in South Campus Commons or Courtyards?

Yes. If you end up signing a lease at The Courtyards or South Campus Commons while you have a Housing Contract, you will need to complete a Residence HallsPetition for Release Form to request cancellation of your Residence Hall Housing Agreement. Students who move into Commons or Courtyards will be let out of their Resident Life Housing Contract without penalty because they are moving into a property that is partnered with Resident Life.

If I re-lease from someone for the Spring/Summer, am I eligible to return to SCC/CTY for the next academic year (beginning in the Fall)?

Students who sign a lease at the start of the spring semester must complete the SCC/CTY Intent to Return form for the following academic year, as they will be current residents at the time the lease renewal process begins in late January. If you will be a full-time undergraduate student in good standing who is entering their 7th or fewer semester* of undergraduate study in the Fall, you will be eligible to renew your lease, transfer apartments within your community, and pull in eligible students ( rising juniors and rising seniors in the on-campus residence halls) for the next academic year. *Renewal eligibility for “Rising 5th-year seniors”, students who will be in their 8th or more semester of undergraduate study in the Fall is reviewed each year, so depending on the number of anticipated vacancies, rising 5th-year seniors may not be permitted to renew their lease for their 9th semester.

Students who take over a lease for the summer will only be allowed to return if they have a space reserved for the following leasing year. If the lease they have for the following leasing year is the same as the summer location, they do not have to move out between leasing years. If a student who takes over a lease for the summer has a lease for a different room for the following leasing year, they must move out during the weeks between the end of the first lease term and the beginning of the next lease term(typically the end of July through the last week in August).

MEDCO-owned residences for students:

• South Campus Commons
• The Courtyards

UMD-owned residences for students: 

• Cambridge Community (Bel Air, Cambridge, Centreville, Chestertown, and Cumberland)
• Denton Community (Denton, Easton, and Elkton halls)
• Ellicott Community  (Ellicott, Hagerstown, and LaPlata halls)
• Heritage Community (Johnson-Whittle and Pyon-Chen halls)
• Oakland Community (Oakland Hall)
• Leonardtown Community (Buildings 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, and 249)
• North Hill Community (Anne Arundel, Caroline, Carroll, Dorchester, Prince Frederick, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, St. Mary’s, Wicomico, and Worcester halls)
• South Hill Community (Allegany, Baltimore, Calvert, Cecil, Charles, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard, Kent, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Talbot, and Washington halls)

If a student voluntarily or involuntarily leaves the MEDCO apartment, they are liable for the base rent as defined in the lease.