AUSTIN, Texas — The first day of classes for the University of Texas at Austin is right around the corner, and for sophomore Jordan Moscheo, moving into her first-ever college apartment is something she's been looking forward to.
"I've been ordering stuff since probably I decided I was going to live in the Rambler,” Moscheo said.
The new off-campus apartment complex, the Rambler, has been under construction for over a year now and was supposed to be ready for students to move in on Friday. But at 11 p.m. Thursday night, just a few hours before move-in, the complex sent out an email to residents saying the building was not ready.
"I ran down to my mom. I'm like, ‘What do we do?’" Moscheo said. "My mom's flipping out because we have all our bags in front of our front door, like we're ready to go."
In another email, apartment managers said the building was pending a final fire inspection from the City of Austin and residents would not be able to move in until Aug. 26 at the latest.
Moscheo lives in Round Rock, so she will have to commute back and forth for her first week of school.
"I don't feel like I can get settled," Moscheo said. "I feel like I'm in elementary school again, having to, like, go back home after class."
But other students coming from out of town, like sophomore Halle Schenk from Dallas, are not as fortunate.
“I'm actually still at home because, you know, I don't have a place to go,” Schenk said.
Her parents had taken off work and scheduled hotels for the weekend, when she was supposed to move in on Friday. But without a clear indication of when she will be able to move back in, her first week of classes will look a little different this year.
"I'm just trying to navigate like what I'm going to do, even between classes, and even, I mean, my sleeping arrangements are kind of a day-to-day issue right now," Schenk said.
The Rambler said it would be giving residents $200 per day in the form of a gift card or rent credit until they are able to move in. But those cards and credits won’t be given out to residents until after Aug. 26, leaving some out-of-town students and families at a major disadvantage.
"It's an additional expense that people are not prepared to pay for, for long periods of time," said Joell McNew, president of SafeHorns.
McNew said with the high price of hotels in Austin and booked-up reservations, the Rambler should have communicated earlier with the residents.
"Had they had more notice, they potentially could have come later; they could have figured out a strategy of where to stay," McNew said.
Schenk is grateful she has friends she can stay with this week, but she feels for all the students who don’t have that.
"If I was a freshman living at Rambler, this would be a lot, like, just starting off, not knowing anyone, probably having to get a hotel, walking around campus at night alone. Like, that would have been really hard as a freshman," Schenk said.
The Rambler also said it would not be charging rent or parking costs to residents until their unit is ready to move in. And for those who have already paid their rent for the month, it will be applied as a credit toward their next rent payment.