So I found this website called offcampus association run by U of Alabama, and it says that if you pay 30$ yearly membership, you can choose to pay 30$ for water/electricity, and/or trash and will cover 150$ electricity/trash, and/or water.
It looks very appealing to me because I may have a bit more bills that I expected for last two months, but I wonder how reputable it is…does anyone have experience with it?
Thanks
The Offcampus association will pay the deposits to the utility companies, they don’t pay the bills. Students with bad or no credit may have up to $150 deposit for the electric company and $50+ for water and instead of paying hundreds in deposits you can pay the membership + fees and the offcampus association will pay the deposits.
However if you pay the deposits, they will be refunded when you move out. If you pay the offcampus association it is a fee and the money is not refundable. Also students with some credit history may be charged less/no deposit at all, my son was an authorized signer on a few of my credit cards and had no other credit history, but still did not get charged any deposit for his electric service (he did get charged a deposit for water).
I’d recommend contacting the utility companies first to at least see what your deposits will be, then make a decision, but if you have enough money available, it’s always better to pay a refundable deposit than a fee you won’t get back.
It sounds complicated…so, if I pay the membership 30$ and pay, for example, 30$ for alabama power deposit to OCA, then the OCA pays the deposit? It sounds really convoluted.
Will I still get the billing statement from the utility?