Damage Billing
Room Condition Forms (RCFs)
A Room Condition Form (RCF) is a form that notes the state of your room when you check in. It is important to inspect your room and note any damage, missing items or items in room that are not noted on the RCF such as hooks, mirrors affixed to walls, dressers or wardrobes that have been missed on the RCF. Note any discrepancies on the pink copy of the RCF and return the updated copy to your area office within the amount of time they have determined.
The pink copy will be filed in your area office and compared to damages noted at the end of the year and may help you avoid being billed for damages, missing items, or items included in room as listed above that you should not be held responsible for. If you find your room to be in the condition listed on the form, simply keep the pink copy for your records.
Damage Billing
During move out, residential spaces are assessed for damages. Students may be billed for failing to clean their space properly, or for common area damages that occur in a suite of lounge.
Our philosophy on community billing is that all students with access to a space will be charged for damages that occur during the time of occupancy. Charges are divided by all members living in the community, which may be a suite, floor, or an entire building. This includes vandalism and missing property.
Damage bills are applied to a student’s regular Bursar bill in the month of June. Students will receive an invoice from their area office detailing all the charges. Appeals should be sent directly to the area office by the specified deadline on your invoice.
To avoid being billed for damages that are present at move in time, please be sure to indicate any irregularities on your room condition form (RCF) at check-in. Damages are assessed by the area office; resident advisors do not make decisions regarding who will be billed.
Vandalism and Public Damage
Damage billing is used to address all damages within individual student rooms as well as vandalism and damages in public areas. Lobbies, hallways, social and student lounges, recreation rooms, bathrooms, and elevators are just a few of the public areas that sustain damage throughout the year. Instead of requiring a damage deposit from each resident, like a security deposit on an apartment, we choose to bill the residents for individual incidents.
When public areas are vandalized or University property is damaged either the student(s) responsible can accept responsibility or the students living in the surrounding area will be assessed a damage fee to cover the cost of repairs. Depending on the building and the physical configuration, as well as the nature of each incident, our staff will determine whether the incident should be shared by all members of the building or by members of a floor or suite. We also take natural wear and tear into consideration opting many times to disregard charges that may have not had resident involvement.
The philosophy behind vandalism and public damage billing is that all residents in University housing are part of a larger community on campus. Therefore, residents are not only responsible for their personal accommodations, but also the community areas they share with fellow residents. One aspect of this responsibility is that damages occur in common areas. It is our hope that residents will work to prevent damages and address incidents as they occur (community members look out for their neighbors). We realize that not everyone is responsible for these damages however like all members of our community, we benefit from the advantages granted by working elevators, exit signs, and hallway lights, etc… these items are repaired when broken to ensure that all residents benefit from their existence.