The new date was chosen because it’s a guarantee residents can move in by then, he said.

“The worst thing we could do is tell people a date, have them show up and not let them in,” Conzelmann said.

Renters will not have to pay for the days of the delay because of a clause in their leases. While residents should be able to move in Aug. 25, Conzelmann said the date could be sooner.

“At this point, the opportunity exists,” he said. “We’ve been trying to make up time.”

If the date is sooner than expected, residents will be notified by a letter and a phone call, Conzelmann said.

If apartments are not ready by Aug. 27, the first day of fall classes, Campus Village will provide a place for residents to stay, which could include accommodations at a hotel.

“If the units aren’t ready by the time school starts, they will have options,” Conzelmann said.

The possibility of free hotel rooms or not having to pay rent isn’t a consolation to Jason Rudy, a no-preference sophomore.

“My dad scheduled his vacation around this, my brother isn’t going to be at home,” he said, explaining that he has a lack of alternative housing options while he waits to move.

DTN Management Co., a separate property management company, would provide similar assistance to residents of DTN properties who had their move-in day delayed, said Brian Holland, DTN asset manager.

While delays of this type have never happened to the company, Holland said they would provide hotels or motels for renters.

“Our residents are important to us,” he said.

Rudy said he heard rumors in early summer that Campus Village was going to postpone the move-in day, and he decided to find out if there was any truth to what he heard.

“They said, ‘It’s a rumor, everything is planned to be on time and on schedule,’” he said.

Campus Village sent soon-to-be residents a letter about the delay a month before they were scheduled to move in, but no matter the move-in day on his lease, Rudy has to be on campus the week before classes begin.

“I’m in a fraternity and we have meetings with police – we have executive meetings – so I have to be up there on Monday (Aug. 20), regardless,” he said. “It puts a huge damper on things.”

_Ryan Beene can be reached at beenerya@msu.edu