In the city of San Francisco, where housing has become increasingly competitive, some students find themselves settling for whatever they can get, as long as it meets their price range, forcing them to accept unlivable conditions, lousy landlords or multiple leasing offices.

Valerie Wilson, 22, an art major student, lived in the Villas Park Merced for two years and was almost charged an extra half month's rent because of a flaw in the leasing contract.

"On July 15, I went to the leasing office to tell them that I was moving out, but was told that I needed to give them 30 days' notice before I left," she said. "Since I didn't do that I was asked to pay half of the month's rent."

Then she talked to her father, who is an attorney, and was able to look over the leasing agreement. It turned out the lease failed to include a side law, implemented in 1962, stating that the leaser had to give a 30-day notice before moving out. Wilson was able to move without having to pay the extra money.

Even though Wilson was able to turn to her father for legal advice, she said, "The resources are out there for people to get legal advice. It's important to know your rights as a renter."

A way to get help in a difficult legal situation is to contact the Legal Resource Center at SF State. LRC offers a place where all of your legal questions can be listened to and counseled on.

"Landlord and tenant issues are about 50 percent of the problems students come in to receive counseling on," said Ana Esail, the LRC assistant director. "With each specific case, we can't advise a certain course of action, but we can provide the tools to help them take the next step of legal action."

When advising students to get on the path to solving their problems, the center will refer them to relevant books, pamphlets or outside agencies.

"We've had instances of people coming in with elaborate stories and it just forces us to do the research so we can help them out," said Rosie Josue, 23, psychology and criminal justice major and volunteer at the resource center.

"Although we're not legal professionals, regardless of the scale of issues, we can provide the resources and specific information that surrounds the legal situation... we're able to help people help themselves," Josue said.

All help students recieve with their cases at the resource center are completely confidential.

If a situation becomes really complicated every cours of action have been exhausted, than Ora Prochovnick, an attorney on campus, can meet with students for 30 minutes for $10 per session.

Alex Cabansagan, SF State alumnus and landlord for multiple properties with his family throughout San Francisco, has seen his fair share of problems pertaining to his tenants.

"The biggest issue for me is getting the rent on time from the renters," he said.

Cabansagan and his family chose to buy properties and rent them out to students as a way to make a living.

"We invest in properties so we can support our own families. When renters are late then we're late when paying off the mortgage," he said.

Cabansagan also pointed out that student tenants could sometimes be picky when it comes to the appearance of the property.

"There are a lot of older homes in San Francisco and [students] need to understand that things break and not everything is always going to be perfect," he said.

Knowing what the renter's rights are can also prevent any messy altercations when moving in or out of an apartment or house.

If the renters' place is considered to be unlivable then they have the right to move and without paying rent due to poor living conditions.

For more information on how to deal with landlords, repairs or other housing problems go to calbar.ca.gov and search: what should I know before I rent?