How can we help?

Listings are published by landlords or by current tenants subleasing under a master lease they’ve uploaded. 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. You can send offers on as many listings as you like. Each offer carries your price, your dates, and a note, and you can track every offer you send in one place.

Massachusetts cities treat anything shorter as a short-term rental, which has different rules and isn't what students need. The 32-day minimum keeps listings on Student Spots clear of short-term-rental rules.

Yes. Open the listing and tap "Message." Conversations stay in the app, so you don't have to give a stranger your phone number or email.

Yes. Open the conversation and tap "Video call" to start one now or pick a time. You can also ask for a live video tour from the listing page. Calls happen in the app, so you do not need to share your phone number. Student Spots does not record calls, but another person on the call could, so share only what you are comfortable with.

Most leases allow subleasing with written consent, so 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 (as a PDF) 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 breaks 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 $50 per opening, paid once. Each open room you list is one opening (every listing pays for at least one), so three open rooms cost $150. When an agreement signs, any agreement fee that applies is charged once per room. Each open room signs its own agreement, so three open rooms that all sign pay three agreement fees. You see that fee before you list and again before you sign, and it comes out of your payout along with standard card processing at cost. If you're a landlord listing a unit, there's no listing fee. When a lease signs, Student Spots takes 5% of total rent over the term, deducted from your payout of the tenant's first-month payment.

No. Massachusetts has strict rules for handling deposits, so we stay out of the middle. Whatever your master lease (or new lease) says about deposits still applies.

For landlord-listed units, the first month is paid through Stripe to the landlord's Stripe-verified payout account around the day the lease activates. After that, rent goes directly between tenant and landlord. If the lease asks for last month’s rent up front, that is paid directly to the landlord too. We don’t handle ongoing rent. Subleases work the same way: the first month is paid through Stripe once the agreement is signed, and every later month is paid directly to the sublessor, not through Student Spots.

No. Applying is free, so a rejected application costs you nothing. Student Spots doesn't charge students 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, and it tells landlords you're 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.

Open your conversation with them and use the menu at the top. "Report this person" sends it to our team. "Block" stops new messages, offers and calls between you, and declines any pending offers. You can undo it from the same menu. You can also report a video call right after it ends.