Need some legal help.. kind of :)

texas*princess · #1 10-02-2002, 06:47 PM

Well since I noticed we have some law students here, maybe one (or more) of you can help me out here.

I took a business law class last summer, and I vaguely remember my professor mentioning something about a penalty fee being unenforcable because it's against the law?

So here's my case: I want to move out of this horrid residence halls for many reasons, but the only thing stopping me is this $300 "surcharge" that you have to pay in order to move out of here since it is supposed to be 9-month housing. Well, being a college student, $300 can put a huge dent in the budget, so I was just wondering if there is any way around this? I called and asked them what exactly the "surcharge" went to (i guess i could understand if they were going to use the money to clean the room up for another resident or something) but the woman just said it was basically a penalty for leaving early.

In a way, i could kind of understand that.. but it's not like there aren't any other people living here that can't move into this room if i vacate for the spring semester - there are quite a few rooms in the other residence halls that have 3 people living in them!!!

Do I have any hope?

sororitygirl2 · #2 10-02-2002, 06:51 PM

Well, I am totally not a legal person, but... you signed a nine-month lease, right? When you signed it, it probably included this stipulation (paying $300 if you break the lease). So wouldn't you signature mean that you agreed to that contract? I don't know laws and what is and isn't fair or anything but I know LOTS of places charge you if you break a lease (including dorms and sorority houses)!

texas*princess · #3 10-02-2002, 07:00 PM

yea

i'll never understand how my prof did it. he told us how he got Sprint cell phones for his company and then decided the rates they were charging was ridiculous so he dropped them like a hot potato... and he told us he didn't have to pay any of the penalty fees for breaking the contract and it didn't affect his credit either..

**sigh** maybe i should go into contract law.. then maybe someday i will be able to do stuff like that...

madmax · #4 10-02-2002, 07:02 PM

go see the prof and ask him. he is the lawyer.

Peaches-n-Cream · #5 10-02-2002, 07:59 PM

I'm surprised they won't allow you to move out between semesters without a fee. If you have a medical reason or a family emergency, maybe they will waive the fee. I think that you should consult a lawyer to read your contract. Maybe she or he will find a loophole. Good luck!

kddani · #6 10-02-2002, 10:11 PM

I think everyone has some sort of experience at some point during their life that makes them start reading everything they sign. This is probably yours!

While we obviously can't see your housing contract to see exaclty what it says, i'm sure that you signed on and that it stipulated this. A housing contract is essentially a lease. And it's binding, you just can't go breaking it. And if you're still a dependent, your parents probably signed it as well, so they're also legally bound to it.

When you say surcharge, what exactly do you mean? I'm assuming that your semester was already paid for before you moved in. Are they charging you $300 AND keeping all that money?

Contracts is one of my favorite classes (next to Torts), but i'm only in my sixth week of classes so I'm not nearly an expert. This also delves into Property laws.

I haven't heard the penalty fee being unenforceable law yet, but that doesn't sound right. Maybe in very particular situations it may not be legal, but in this case i'm not sure. It would also vary from state to state.

Essentially I think you're screwed, there's very little you can do with it. It's only a few months of your life, you can probably survive.

What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger. And it can't be THAT horrible to absolutely positively necessitate you moving out. Try to work out whatever other problems you're having that make you not want to live there.

If you did move out, where would you go? An apartment? Living in the dorms can be so much easier sometimes. No utility and rent bills every month, etc. etc.

texas*princess · #7 10-03-2002, 12:26 AM

the "surcharge" is just that. an extra cost for leaving early. i have paid the entire semester in full already, and don't plan on moving out until finals.

in all honestly, i guess i should have paid closer attention to what the housing stuff said. i always lived on campus before as an RA at my other school, and since they did housing by semesters, i figured it would be that way here too.. but umm gues not.

basically the penalty deal has to do with mitigating their damages.

the non-breaching party has to try to mitigate their damages, say find new tenents, before they can charge penalty stuff, because basically if they can recover their losses that way, they shouldn't have to "double-dip".

i don't see why this is such a big deal in the first place.. they have a waiting list of people who want to live on campus.

i just can't live here anymore.. it is insanely gross. i have had a MAJOR bug problem, and they haven't done anything about it! i called the front desk a couple of weeks ago and was *furious* when the deskclerk said "well umm maybe you could find another place to stay.."

M&M · #8 10-03-2002, 09:38 AM

Texas Princess,

I am neither a lawyer nor a law student, but I have managed to get out of leases before AND get my deposit back. In my case, the apartment was falling apart -- appliances constantly malfunctioned, the plumbing constantly backed up, etc. The final straw was that the air conditioner had broken almost a dozen times in the time I lived there, and the landlord would send someone in to do a temporary repair, but it would take days to fix and then it would break again. It was 100 degrees in my apartment, and since I have bad seasonal allergies, I couldn't leave the windows open.

From the moment I moved into my apartment, I documented everything that went wrong. I kept a lengthy running list of all of the problems I had, the dates they occurred, the response from the landlord, etc. I also took photos of my thermostat which showed that it was, in fact, 100 degrees in my apartment.

When I finally gave up and wanted out, I had months left on my lease. I had also been without air conditioning in July for nearly three weeks. I took the photos and my documentation to my landlord and explained (politely) that I found the situation intolerable and would like to move out, with my deposit returned. Luckily, she agreed.

So document EVERYTHING that you've had problems with. If you had to buy stuff to kill the bugs in your room, include that as well as costs you incurred because the residence hall staff did not respond to your complaints. If you can remember which staff people you complained to, include that as well. If you can present a detailed list of all the problems you've had and what you did to try to fix them, it gives your complaints much more credence. Definitely check with that law professor too to see if he has any advice. And go over your residence hall housing contract with a fine toothed comb to see if there are any reasons listed for allowing students to leave the dorms. There may be something in the fine print that you've missed.

To the Residence Hall person who posted here -- if a student discovers he or she is severely allergic to something in the residence halls (I don't know what, but perhaps mold growing in the walls or carpets of an older building or something like that) and has documentation from an allergist about the health problems, he or she ought to be released from the housing contract. I can't believe you'd hold someone to a lease when they had no way of knowing that the building would make them sick!!!

Good luck TexasPrincess!!!

sororitygirl2 · #9 10-03-2002, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by M&M:
To the Residence Hall person who posted here -- if a student discovers he or she is severely allergic to something in the residence halls (I don't know what, but perhaps mold growing in the walls or carpets of an older building or something like that) and has documentation from an allergist about the health problems, he or she ought to be released from the housing contract. I can't believe you'd hold someone to a lease when they had no way of knowing that the building would make them sick!!!

I was going to mention this about allergies... I know several people who got out of the dorms by getting doctors' letters that stated they were severely allergic to the cleaning products used. (Mind you, these doctors were actually just family friends, so if you can find someone with letterhead that will stretch the truth a little you might be able to use that approach.)

texas*princess · #10 10-03-2002, 11:17 AM

M&M, thanks so much!

I don't go to the same school that I did before (when I took that law class) but the prof is an awesome lawyer and has helped many of his students with a lot of stuff. i'm going to give him a call and see what i can do.

Optimist Prime · #11 10-04-2002, 12:26 AM

That freaking sucks!!!!! I wanted to move in with my friends but couldn't because of that. I was sick too, I had pnemonia.

Peaches-n-Cream · #12 10-04-2002, 02:23 AM

texas*princess
I feel for you. I'm sorry that you are stuck in an unhappy living situation. You have a bug infestation and that needs to be taken care of immediately. Don't stop at just calling the office. Write letters to the residential life office and student accounts adding that if this situation isn't resolved immediately you will contact the Board of Health. They need to have an exterminator come in and spray. Put them on notice that if this situation is not resolved in a timely manner then you will be moving out with your deposit since they are in violation of their lease. I think that a lawyer might be able to help. A bug infestation is definitely a health problem and could be the way to get out of that lease.

AlphaSigLana · #13 10-04-2002, 03:04 PM

What you need to do is go the head of housing! Demand that someone cleans up the bugs in your room. I'm pretty sure that there is no way to get out of the dorms/on campus apts. where i go now-- unless you violate rules that get you kicked out, you drop out of school, get married, or are in the military-- you are stuck for the year. It seems silly bc they had such a problem housing people this year. Our apt was disgusting. Nothing was clean. It took 3 weeks before someone would come fix all of the drawers that were broken in my room.
anway since cockroaches are a problem here-- we have in writing that once a month bug people are suppossed to come clean any infestation. Luckily no cockroaches in my apt, just a little jumping frog one time.
It is true that it is easier to live on campus than off regarding matters of fines etc. At least from what I've heard.

Eupolis · #14 10-04-2002, 03:59 PM

I'm not a lawyer in your state, and I'm not even a lawyer yet in mine, so you'd have to check with a licensed attorney in your state to get reliable advice.

Generally, if you sign a contract that has a "liquidated damages" clause, which says that you will pay a certain amount of money if you breach, that clause will be enforceable. Some states, including yours, may put limits on that rule, but the majority rule is that they are enforceable.

Leases in some states are treated differently from regular contracts. For example, in many states, if you quit a lease early, a landlord cannot charge for the full value of the lease if they can find someone else to fill the space. In a school housing situation, it may be harder to find people, though.

I don't know how your state balances these matters out.

I've long wondered about some of the quirks in school residence hall "leases," but I don't know the implications.

I would recommend:
(1) Document everything.
(2) Work your way up the chain of authority, but -do- ask that each person expedite your case, and explain why you're asking for that.
(3) If you do not get desirable results from the department in charge of housing, contact the local agency in charge of enforcing housing regulations and ask about your situation. Beware that if your school is run by the state government, the local housing authority might not have the power to exert its authority over the state government. If that is the case, call up the state board of health -- but still try to start with the local agency.
(4) Consult with that professor.
(5) Do not try to use #3 as a weapon when you are going through the process of #2. Be as professional as possible.