How can we help?

Listings are published by landlords or by current tenants subleasing under a master lease we’ve seen. We review landlord-submitted ownership documentation before a listing goes live, and listings flagged during review are held for follow-up. You can also report any listing that looks off.

Yes — your renter profile travels with you. Apply to as many as you want with one tap each. You'll see the status of every application in your dashboard.

Massachusetts cities treat anything shorter as a short-term rental, which has different rules and isn't what students need. The 32-day floor keeps every listing on Student Spots in compliance.

Yes — open the listing and tap "Message." Conversations live in-app so you're never handing over your phone number or email to a stranger.

Most leases allow subleasing with written consent — check your master lease first. Before you can publish, our listing flow asks you to upload your master lease and confirm you already have written approval from your landlord. Student Spots doesn't contact your landlord or verify the approval for you, so if your lease forbids subleasing, talk to your landlord before listing.

Your master lease (PDF or photo) and confirmation that you have your landlord's written approval — both are required before you can publish. Optional supporting documents (like a student ID or enrollment letter) live in your Documents tab.

Re-list from your dashboard — your listing details are saved so you don't start over, and most listings re-publish without paying the listing fee again. If a subtenant breaches a signed sublease agreement, you'll have the signed agreement and your in-app message history if you need to escalate.

Browsing, messaging, and applying are free for students searching for housing. If you’re subleasing your own place, the listing fee is $99 ($49.95 for your first listing) plus a $300 completion fee when an agreement signs — never before. If you’re a landlord listing a unit, there’s no listing fee — you pay a 5% commission on the total rent only when a lease signs through the Platform.

No. Massachusetts has strict deposit-handling rules and we don't want to be a fragile middleman. Whatever your master lease (or new lease) says about deposits is what carries through.

For landlord-listed units, the first month (and optionally last month) routes through Stripe to the landlord's Stripe-verified payout account around the day the lease activates. After that, ongoing rent flows directly between tenant and landlord — we don’t touch ongoing rent. For sublets, rent flows under your master lease.

Applying is free — a rejected application costs you nothing, and Student Spots doesn't charge students anything to apply.

Student Spots doesn’t run background or credit checks, and screening isn’t currently offered through the platform. If a lister asks for third-party screening, that service and any fee come from the outside provider — Student Spots doesn’t charge for or process screening.

It's our first verification step — it tells landlords you're actually a student. We share your school email only within an active application — not for marketing or with unrelated parties.

Open the account menu → Documents and replace the old file. New applications use the latest version automatically; existing applications keep what you submitted at the time.

Email contact@studentspots.com with the subject line "Privacy Request" and we'll delete your account and associated personal information. Some records (like completed sublease agreements) may be retained where required for legal or accounting reasons — see our Privacy Policy for details.

Fair-housing rules apply to every listing. Listings may not state preferences or limitations based on protected characteristics (race, religion, family status, source of income, etc.), and our publishing flow warns listers about wording that could cross that line before they publish. If you see a listing that concerns you, email report@studentspots.com and we'll review it.

Your profile and documents are encrypted at rest and in transit. We share data with a landlord only when you submit an application, and only the fields they need — we don't ask for your SSN or date of birth. See the privacy policy for the full breakdown.

Don't. Email report@studentspots.com with the listing and conversation details. Off-platform payment requests are one of the most common scam patterns, and we may de-platform landlords who try it.

Email us at contact@studentspots.com — or report@studentspots.com for safety and fair-housing concerns. If you're signed in, the "Report a bug" button in the bottom-right corner files a support ticket straight to the team.

Report a bug

Bottom-right button when signed in