From the dorms/apts to the house

[axidgl]

At my school, joining a fraternity/sorority is not a valid reason to be released from your housing contract. "Sophomores" (Second year members)/executive council are required to live in the house and at that point, they don't have to deal with switching housing. If you pledge any year other than freshman, the following year you are required to live in the house (if there is any space left for you after the true sophomores). If you choose not to, as a sophomore, 2nd year, or exec and there are still spaces left, the fee for the spaces available will be divided between everyone who is supposed to live there.

Not everyone wants to live in the house. It's a constant source of noise and distraction, but at the same time you have a lot of your sisters/brothers right there to hang out with, and it's (usually) nicer than a lot of dorms and very competitively priced.

[SigKapCoug]

At my school you can break lease at semester to move into the chapter house with no penalty.

If there is space on bid day, office of greek life and the university will allow you to move 3 women in for free, and after than, the chapter must pay the breakage fee (which is supposed to be ridiculous this year. sigh.)

[ForeverRoses]

We had the manditory freshman & sophmore year in a dorm rule, however sorority and fraternity houses were exempt. So usually sophmores moved into the house along with those exec. offices that required you to live-in. However since about half the new member classes were sophmores, there were always several non-exec juniors in the house. I lived in my junior year and didn't hold a major office.
If a spot opened up in the house (for example we had two members study abroad for spring quarter) then it was offered to sophmores living in the dorms. Residence life would let sophmores out of their contracts, but not freshman. If someone moved out of the house and we couldn't fill the spot, then the person that moved out was responsible for paying for the spot.

[Thetagirl218]

This is a good question that I have always wondered about! My chapter doesn't have a house, but I have always thought about. I have a friend who was an ADPi that moved into her Chapter house at UF her second semester, but I guess that is a school thing.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

My freshman year, the res halls were so overcrowded that they let us break contracts to move into the house mid-year. Normally, though, you can only break it if you are taking a spot in the house from someone who is leaving for a valid reason (graduation, study abroad, coop, medical, etc.).

ETA: My understanding was that if you wanted to move from the house to the dorm, the reverse applied.

[PeppyGPhiB]

If I remember correctly, University of Washington women may break their dorm contracts if they are accepted into a sorority prior to school starting. I think the school works cooperatively with the sororities regarding housing arrangements.