Frequently Asked Questions

Call us to set up a tour at (205) 556-4528 or email us to set up a tour at Hillside@CollegeTownCommunities.com.

Any student will be accommodated at Hillside Commons. If you already have another student that you know you would like to live with, you will be placed with them, within the same apartment. If you are looking by yourself, you will be put on our “Roommate Needed List” and matched with other single tenants of the same gender using our Roommate Matching System. The roommate matching questionnaire is part of your initial application that you fill out prior to signing a lease to live at Hillside Commons. We use your answers to this questionnaire and compare them with other residents’ answers and match everyone accordingly.

Units are all newly renovated and fully furnished. All common areas are furnished with sectional sofa, coffee table, 55” SMART HD flat screen TV, and kitchen table with 4 chairs. Bedrooms are equipped with full-sized bed(s) with a dual comfort hypoallergenic mattress, desk, desk chair, stackable dresser, full-sized or walk-in closets.

All kitchens are supplied stainless steel appliances including a full-sized refrigerator, a range/stove, built-in microwave, dishwasher and garbage disposal. Every apartment includes a washer and dryer.

High-speed internet, sewer, trash, recycling, lawn care, and snow removal are included in rent. Residents only pay power and water bills separately, which are billed through the leasing office.

Access to the entire facility for the complete duration of your lease term, Full service leasing office open 6 days a week, a Fully Furnished apartment, 55” Smart HDTV in every living room, free Washer and Dryer in every unit, free onsite parking, free dedicated high speed internet, and a Personal Online Resident Portal that allows you to make online rental payments as well as 24 hour work order requests.

No, we do not charge a security deposit! *Residents who have an approved animal/pet do pay a refundable $250 security deposit.

Rent is due on the first of each month and must be paid by the 5th of the month to avoid late fees. Students who receive Financial Aid will be accommodated to pay later if all necessary communication with management has taken place beforehand.

Rent payments can be made by check, money order, wire transfer, credit or debit cards in the Leasing Office or online through your Resident Portal account. No cash will be accepted. Most debit cards have a daily limit for charges, so check with your bank to be sure you have the ability to make large payments before attempting payment. Convenience fees will apply to any online payment and vary depending on your payment method. College Town Communities splits these fees with you and pays half, so the fee you pay is actually half of the entire fee. Checks are the cheapest way to pay!

Onsite parking is available for tenants at NO additional charge. Every tenant MUST obtain a Parking Permit Sticker from the Leasing Office in order to be permitted to park in the onsite parking lot. Any vehicle parked in Hillside Commons parking lot without a parking sticker will be towed upon discovery. These actions are taken to preserve safe and well-lit parking for our residents who are paying for this amenity.

Any student enrolled at the University of Alabama.

Any tenant is allowed to have a guest visit or spend the night at any time without the need to register or sign them in. However, a guest is NOT allowed to stay for more than 3 nights at a time, and not more than 6 nights in a 30-day span. Roommate consideration must be taken into account with all visitors. Guests must be accompanied by the tenant whom they are visiting at ALL times when inside the apartment.

Leasing Office: Located at 1130 Jack Warner Parkway NE (Unit 1A), Tuscaloosa AL, our fully staffed leasing office is open from 10am-5pm Mon-Friday. Saturdays 10am-3pm. After Hours: All residents are to call the office phone number 205-556-4528 for any after-hours issues or concerns. Keys and Locks: All apartment entry doors and bedroom doors are equipped with a Schlage “Key Fob” lock system. Each of these locks are deadbolt locks, installed on solid core doors, which allow for maximum safety. Both the keys and the locks allow management to track activity and potential misuse of any area by their individual coding. These keys are not reproducible by the resident and can be taken offline immediately in the event that a resident’s key is ever lost or stolen. Parking Passes: Each resident that is interested in keeping a vehicle on property must register the vehicle through the Leasing Office. Each resident is assigned a numbered parking pass that is then tracked through our software management system and monitored by BOTH or on-site staff and contracted towing service. Any vehicle found to be parking on property without a Resident Parking Pass or Registered Guest Parking Pass will be towed upon discovery. Lighting: Both parking lot and building entry lighting are set to be on from Dusk ‘til Dawn every day, any time of year. Security Cameras: There are also over 50 security cameras located around the facilities covering all entrances, outdoor and indoor common areas, as well as parking areas. Security cameras cannot stop something from happening, but they are an excellent deterrent against wrong doing. Controlled Access: Hillside Commons has a gated entry controlling access to ONLY the residents of Hillside Commons. The gate is securely closed after-hours, requiring residents to use their assigned key card to gain access. Key cards are not reproducible and are unique to each resident. Special Certifications: Certified by the University of Alabama Off Campus Rental Education Program. Fire Protection: Hillside Commons provides a hardwired, interconnected fire protection system inside each apartment. Every apartment unit is also provided a fire extinguisher, either under the kitchen sink or adjacent to the kitchen hanging on the wall. All extinguishers are inspected annually by a 3rd party fire protection company to make sure that they are in working order.

All residents will have their own bedrooms.

Hillside Commons is individually leased by the bedroom.

Hillside Commons is located 1 mile from the University of Alabama campus.

Hillside Commons is (with some restrictions) an animal-friendly facility. Anyone requesting to have a pet must submit their request to the Leasing Office, and complete all necessary paperwork, including signing the Pet Addendum and Roommate Authorization Form. Residents with an approved pet must pay a refundable $250 security deposit and $25 pet fee per month. Following guidelines pursuant to the Federal Fair Housing Act and your state’s Human Relation Commission, College Town Communities is committed to making reasonable accommodations to allow a Service Animal or Emotional Support Animal (ESA) to live with a resident in the Leased Premises. Applicants and current residents requesting such accommodations must contact the Leasing Office prior to bringing the Service Animal or ESA on property, complete all necessary paperwork required by your state’s Human Relations Commission, and be granted written permission by Landlord in order to do so. More information regarding your rights and responsibilities to allow a Service Animal or Emotional Support Animal to live with you in the Leased Premises can be found here.

All apartments include an in-unit washer and dryer!

All leases for the 2025-26 school year will begin on August 15, 2025. Residents may move in on August 15th, or any day after, during normal business hours. Extended move in dates/times may be provided closer to the move in date.

We offer both school-year leases and full-year leases! School-year leases end on May 25, 2026, and full-year leases run through July 23, 2026.

Background checks are performed on every student who wants to live at Hillside Commons. A minimally invasive credit check is performed separately on the parental guarantor for the Hillside Commons tenant.

No, there is no fee to apply to live at Hillside Commons. There is, however, a $299 Administrative/Facilities Fee once you have decided to complete a lease to live at Hillside Commons. The Administrative/Facilities Fee is a nonrefundable annual fee due at lease signing for all applicants and renewals. The fee covers the online application process, renewal lease generation, resident and guarantor screening, regular apartment and gate lock programming, 24-7 access to the online Resident Portal, security camera monitoring and maintenance, after-hour call center services, and maintenance of all Hillside Commons amenity spaces.

The Administrative/Facilities Fee is a nonrefundable annual fee due at lease signing for all applicants and renewals. The fee covers the online application process, renewal lease generation, resident and guarantor screening, regular apartment and gate lock programming, 24-7 access to the online Resident Portal, security camera monitoring and maintenance, after-hour call center services, and maintenance of all Hillside Commons amenity spaces.

Assuming you are of the legal age, you may consume alcohol in your apartment. No alcohol is permitted in the outdoor areas and we ask you to respect all community guidelines.

No. The apartments are already painted. You may decorate your apartments with posters, tapestries, holiday lights, etc. Please use thumb tacks or nails when hanging things on the walls. Do not use tape, glue, gummy poster hangers, 3M double sided sticky pads, etc. Do not use wall decals, as they will delaminate the face of the drywall. Any unnecessary damage to the apartment walls will be charged to your account at the time of your move out.

Hillside Commons does not provide bedding. Mattress frames and mattresses are provided, but additional bedding is not provided. Every unit will include mini blinds on each window and you may add window treatments if you desire, but the blinds must stay in place.

This property is rented to University of Alabama students. We work closely with the University of Alabama but are a privately-owned company.

Yes. You may use financial aid proceeds or any other 3rd party payment process to pay for your rent at any of our facilities. Typically, financial aid proceeds are disbursed directly to the student who in turn can then use those proceeds to pay for housing. If a rental payment is due and the tenant has not received their source of aid yet, proper documentation of this delay in aid must be presented to management in order to avoid any late fees to your account.

Checks can be made payable to Hillside Commons.