Eligibility and application process

To live at Ponderosa Village, you must meet one of the following criteria:

• Be a graduate student at the University of Nevada, Reno
• Be a faculty member or staff member at the University of Nevada, Reno with an active NSHE ID number
• You should have already applied to a program at the University of Nevada, Reno or received a job offer and have an NSHE ID number prior to applying to Ponderosa Village.

Please note applications from graduate students will receive priority.

All applicants must complete and pass a background check throughthe third-party service RentSpree. Applicants are financially responsible for this background check.

Application process

Please review the information below before applying to live with us at Ponderosa Village:

Lease and license terms

Ponderosa Village offers an 11.5-month contract to residents, with rent due by the first of the month, for the following month. Our agreement dates start July 15 and end June 30; therefore, the earliest a tenant can move in is July 15.

To better serve individual tenants, we have transitioned most of Ponderosa Village units from lease agreements to license agreements. However, residents with eligible occupants may be offered a unit where they will sign a lease agreement. Residents with leases will be housed in specific buildings only.

Definition of “occupant”

Ponderosa Village identifies occupants as individuals who are not graduate students, faculty, or staff at the University (i.e., siblings, partners, or other dependents to a leaseholder) but are connected with the resident who signs the lease agreement. Residents who sign a license agreement are unable to have occupants live with them. Occupants over the age of 18 are required to undergo the background check process in order to be eligible to live on campus. Occupants and/or primary leaseholders are financially responsible for the background check.

Unit availability

Available spaces will be determined based on what units we will have available beginning July 15^th. Please note we have current residents who plan on renewing and therefore space and unit type may be limited. We will process our applications based on the submission date.

Ponderosa Village’s new portal

We are excited to announce that we have a Ponderosa Village portal! Through this portal, residents will be able to apply to live at Ponderosa Village, view their housing assignment and billing details, submit service requests, and more!

We are excited to begin our application process for the 2023-2024 academic year through our this portal, therefore we ask for your patience and understanding as we help you navigate through this exciting new feature.  

Are you a graduate student looking to apply?

In order to complete your housing application, you will need to do the following steps:

Step 1: Apply in our housing portal. 

Only if you have occupants: Complete an “Occupant Form” for each occupant (link below). If your occupant(s) are over the age of 18, they will need to complete and pass a background check. Fill out the occupant form.

Step 2: Fill out and complete the background check.

• Applicants who are able to use a Social Security Number or Tax I.D. Number to verify their identity. please visit the RentSpree website (our background check provider) and follow the instructions. You will need to create a log-in in order to proceed. Background checks cost $39.99 and will be collected directly through the link.
• Applicants who are unable to use a Social Security number or Tax I.D. number to verify their identity should complete the Formstack Form (link to be available by December 1) to provide information for us to send to a different background check vendor.
• Please note your application is considered Incomplete until our office has received notice that your background check is complete and you are determined to be eligible to live at Ponderosa Village.

IMPORTANT! All residents over the age of 18 must undergo and pass a background check. This includes agreement holders and any occupants. Please note it may take up to a month for the background check vendor to complete background checks; it is important to provide documentation promptly to keep this process on track.

Step 3: Once you have completed steps 1 and 2, we will review your application.  If approved and space is available, you will receive an apartment assignment, move-in date and a link to sign your Ponderosa Village lease agreement (through DocuSign).

Step 4: If approved and when space is available, you will receive an apartment assignment, move-in date and a link to sign your Ponderosa Village lease agreement (through DocuSign). If you are not approved to live on campus (due to background check results), or are approved but we do not have space available yet, we will contact you with the next steps.

Important Notes:

• If you are not a graduate student, but a University faculty or staff member taking classes, your status within our housing system is that you are a "student." Please follow the instructions above for graduate students.
• If a unit is offered, you will be required to sign your agreement through DocuSign in order to guarantee your space. Apartment units are issued on a first come first serve basis based on application submission date.
• International students applying for a visa
  • For applicants without a visa, you can still apply to live at Ponderosa Village and move in pending the visa's approval. You will complete the housing application and go through a background check process similar to other prospective tenants.
    • Once the application and background check are "complete," you will be assigned a unit by email. Even without an approved visa, you will still be able to sign a lease agreement for your apartment.
    • If you don't pass the background check, our staff will contact you by email regarding next steps.
  • If you applied for a visa and it was not approved, our staff will work with you to break the agreement and you will need to move out. We are flexible on the move-out date as we know this can be stressful for international students.
  • Based on this information, we encourage ALL applicants, from within and beyond the U.S., to apply as early as possible. Most of this is due to the potential for the background check process to take a long time (up to a month for international students due to supplemental documentation needed). Our staff is available for prospective tenants who have questions or concerns with the application, background check process, and/or unit availability.

Please be aware that the completion of an application (or receiving results from a background check) does not guarantee a unit at our property. Ponderosa Village can also be reached via email at ponderosavillage@unr.edu or by calling (775) 682-7891.

Are you a faculty or staff member looking to apply?

If you are a University faculty and staff member and you are not an active student of the university, you will need to first fill out our housing form. This form captures your information so we can enter it on our housing portal and therefore grant you access (faculty and staff information needs to be manually entered into this database). Once you have completed this form, you will be emailed instructions on the next steps and how to log on to our housing portal.

When you receive access to the housing portal, you must complete the following steps:

1. Complete the housing application.
2. Apply for a background check after completing the housing application through the housing portal. Prospective tenants are financially responsible for the background check.
3. Only if you have occupants and are intending to sign a lease agreement: Complete an occupant form for each occupant (link below). If your occupant(s) are over the age of 18, they will need to complete and pass a background check. Fill out the occupant form.

If a unit is offered, you will be required to sign your lease or license agreement in order to guarantee your space. Please understand that units are issued on a first come first serve basis based on application submission date.

Please be aware that the completion of an application (or receiving results from a background check) does not guarantee a unit at our property. Ponderosa Village can also be reached via email at ponderosavillage@unr.edu or by calling at (775) 682-7891.