$5,000 fine for occupying a room.

[bkapitzky]

The name of my state is Illinois.

I recently received a fine of $5,000 between myself and another roommate. This is a large sum to us as college students. We also have to make this payment within 10 days. We found out about it yesterday. It was mailed the 16th, so now we only have 5 days left.

We have 4 bedrooms in our apartment, 2 rooms are occupied and we were using the third bedroom for misc. storage. We are being fined for using that extra room and it's supposed to remain locked. They found this information out after conducting "sanitary checks" - it's a college student complex that's half-controlled by our university. They have a three-strike policy and no warnings. This is our first strike.

We weren't given any warning but a letter just showed up in our mailbox. When we first moved-in this room was opened and we didn't realize that we were unable to use it. I don't believe there are any terms in our lease that mentions paying fines, the three-strike policy, or occupying unused rooms.

Is there anything that we could do? Any advice is massively appreciated. Thank you.

Edit: The 3rd room was not being used by another student or person. That information is mutually understood between us and the complex.

My question is: if there is no mention of penalties or occupying this room in the least agreement then is there anything we can do to get out of this fine? Should I call a lawyer?

Thanks for your responses.

 

[Zigner]

Review your lease carefully.

 

[HRZ]

review your lease carefully...and recite the provisions that prohibit use of that room ..and provide for that fine ...it does seem wacky..but details matter. Were you hosting a 3 d person?

( Around me there are some occupancy limits especially as to unrelated persons. ..routinely exceeded by students but I'm not where you are )

 

[quincy]

The name of my state is Illinois.

I recently received a fine of $5,000 between myself and another roommate. Which is a large sum to college students. We also have to make this payment within 10 days of it being mailed to us.

We have 4 rooms in our apartment, 2 rooms are occupied are we were using 1 room for storage. We are being fined for using that extra room, it's supposed to remain locked. They found this information out after conducting "sanitary checks" - it's a college student complex that's half-controlled by our university. They have a three-strike policy and no warnings. This is our first strike.

We weren't given any warning but a letter just showed up in our mailbox. When we first moved-in this room was opened and we didn't realize that we were unable to use it. I don't believe there are any terms in our lease that mentions paying fines, the three-strike policy, or occupying unused rooms.

Is there anything that we could do?

Any advice is massively appreciated. Thank you.

What sort of room is this third room?

What sort of "storage" was this third room used for? A third bed, dresser, clothes in the closet, perhaps?

If the college believes that there was another unauthorized occupant in your unit, you might have a difficult time getting out of paying for this third occupant.

Your lease (and university policies) should be reviewed.

 

[bkapitzky]

review your lease carefully...and recite the provisions that prohibit use of that room ..and provide for that fine ...it does seem wacky..but details matter. Were you hosting a 3 d person?

( Around me there are some occupancy limits especially as to unrelated persons. ..routinely exceeded by students but I'm not where you are )

No we weren't hosting a 3rd person and the apartment complex understands this. Our lease agreement is only 3 pages long and doesn't mention anything about us not being allowed to use this room.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[bkapitzky]

What sort of room is this third room?

What sort of "storage" was this third room used for? A third bed, dresser, clothes in the closet, perhaps?

If the college believes that there was another unauthorized occupant in your unit, you might have a difficult time getting out of paying for this third occupant.

Your lease (and university policies) should be reviewed.

The apartment complex understands that we were not hosting anyone else. The room was clearly not being used by another person. There's no bed and it's all boxes in there. There is no mentioning that we can't occupy that room or the penalties if we do.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

You wrote in your OP that " it's supposed to remain locked." How did you know this?

 

[HRZ]

Well what are the premises rented....unless that room is clearly locked and excluded from the premises leased...I don't see the LLs point at all. Something does not add up.

 

[Just Blue]

The name of my state is Illinois.

I recently received a fine of $5,000 between myself and another roommate. Which is a large sum to college students. We also have to make this payment within 10 days of it being mailed to us.

We have 4 rooms in our apartment, 2 rooms are occupied are we were using 1 room for storage. We are being fined for using that extra room, it's supposed to remain locked. They found this information out after conducting "sanitary checks" - it's a college student complex that's half-controlled by our university. They have a three-strike policy and no warnings. This is our first strike.

We weren't given any warning but a letter just showed up in our mailbox. When we first moved-in this room was opened and we didn't realize that we were unable to use it. I don't believe there are any terms in our lease that mentions paying fines, the three-strike policy, or occupying unused rooms.

Is there anything that we could do?

Any advice is massively appreciated. Thank you.

Edit: The 3rd room was not being used by another student or person. That information is mutually understand.

My question is: if there is no mention of penalties or occupying this room in the least agreement then is there anything we can do to get out of this fine?

Thanks for your responses.

Would you please post the lease word for word (sans id'in info)? And please clarify that this is an apt you and just the roommate are renting. Thank You...

 

[quincy]

The apartment complex understands that we were not hosting anyone else. The room was clearly not being used by another person. There's no bed and it's all boxes in there. There is no mentioning that we can't occupy that room or the penalties if we do.

Some apartments have furnace rooms. Is that what this third room is? These are normally locked and only for maintenance to access.

 

[xylene]

If you are being fined, and these are fines proportional to a felony, you need a lawyer. Right away.

 

[xylene]

And whatever the lease says, this penalty is over the top, and is quite arguably an unconscionable contract in whole or in part.

 

[not2cleverRed]

Some apartments have furnace rooms. Is that what this third room is? These are normally locked and only for maintenance to access.

I suspect that it is a 3 bedroom with a common area, that only 2 of the bedrooms were rented, and that the other bedroom was to remain empty so that it would be (immediately) available, should campus life (or whatever it is called at OP's institution) place a student there.

But of course, OP would have to clarify this.

Considering that when I was in college, on campus housing was usually strained enough at the beginning of the year that our dormitory "library" was usually converted into a temporary dorm "room", until things settled down and space was reallocated by this time of the year to account for no-shows and people who withdrew or graduated after fall semester... I find OP's situation odd.

I also knew of people who had a roommate move out of a double and were neither given a new roommate nor charged more. (I personally had no such luck. And yes, it was very much based on favoritism, or my lack thereof.)

Perhaps OP should contact their institution's ombudsman, if they feel that they truly did not keep the university from using this room. At the very least, the ombudsman should have some insight into the issue.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

And whatever the lease says, this penalty is over the top, and is quite arguably an unconscionable contract in whole or in part.

How can you say this without knowing how much the room rents for?

I'm not saying it is a legit charge because I don't have all of the information and you don't either.

 

[not2cleverRed]

How can you say this without knowing how much the room rents for?

I'm not saying it is a legit charge because I don't have all of the information and you don't either.

Exactly.

It could be an overzealous administrator coming up with this figure (I know someone who would do exactly this), or it could be a very reasonable assessment. We don't have all the facts.

I recall an instance when I was in college where a couple of students were charged an enormous cleaning bill. The boys were very upset, felt it very unfair, and actually petitioned (successfully) to have it put to a vote to have it come out of dormitory funds instead (failed).

I am sure that had these two come on here, they might have made a vague case - why were they being charged to have the hallway cleaned, it's not part of their room, etc., hundreds of dollars seems to be a bit much. In that case, the truth is that they had a large underage drinking party that their neighbors found very disruptive and avoided, and the finish on the linoleum was reduced to a sticky mess which really did take that many hours to restore.

We had another person whose "April Fool's joke" resulted in $40,000 worth of damage, irreplaceable antique destroyed and left for kindling.