Residence Life Panic: False Damages or False Alarm?

Last year, Residence Life resumed damage assessments after a four-semester hiatus, though it seems the transition back has not been entirely smooth. A few weeks ago, posters informing students about false damage charges incurred by ResLife cropped up around the Gray Campus Center area, though only for a brief period of time. Students may be wondering about the story behind those posters, and if they have any reason to be concerned about any potential false charges against themselves, or how to defend against them in the future.

Some students, who wish to remain anonymous, have specifically cited issues with damage charges in summer housing at the end of August this year. One student 25’ stated that they needed ResLife to remove the belongings of the previous occupant before moving in and that ResLife “informed us… that there was wall damage they would not charge us for,” only for them and their roommates to find charges to their Reed accounts without notice for the aforementioned damage to the walls alongside an additional cleaning fee.

The students further explained that they were able to solve the issue with relative ease, thanks to the observation of one roommate, who requested an itemized bill from ResLife to point out their error. They were able to contact ResLife with proof that they were promised not to be charged for those wall damages, leading to their charges being removed promptly, though curiously without any further explanation or apology from ResLife for the mistake. 

Another student was charged completely incorrectly, receiving damage fees for another room entirely. They were similarly able to dispute the charges and have them removed, thanks to astute observation and proof that they could not have caused the damage in question. However, this incident was once again reliant on the observation of the student charged, calling the diligence of ResLife into question. ResLife did not respond to a request to comment on these incidents.

Sheena McFarland, Director of Public Affairs, did respond to my inquiry of the specifics of these occurrences, stating that ResLife “was able to provide detailed documentation and photographs of any damage assessed,” which only a “small number of cases” were able to disprove. This suggests that, for the most part, either false damages are incredibly uncommon among the total number of charges administered by ResLife, or many students, unfortunately, lacked the evidence to disprove the claims of damage.

With that said, it is important to note what students can do to mitigate the possibility of false damage charges, or any charges in the first place. In the examples put forth, caution on part of the students is what allowed them to spot and dispute damage claims. Requesting itemized bills from the college and keeping a record of proof that charges should not be incurred, such as pictures of your room and belongings or saved copies of prior work orders are effective means of requisite evidence, and are recommended to avoid any instances of damage charges, which apply as good practice for living in apartments off-campus as well. Furthermore, simply filing work orders in the first place is advisable as a method to prevent incurring any type of damage charges. It seems clear that, although false damage charges are uncommon, they certainly can happen, and proper employment of caution will go a long way in defending yourself against them in the future.