International Students

Renting is complex. That’s why the Off-Campus Resource Center created the Preferred Tenant Program! This free, online course will teach you the ins and outs of living off-campus and will get you a discount with partner landlords.

Students commonly look for units in Murray Hill, East Side, Riverwest, Shorewood, Lower East Side, and Downtown Milwaukee. We recommend driving around the city to see which neighborhood fits you best. If you cannot tour the area, look around on Google street view!

Look for apartments on UWM College Pads, Facebook Sublet/Renting Groups, and third party sites. Just remember to always tour an apartment before signing a lease, and use your discretion when checking out non-UWM affiliated sites. If you cannot make it in person, request a virtual tour!

When looking at apartments, check for whether utilities are included in your rent or are an additional cost. Common utilities to keep in mind include heating, air conditioning, laundry, Wi-Fi, water, and gas. If utilities are not included, make sure to budget for them!

Look for potential roommates on College Pads, ask friends and colleagues, and reach out to the Center for International Education’s Whatsapp group.

Look for free home essentials at the Off-Campus Resource Center Free Store or large pieces of furniture at Panther Swap! Other great places we recommend to look for affordable home furnishings include thrift stores and Buy Nothing groups on Facebook.

There are many grocery options near campus:

• Metro Market: 4075 N. Oakland Ave.
• Pick ‘n Save: 1100 E. Garfield Ave.
• Sendik’s: 2643 N. Downer Ave.
• Trader Joe’s: 5600 N Port Washington Rd.
• Whole Foods Market: 2305 N. Prospect Ave.
• UWM Food Pantry: Food available to students who have difficulty affording groceries.

If you are unable to secure long-term housing accommodations before arriving in Milwaukee, take steps to secure temporary housing as soon as possible. Here are a couple options that may be helpful:

• University Guest Housing: provides you with a temporary living space while you search for more long-term housing around the UWM area. If you know you are in need of temporary housing, contact them right away to ensure availability.
• Airbnb: allows for guests to stay up to 10 nights in a 12 month period
• Preferred Hotels: find hotels with discounted rates for short-term stays

Google Maps is a great way to get directions for walking, biking, driving and public transit! UWM’s Transportation Services website also has lots of helpful information on transportation options. Check out some options below for getting around the city and beyond!

• Bublr Bikes at UWM – Rent a bike to ride around the city!
• Milwaukee County Transit System – Ride any MCTS bus free with your U-PASS and Student ID!
• Prowl Line – Shuttle to UWM’s residence halls from campus.
• B.O.S.S. – BOSS is a safe ride service available to UWM students, operating in a radius of campus every day between the hours of 6:00 PM and 2:00 AM during the academic calendar.
• Badger Bus – Daily routes from Madison to Milwaukee with stops at Student Unions.
• MegaBus – A low cost travel between cities with prices starting from as little as $1. Easily travel to Chicago, Minneapolis and beyond!
• Amtrak – Train routes to over 500 destinations across the U.S.

Experience all Milwaukee has to offer—from festivals and sports to restaurants and concerts! Visit this site to see what’s happening around town, and lookout for the Student News and Stuff Newsletter in your inbox!

Occupancy Ordinance

• No more than 3 unrelated adults may live in a unit, no matter how many bedrooms, unless the landlord has a rooming house license*. This license is not common for landlords to have in the City of Milwaukee, as it is typically pricey. Additionally, there must be more than one exit within the dwelling. If looking at an attic or basement unit, make sure there are multiple exits, or it is an illegal dwelling. Citations could be as much as $5,000 and may be issued against the landlord and the tenant for illegal occupancy.
• A common ploy by unethical landlords is to allow more than three unrelated adults to rent a location, saying something similar to: “You can just put three names on the lease” or “How many people that live there is up to you. I don’t prohibit subleasing.” When caught by the City of Milwaukee, the landlords may then claim to have only rented to a legal number of people. Only those on the lease can legally stay, and must pay the entirety of the rent for the rest of the lease. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence. Moving and finding a new apartment in the middle of the semester for this reason is an unnecessarily stressful experience.
• Check the Department of Neighborhood Services website and look up the complaint and violation history of the property. Most landlords are honorable business people. However, some have bad records. You may also check Wisconsin Circuit Court Access for a possible landlord’s court record. Be aware of properties with recent, active violations and landlords with backgrounds of excessive housing related records, such as evictions.
• Property complaints can be made to the Department of Neighborhood Services Customer Service line at 414-286-2268, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m—4:45 p.m.
• Renting with more than three unrelated adults puts tenants and the landlord at risk for tickets and eviction.

*A rooming house means any building or part of any building or dwelling unit occupied by more than three persons who are not a family** or by a family and more than two other persons for periods of occupancy usually longer than one night and where a bathroom and toilet are shared.

**Family means, unless otherwise specified, a person occupying a dwelling unit, or dwelling unit with one or more persons who are legally related to such occupant by virtue of being husband and wife, son or daughter, uncle or aunt, grandparent or grandchild, niece or nephew, first cousin, mother or father-in-law, all of whom comprise no more than one nuclear family unit per household.

Housing Discrimination Laws

In the City of Milwaukee, there are rules and laws that prevent housing discrimination for certain protected groups.

Milwaukee County Ordinance Chapter 107 states:

“It is declared policy of the county that all persons shall have an equal opportunity for housing regardless of sex, race, color, disability, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, marital status of a person maintaining the household, lawful source of income, age, sexual orientation…”

This means that landlords cannot refuse to rent housing to international students because of their background or national origin. For example, a landlord could not refuse to rent from a Canadian student simply because they are from Canada.

However, “student status” is not a protected class, so some landlords may legally choose to refuse to rent to any students.

Additionally, there are other legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons a landlord may refuse to rent to an international student. These may include:

• No job or unable to verify employment
• Not enough income or unable to verify income
• No credit check available or poor credit history
• No co-signer available
• Unable to do a criminal background check or bad record
• No rental history
• Bad landlord reference(s)
• Prior eviction(s)
• Unable to pursue a claim or collect damages against international students when they return home

The Off-Campus Resource Center also provides a list of International Student Friendly landlords who have requested to be on our International Student housing contact list.