Our youngest is currently a freshman and this week received a bill for 900 dollars from one of the schools she considered attending. I contacted the school thinking this was an error and was told she was assessed a “no show” fee from Housing. We were terribly confused and explained that our daughter very clearly communicated that she was not attending. The person we spoke with was dismissive and said she signed a contract and didn’t notify Housing she wasn’t attending. Our daughter, like most students today, cast a wide net during her college search and applied to 10 schools. She applied for housing at the 5 she was accepted into and could afford. When she made her decision she contacted the 4 schools and declined their offer for admission. And from just 1 she was charged a no show fee because telling the university was not sufficient and she needed to contact Housing individually. They are not budging and have become what I would describe as rude. “She knew the rules of the contract and thus owes 900 dollars as a no show.” They continue to send the bill and add interest. I’m curious if others have any experience with anything similar and how did it turn out.
I am guessing that the contract she signed stipulates that in order to avoid a no show fee, she had to contact them directly if she decided not to attend. If so, she’s stuck with the bill. If not, you can try to fight it. FWIW, I think it stinks - the school knew & their systems can certainly flag this for the residence hall administration. But unfortunately, a contract is a contract (unless possibly if there is a state law that prohibits something like this from happening).
Yes- we had to tell, I believe it was Florida State, not just the school but res life, we would not be attending in writing. That was for a deposit refund.
Not sure I’d pay it but it’s likely not wrong.
I’d assume though that they continued to email all summer so you had opportunity to let them know.
Everything you sign is a contract so you have to know the terms.
I’d reach higher - I likely wouldn’t pay and in the end I’m guessing it falls by the wayside. But you never know - they could send to collections.
That’s a lot of housing deposits.
Is this fine in addition to a nonrefundable deposit?
Like the others have said, best to look at the housing contract she signed.
An expensive lesson for sure. If she signed a contract, which she almost certainly did, she is obligated to pay, but maybe they will let it slide ultimately. I am not sure if I would take the risk to a young person’s credit score. Hopefully she didn’t sign housing contracts with all of them and won’t receive bills from the others.
I am curious why she signed up for housing at five colleges.
It is a lot of deposits for sure. We understand the deposit are gone but the stories of freshman not getting any housing had us worried so we did it.
Another interesting piece, our daughter had a scholarship to cover her entire housing costs at the school that issued the fine. So my hunch is that she didn’t read any of the materials as closely as others because she knew if she attended there was no cost for housing.
It is so strange. All the schools, except 1, worked fine when she indicated she wasn’t attending. This particular school expected communication directly with the housing department. There were no letters or emails that we received (or our daughter) during trhe summer indicating she was going to receive a fine. Nothing until this bill started showing up in the mail.
It has been mentioned in other threads that some colleges’ housing departments give preferential treatment to those who sign up for housing earlier (either in choice of on-campus housing, or getting on-campus housing at all).
I’m guessing it’s in the contract, and I agree I wouldn’t want my child’s credit journey to start this way.
Not trying to be rude, but she did sign a contract. And by not cancelling with housing there was another freshman who in fact didn’t get housing because of the way she handled this. Holding housing at 5 schools is a bit selfish. I think the penalty should be paid and move on. Hard lesson for sure.
50 bucks? I might agree but I would still try and fight. 900 dollars? With no letters or calls suggesting that charge is coming feels a bit like a cash grab. How can every school except 1 make this work (When you decline admission all the departments get the information) but this one can’t and it is a 900 dollar penalty? It just doesn’t feel right. The university knew she wasn’t coming and everyone agrees to that. It is documented. Didn’t sign up for a meal plan. Didn’t go to orientation. Didn’t register for classes… But housing expected her to attend? Isn’t that a system issue?
Signing up for housing at multiple schools isn’t selfish. It is necessary. Kids at (Fill in the blank school but there are many) had either no housing or are in a double room with 3 kids. This is what 1st year kids at big schools are facing. There were no issues at any schools (except 1).
FSU says this - so we had to inform them directly. I wonder if your school said the same - see last bullet in particular. That’s why I knew we had to write them - but it was listed with the deposit. If they sent me the note you got, I would try to weasel out of it most likely but I would have known I erred so if push came to shove, I’d likely pay. Perhaps they held the room and lost revenue. You assumed the right hand (admissions) talked to the left hand (housing) and I don’t think businesses are that efficient.
Terms and Conditions of the Contract
The following are highlights of the terms and conditions of the Fall 2023/Spring 2024 housing contract:
- This contract creates a financial obligation to pay on-campus rent for both Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 semesters. We anticipate rental rates for the 2023/2024 year to be available here when the contract opens in late February.
- This contract is binding regardless of room assignment.
- This contract cannot be cancelled for Fall 2023 unless you provide written notice to the Housing office that you will not be enrolling at Florida State University for Fall 2023.
If you are going to sign 5 contracts then you had better read all contracts. I’ve talked to my kids many times about not signing anything without reading all of the fine print.
hmmmmm - 100% disagree.
It’s what the schools require and when you don’t have a final answer, some families may take the opportunity to lock in multiple. We made multiple deposits.
There’s nothing rude about it.
What OP did was proper from a locking down housing POV.
All OP erred on was thinking by turning down a school, they also turned down the housing. Of course, the college would not have let OP live there if not attending schools - so the school should be more efficient.
But alas, they’re not.
No. Where the OP erred was signing a contract and not reading the fine print. And I understand being worried about getting housing, but “locking down” 5 spots is selfish. Don’t tell me it’s not selfish when there are students who didn’t get housing because there were no spots left because some phantom student decided to “lock down” 5 spots knowing full well they could not attend 5 schools.
It’s not selfish -
You know who is selfish?
The colleges that require it b4 May 1st - but that’s a way for them to make extra money.
I have no issue with what OP did - and I’m not surprised that a school would note it - although it is hypocritical.
We placed - I think 3 deposits with at least one a contract. If my kid attended one (she didn’t), we would have been protected. I did cancel with housing the one that required it.
OP made an error - but the name calling is wrong.
Then you read the fine print! Good on you!
No, it’s not selfish for a college to have a deadline to sign up. They are trying to house hundreds of students. Not sure how that’s a cash grab.
Also, I might have a little more sympathy for OP had the daughter been undecided between 2 schools, but 5 is just plain ridiculous!!!
If you can pay a deposit or be forced to sign a contract before you have to accept the offer of admission, it’s wrong.
Or it’s wrong to penalize others who don’t make an early decision at least.
But they do it and we live within the structure.
OP made an error if they didn’t read the fine print. I agree.
Let’s not demonize them for making a simple error.
In reality, declining admission should have been enough to make the school aware housing wasn’t needed. However, the school, like many businesses isn’t running efficiently.
My kid got into 17 and therefore she was undecided amongst 17. Those that required early housing - some before even giving an offer of admission - is shameful - but they do.
I disagree wholeheartedly with you. I’ll leave it at that.
Legally, the OP will owe the money - but other than not paying attention to what they signed, they’ve done nothing wrong.
Certainly nothing selfish or rude.
OK - my point is made. Yours is made. We can move past - others may have points to make.
I’m sorry that you are dealing with this.
Personally, I would fight it. You have nothing to lose. I would contact the president or chancellor’s office. When you decline admission, there should be an alert notifying students that admissions does not communicate with housing, parking etc. They should have a prompt or even link so that a student can notify those departments as well.
Please post a warning on that school’s forum so that this doesn’t happen to future applicants.