The Central Topical Files, 1940-1993 subseries (1.25 linear feet) is arranged alphabetically. The records appear to be from the Off-Campus Housing Office of the Housing Division. Off-Campus housing refers to housing in the university community that is not owned and operated by the University of Michigan. Included in this category are apartments, rental houses, and small group housing. Small group housing refers to fraternities, sororities, and student owned and operated cooperatives, of which the university has more interaction. The researcher interested individual small group housing units should look at the Small Group Housing series, immediately following.
The bulk of the files deal with off-campus housing, however, there are some files relating to residence halls. Within the "Off-Campus Housing" files, the researcher will find information on the Off-Campus Housing Registration Program, inspection reports of off-campus rental units, leases for fraternities and sororities and Inter-Cooperative materials. The Off-Campus Housing Registration program was designed by the Housing Information Office to identify those rental property owners or managers who wished to rent to students in a program of cooperation with the university. To become registered, rental units had to be certified by the city, agree to use the rental lease agreement or an approved private lease, comply with non-discriminating standards and agree to use the University of Michigan Mediation Service to resolve tenant-landlord disputes. The "Registered Buildings" folder contains a list from 1989 of registered landlords and the number of units they rented.
The "Inter-Cooperative Council" files contain historical materials, housing inspection reports, and membership contracts. Of particular interest in the "Residence Hall-Rates" file is a list of residence hall rates spanning the years 1940/41 through 1992/93.