Harvard Trust Tenants Will Get No Rent Boost Unless Costs Go Up, Says Francis

Damping wide-spread rumors that a steep rent increase was on the way, Edward L. Francis '28, yesterday assured tenants of the Harvard Housing Trust--including Holden Green, Shaylor Lane, and Gibson Terrace--that no general raise was presently under consideration.

Speaking for Hunneman and Company, which operates these projects, Francis declared that "unless we see a terrific increase in expenses, the chances are that there will be no general increase."

Provisions of Clause

The majority of the Housing Trust tenants hold leases containing an escalator clause, it was learned yesterday. This clause, by which the lessee agrees to any increase allowed by federal statute, was included in most contracts beginning with those signed in September, 1946.

Under prevailing interpretations of the law, the clause gives the tenant the right to remain in the Trust, without signing the escalator clause, as a tenant at will. Such tenancy may be terminated at 30 days notice by the Trust.

Student--Stockholder Balance

Francis also declared that any rent rise in the future would not necessarily be the full 15 percent permitted under the new federal law. He said that the Trust was not a commercial enterprise, and that rents would be kept as reasonable as possible.

He pointed out, however, that there were stockholders who had received no dividends for a number of years, and that some sort of balance would have to be reached between them and the students.