Housing Deposits are a thing of the past!

In past years, all students were required to pay a housing deposit fee in order to participate in any facet of the Housing Selection Process. This meant that students needed to come up with the deposit amount and submit it with their Housing Registration Forms. If you were paying with cash or credit you needed to take your forms to the Cashier's office before dropping them off at RLH, and if you didn't pay your deposit you were unable to participate in Lottery and could end up on the waitlist. What a nightmare!

For 2009, RLH will not collect Housing Deposits. In order to still ensure that students take the Housing Selection process seriously there is a $300 cancellation charge for any student who applies but does not actually end up living in housing for any reason. Now, instead of signing Housing Contracts at Housing Lottery (a slow and tedious chore), students submit signed contracts along with their registration forms. These contracts are binding unless you do not have to live on campus (you have completed your 4 semester requirement) in which case you may elect to back out of Housing Selection for the $300 cancellation fee as long as you have not yet selected or been assigned to a space. Once you choose a space or go onto the Housing Waitlist you will not be able to cancel your contract without a granted Housing Appeal. These do not come easily and if granted cost an additional $1000.00, so if you don't plan to live on campus... DO NOT APPLY!

While this cancellation fee is doing the same thing the housing deposits did (helping to ensure students are serious about Housing Lottery and not taking spaces just as a backup), we believe that eliminating the deposit has made everyone's life easier overall.