As a first time renter, attempting to make sense of your lease and the rights you are afforded as a tenant can oftentimes feel overwhelming and unfairly designed to benefit your potential landlord. Especially, as renters are very rarely offered the same legal and financial assistance or protection that Wyoming landlords are granted.
While this problem is one that many contend with, it’s important to understand the basic rights you have in a tenant-landlord relationship, how to take the necessary steps to protect yourself from potential conflicts with your landlord, as well as the variety of educational, legal and financial assistance programs you have direct access to as a resident of Wyoming.
One of these programs, known as Extension, is primarily operated by the University of Wyoming’s College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources as a form of educational outreach. According to the UW Extension website, since its start in 1914, it has broadened its organizational focus from its original focal point of agriculture to “encompass many of the contemporary challenges facing Wyoming’s people and its rural communities.”
Recently, an article written by Maya Kate Gilmore, a writer for UW Agriculture News, was published by UW Extension’s communication department. The article acts as a launchpad-style resource for students and other UW community members that seeks to inform them of the rights and obligations they have as a tenant, the rights and obligations of their potential landlord, as well as where and how to seek legal and financial assistance for housing related emergencies or disputes.
As of Dec. 19, 2023, representative of the 45th district of Wyoming, Karlee R. Provenza launched both a Laramie focused, and state-wide survey in a bid to collect and catalog the experiences of tenants within both areas. Rep. Provenza has stated that the goal of the surveys are to identify recurrent issues and to better inform discussions regarding tenant protection both at a local and state level.
A link to the survey can be found in the ending passage of Gilmore’s article, and Rep. Provenza has stated that any identifying information of those who submit responses will remain confidential and under her care alone; however, other forms of data will be aggregated and shared with local Laramie officials and fellow state Representatives.
Virginia B. Vincenti, a well-lauded professor emeritus of family and consumer sciences at UW, has previously expressed the issues facing Laramie renters to city council, and although she is not a direct collaborator for the survey she supports the goals of Rep. Provenza’s survey.
“It’s a team effort, and we’re all working together trying to get some change. But you know, that’s tricky given the difficulty in getting change through the legislature.”
Rep. Provenza’s rental feedback survey is still open for responses, but according to Gilmore’s article, responses were due on Jan. 15, 2024, although Vincenti states that responses are due by Feb. 15, 2024. As such, it is unclear if any additional data will be collected or analyzed.
