Ok, I didn't know where else to put this, but I'm venting about my school so I will just put it here. Warning: it's kinda long Since I have moved in this past September to a college I transfered in from, I have had quite a few problems with Res. life. First off, I live in a floorhouse, which basically is 8 bedrooms, 2 community bathrooms, a open kitchen, and a large living area/common area that is attached to the kitchen. They stuck 8 or so transfer students in it, 1 student that is in the college substance abuse program, and 3 girls that are sophmores that are basically never here. My roommate first arrived before I, and she instantly called me to tell me that our room was a tiny cracker box covered in mold, yes mold. She actually got us moved, by the time I arrived, to a vacant room down the hall which was bigger and without mold. I arrived to find the walls were DISGUSTING. They are suppose to be white but they are an off cream with dirt specs and what I expcet are boogers on them. I move into the bathroom to find they are just as gross. A couple of the showers also have mold covered in them. The sinks and toilets don't loook like they have been cleaned in quite awhile. The vents in the kitchen/dining area are DISGUSTING! In another bedroom, half a sandwich and cornchips are left on the ground. This floorhouse is basically where they stick late registering students and transfers. It's an alcohol and illicit drug free floor-house. We were basically stuck here w/ out anyother options on campus. The only person who doesn't drink is the girl in the program, but she is never here and she said she didn't have a problem with drinking as long as she didn't have to see it. We thought we had a happy medium. Well, about a week goes on, without any janitorial services and we weren't told where to get toilet paper and the such because are Community Advisor(CA) is what I call lazy. We were given no information about ANYTHING, and since the majority of us were transfer, I thought a little direction would be nice. One night, a couple girls decided to bring the lobby couches(which really aren't couches) into our room. Our floor lobby has a TON of furniture that nobody uses, so we brought 2 into our room. Somebody later on came into our floorhouse, took the furniture, and charged us $200. I can certainly guarantee those couches weren't even worth that amount. I'm thinking $200 is pretty extreme. We try to get in touch with the Hall Director to talk about it but to no avail. I then have a meeting with a lady that is part of Res. Life about something entirely different and she proceeded to tell me our floorhouse had been cleaned before we moved in. BULLSHIT! I get no other info about it thought. Next, are floorhouse had a bust. We had a new girl come into the floorhouse(without any of us knowing) who wasn't very pleasant. She instantly narked on us and security and the hall director 1st went through each of our individual cabinets and fridges and took any alcohol. They then proceeded to go into everybody's room. They went through all our personal belonging, from our underwear drawers, under our beds, in our desk, and so on. I was sleeping when they came into my room. I heard this knock but I decided to ignore whoever it was (I was unaware it was security) and they came in anyways. Luckily, they didn't find anything in my room, but everybody who got caught had to pay a fine. The Hall Director told our CA to set up a meeting about this. It didn't get done for over a month and the day before Thanksgiving Break. I had gone home the previous day and I didn't get to voice my opinion. The fun doesn't stop. We get collectively billed OUTRAGEOUSLY for EVERYTHING. There was puke in the men's public building- $80 (may I mind you this is a building where there are classes where not all the student live here and they very may well have been the culprit who puked) $125 for a little plastic sign that says the room number, which isn't even MY room number. We also have to pay $40 & $60 where 2 incidents there was apple pieces in the hallway and on the wall. I saw the mess and it could have been picked up in mere minutes. $40 $20 for a chair pushed into the on elevator on 2 seperate occasions. I don't remember what else we have been collectively billed for but it's astronomical. I'm pissed. I'm feeling like my college is taking advantage of me. I'm already paying a lot for school, why do they do this to us? Do we not have any rights? Sorry this has turned into a book, I'm just really upset at the moment. I love living on campus because of the community but they are forcing me to look elsewhere, in a not very safe area, for housing next year. I could go on about my roommate situation, but that's another story. I think I'm going to go and cry now.
Transferring isn't really an option. The gen. ed varies so much that I would be wasting this whole year practically if I were to transfer. Ehhhh, oh well. I guess I'll deal.
I'm sorry about your luck.. that does suck btw, off subject i know, but who is that in your sig, you'll probably think i'm stupid for asking that!
His name is Xavier Rudd, and no I don't think you're stupid for asking. He is nothing short of amazing. Defintely check his music out if you can!
1. Not much to be done now, but take this as a lesson -- document everything. Assuming you will be renting a few more times before you're ready to buy your own home, next time you move into a new place, take photos of anything that is not right. Dirty walls, definitely any instance of mold, anything that is broken. Reputable landlords will have you fill out a form (which you have to turn in within x number of days after taking possession of the property) in which you can document any damages. I've yet to have anyone screw me over after doing that. But photos are good to have in case they do. 2. Over break, do some research on local ordinances regarding tenant rights. Find out who to call to see whether the mold is a violation of your rights to a safe environment. Depending on the type of mold, it can cause some nasty respiratory infections. 3. Read your lease agreement closely. Being on campus, you probably agreed to be subject to security raids when you signed. If not, talk to legal aid. Also, find out what your responsibilities are in terms of stuff like furniture. If you knew you could be charged (though not responsible directly) for the disappearing couches, would you have perhaps been more proactive about reporting a theft as soon as they disappeared? Reporting theft would have likely protected you from being charged (if you walk in to Res Life with police report in hand). 4. Abide by the rules or suffer the consequences when a narc moves in. You have too many people in that house to trust everyone (unless you were all friends before moving in and everyone has a vote in who may/may not move in). Yeah, it sucks to get busted because someone has a bug up their ass. But, either abide by the rules or get your own place off campus where you will not have to live with some random stranger.
Wow. When I was doing my undergraduate, I lived for 5 years in various residences from traditional dorm to townhouses. They were never like that though I'm in a different country. You mentioned that they put you in a house for addicts - how did this happen? Some universities have move out applications if you choose to leave after one semester, or move out applications for those who want to transfer to a different residence. I remember having several problems with our kitchens and even a mice problem then. Your best bet is contacting the administrator, or your RezLife coordinator on how to deal with shit that has nothing to do with you. However, dawnsky is correct to point out that if you live on their grounds, you DO have to abide by their rules even if it means being slaughtered for fines that don't concern you. I'm really sorry to hear about this, and I understand how quickly it can get depressing. Look up your options and plan where you want to live next semester or next year. Don't repeat this mistake again if it bothers you so much. Living off campus is often cheaper also. Make some friends, go rent a basement or an apartment a little way off.
I know there is little I can do now because I did sign the contract but I feel like they manipulated us a wee bit. I have no problem paying reasonable amounts for resonable things as far as collective billing goes, but these rates are NOT reasonable. I did fill out a form on the condition of the room(s) but we'll see how that pans out when I move. I don't have a copy of my contract, so I cannot say for sure the security were legal or not in their acts, but I'm sure somewhere in there it gives them the right. I also did call the city about the mold. They said they weren't sure if they could do anything about that because a lot of the mold was w/in the fixtures and they were not able to take anything apart to check it. And NOBODY was aware we would be charged for the couches. We had ZERO info about collective billing at that time. Ehhhh thanks for all the advice but I still think I'm pretty much screwed into paying/dealing with all the shit here. Oh well.
I live in a building that has a few different room choice. There are the 2 people & 4 people apartments, 8 person townhouses, single rooms, and a floorhouse on each of the 4 floors. All the other townhouses are filled with students in a substance abuse program except ours. There wasn't enough room in the other floorhouses for 1 girl in the program so they stuck her here and they have since added 2 girls who got kicked out(yet they still don't use) of the program in our room. I defintely will not be living in the floorhouse next year. I know I can get out of my contract through a petition but I will forfeit my $500 deposit and I cannot afford that plus the school is an urban school in a bad neighborhood. I don't have reliable transportation and even the bus sytem would equate to $3 a day. That doesn't seem like much but when you have little, it's something. I actually want to live on campus next year for the semester before I go abroad but I will be living in a different building and different style room (4 person/bedroom/2 bathroom) I don't want to give up the community aspect. Almost everybody lives on campus for the full 4 years and I'm not familiar with the area and I don't know people off campus. IDK if it's such a great idea but I don't really see another option....
You may have to deal with a bit of run-around, but you are legally entitled to a copy of your lease contract. I realize that it's a bit late to do anything about the crap that you've already been hit with, but I highly recommend demanding a copy and reading it thoroughly in the hopes that it will help save you from any further surprises. It's not surprising that a landlord would manipulate/screw tenants a bit, especially when your options are limited. It's not their job to explain all of the details that might wind up biting you in the ass. Their job is only to fill all vacancies, so that they can make as much profit as possible. Rental agents (whether for university housing or regular rentals) are NEVER your friends. Don't trust them. Read your contract thoroughly before signing next time. I totally understand what to feel like you're being screwed by a shitty landlord (though off-campus, not the university). I did the same sort of thing the first time I moved out on my own -- didn't read the lease thoroughly, got a bad landlord (who was a crotchety old bitty, so even tried to tell me I would have to pay for shit that should have been covered by her according to the lease), and will be damn sure to do my best to avoid that situation happening again!
