Since you “have” to pay for it, can you get your son to request that no one use this room? He can use it to study when he’s at school and, if required, to overnight.
His ex-roommates may not like it, but it’s your son’s room if he/you are paying for it.
When I was an upperclassman in college, I lived off-campus, but had an office on campus as a student leader. It was a great place to study, and on occasion, spend the night.
You totally have grounds to call the housing office and point out that someone is squatting in your son’s room. Let them decide if they want to give you a refund or have the RA deal with a kid sleeping in the dorm who does not have a housing contract.
Thrilled things are going better for your son!!!
I agree that if you son doesn’t want to live there it does not make sense to force the issue of the unofficial replacement. I also agree that legally you (and/or your son) are responsible for paying the amount of rent you agreed to for that unit for the length of time specified in the lease.
However, if it is a certainty that your son is never going back to that apartment, your son should definitely inform the landlord/management of the property that he is no longer living there and request management perform an exit inspection of his room for damage at this time. That may relieve him of some of the liability for damage caused to the unit. He should deliver in writing a statement that says he is no longer living in the unit and include the last date he was in the unit. And turn in his key if he still has it.
You are legally obligated to pay the remainder of rent, but I don’t think you are legally obligated to remain liable for damage caused after you notify the management you no longer live there.
Thanks for giving us news, 
for your son!
However I wouldn’t let it go if there’s another kid living in his room due to liability (…or I would have him pay rent to your son! JK) At least have your son and you contact the RA and witness there is a person living in your son’s room, take pictures, then proceed with the RA present to remove the person’s stuff and lock the door – Insist the RA be present (the person and the roommates are likely to raise a fuss although they are doing something illegal and, frankly, rotten, to your son) and mention liability as well as this RA’s personal responsibility in the crisis.
I would also find some higher up to bring up the issue to since having to pay 75% Dorm fees next semester when your son is not living there due to the R’s inability to rein in his roommates (not to mention inability to figure out someone else is now living in your son’s room!) is outrageous. You shouldn’t have to pay for room your son has been chased away from. The contract you signed was for housing and was not fulfilled by the university
If you want to make it sound like you consulted a lawyer, tell them it was a “constructive eviction” and there were issues of “habitability”.
Thanks everyone! Like you, initially I was absolutely furious about how things ended. Indeed, like someone has said, he was basically chased out of his room. The way things went down made me see red, but I can’t do anything because my son doesn’t want to cooperate. He did let housing know he doesn’t live there anymore but they said they can’t do anything before November 1st. He did NOT tell them someone is squatting. I’m tempted every day to write an email to housing and let them know that someone is squatting but I worry my son will find out I ratted the roomates out and I’ll get in trouble with him.
So some details. As you may remember, he initially was only going to the apartment on and off and finally, when he didn’t go there for an entire week, the roomates texted him and asked him if he planned to return. He told them he didn’t plan to return. They proceeded to pack his stuff and put it in the living room and asked him when he’s coming to get his stuff. My son said that he’ll come at the weekend but then he had a midterm he needed to study for, plus a couple of social engagement and didn’t get around to go. Then the roomate asked him when is he coming because they are bothered by his stuff sitting in their living room. My son went on Monday morning and took his stuff. He said that some unknown person was sleeping in his room now.
I was so mad! How dare they touch your stuff? How dare they ask you to move your things? We are paying and that is your room and it is your business when you come to use it or not use it at all, they shouldn’t touch anything! My son said that I’m overreacting because they asked if they could move his stuff and he told them it was OK. I said they shouldn’t have asked. It’s amazing how he stands up to me and to other adults but he can’t stand up to bullies like these. Ugh!
He did let the RA know he’s moving and the RA didn’t seem to care, he contacted housing and told them he moved and they said to turn in the keys after November 1st and contact them again.
I’m very tempted to contact housing myself now. I think I’ll do it. My son throws a fit if I ever “call for him” anywhere. I will ask housing to keep this confiential and see if there is anything that I can do.
Thanks for all the advice! I will try to see if I can get away with paying less or not at all, but it’s hard to do when son won’t cooperate. He wants me to let this go. He’s doing so well that I’m doubting it’s worth going through the drama… but this indeed isn’t right. Not to mention that one of the roomates didn’t pay for the parking spot and is saying that my son didn’t although my son has a receipt. Ugh! I’m not sure why they have to be such glass bowls lol
I would not rat out the roommates. I would make a list of issues your son has not likely considered (getting a bill for $500 worth of broken windows in December, for example) which might encourage him to be a little more of an advocate for himself. Just because he’s moved out- and informed the RA, does NOT mean that he’s not on the hook for any damage this squatter does to his room or his pro-rata share of the common areas.
Learning to advocate for oneself- especially when there’s a pile of money at stake- is a life skill and there’s no time like the present for your son to learn how to do it effectively. He should ask for a letter- in writing- from housing, where they stipulate that he has returned his key, no longer has access to the room as of (whatever the right date is) and that he is aware that someone whose name is NOT on the housing contract has moved in to his room. Get it in writing from them.
He’s going to be living in shared quarters for the next decade or so (or longer) and he will be very happy once he’s dealing with commercial landlords that he’s learned how to navigate this.
I would not interfere in a matter which doesn’t involve safety- but I WOULD help my kid get up the learning curve on how to deal with it himself. He needs his name off the contract as of whatever date he moved out. This could get a lot more expensive really quickly…
It’s funny that he did deal with commercial landlords on his own, and doesn’t have an issue handling adults, it’s when it’s kids that he turns into some mute version of himself.
I think your son is being wise and thinking through what he wants his college years to be like. Teens are very aware that peers can make things uncomfortable for people even when it isn’t fair. If your son wants to let this go (besides managing any liability) so that he doesn’t have any burned bridges at his school for the next 3 years, I very much understand that. Some battles harm us more than our adversaries.
Since he otherwise stands up to adults, I would interpret his choice here as wise beyond his years.
He could go back and video the condition of the room and shared spaces now and email it to the admin, to create a baseline record of the condition of the space.
I’m all about giving the student space to develop self-advocacy skills, etc. If he does not want to fight over his own money, that’s up to him. But if I’m the parent paying for the housing, and the university is taking financial advantage of ME, then I wouldn’t just let it slide. Hell no. If there’s no habitable living space, then the university needs to refund the rent I paid, and that’s a matter for the grown-ups. My kid doesn’t get to decide that I’m out $6k or whatever the semester was supposed to cost.
You make a good point that it’s actually ot his money, which is why I suspect he isn’t so keen on fighting it. When it’s parents’ money is fair game, but when is the kids’ money, we will see how that will go in the future when they are fully functioning adults haha
I did send an email to housing and I asked for a phone call. I’ll see what they tell me.
And on the meal plan, make sure your son takes advantage of that too and brings dinner home with him every night! If they are going to make you pay for this, take every advantage you can.
Hopefully, you can get them to back off and refund the money.
At S19’s school, the college has the ability to lock off a bedroom. They did that in my son’s 4 BR university-owned apartment when one roommate cancelled. You might ask about that possibility.