<p>I hear you snapdragonfly, I definitely got the impression my son’s university housing office had a major program to enhance revenue. The dorms are much more expensive than apartments. At my insistence, my son signed a lease for an off campus apartment, but he had already committed to the dorm. It seemed to me he had plenty of time to cancel, but the university’s deadline for cancelling was in May (during finals) for a September start, and the result was a $700 penalty + loss of $200 deposit. Seemed grossly excessive to me, but that’s how it was, and of course it offset most if not all of the cost advantage of being off campus.</p>
<p>If he canceled after he had signed a lease at any apartment building, he’d probably lose his security deposit and may be on the hook for first month’s rent, too, so I’m not sure why this was unexpected anyway. If you sign a contract and put down a deposit, and then renege the contract because you found something better, you usually forfeit the deposit. The company/university then uses that money to cover the costs of finding someone else to take the place.</p>
<p>I, too, am curious to know what OP got charged nearly $1000 for. Those kinds of charges are usually either for extensive damage to the residence hall room or for cleaning fees for students who don’t bother to empty their rooms at the rest of the semester.</p>