Learn how damage and cleaning charges are assessed and when and how you may be able to appeal.
For the end of the academic year move-out in May and any mid-year cancellation move-outs, residents are responsible for cleaning their room/apartment, returning their key and completing the key return and check out envelope.
Residents must follow the instructions provided by their Residence Life Coordinator and the Department of Housing and Residence Life.
According to the terms of the housing contract, a resident is responsible for the condition of their room and any shared spaces.
The Housing and Residence Life professional team will make every attempt to attribute damage and vandalism charges to the individual(s) responsible. When those responsible are not identified, all members of a unit, room or floor may be charged equally for damages.
We hope affected residents will cooperate with the Housing and Residence Life professional team to ensure responsible individuals are held accountable.
Our Housing Facilities team is responsible for all repairs and determines the charge for any damage. These amounts are predetermined and/or based on time, labor and material costs. Housing and Residence Life professional staff are responsible for assessing damage within each unit and conducting inspections after every student has departed the unit.
Excessive cleaning or damage charges are assessed when cleaning or damage extends beyond the Facilities Services staff's standard duties.
Examples of excessive cleaning or damage include, but are not limited to:
Refer to the damage and cleaning costs chart for specific rates.
The housing damage charge appeals process does not correlate with the appeals process for the Code of Student Accountability violations.
Appeals must be submitted as instructed in the damage billing notice email.
Phone calls, email messages and letters will not be considered an appeal. Appeals cannot be submitted by family members or guardians. They must be submitted by the resident who lived in the space. This allows our staff to have an informed and educational connection with the resident.
The deadline for the damage charges appeals process can be found in the email the resident receives with the damage bill. All appeals submitted after the communicated deadline period will not be considered.
All residents who submit an appeal before the deadline will receive notice within 10 business days regarding the status of their appeal. Once an appeal decision is communicated, the decision is final.
You can submit a Housing Cleaning/Damage Charge Appeal if:
A member of the Housing and Residence Life professional staff inspects all rooms AFTER students have checked out and the Residence Halls are closed. To avoid confusion on the matter, this information is disclosed within communication regarding closing sent to students before they vacate their residence hall and is also covered during mandatory closing meetings held by your Resident Assistant.
If you do not return your key before you have moved out, we are unable to remove the charge as the original set of keys as the rekey/re-core process would have already been initiated.
When a room key is lost, the lock on the door must be changed. This means that all the original keys will no longer work. Because of this, the party who lost their key is responsible for the costs of changing the lock and replacing all the existing keys.
Upon move-in, each student is required to complete a Room Condition Report that documents any damage inflicted on the room prior to moving in. If the damage is determined to be pre-existing, the charges can be removed. If you did not document the damage on the Room Condition Report, you are responsible for covering the cost of room damages, maintenance, replacements or cleanings.
If you placed your key in the black key drop off box in the lobby of your residence hall without first placing it in the key return and check out envelope, indicating which room it was for, HRL has no way of knowing what key was turned in. Because of this, any key turned in without the manila key envelope will be treated as an unidentified/missing key and you will be charged. Not following the appropriate key return or check out processes will likely result in the room key not making it back to the office.
All students are expected to leave their room in the same condition as when they moved in. When a student checks out of their room, Housing and Residence Life professional staff will inspect the space. Any repairs caused by or lack of cleaning will be charged to your account.