Follow the rules

'U' abuses control over student accounts

Vandalism struck the sixth floor of Couzens Residence Hall during the night of March 19 when someone tore a $1,500 bulletin board from the wall. Though University officials do not know who did it, they have found a group to hold financially responsible unless the culprit voluntarily comes forward: the residents of the vandalized floor.

In deciding to pro-rate the cost of replacing the bulletin board among the floor's residents, the University has abused its power - as both a landlord and as the administrator of student accounts - to respond to vandalism in a manner unavailable to any other leasing organization. The University should adhere to the same landlord-tenant laws that bind all lessors and should absorb the cost of the destruction rather than violate residents' rights.

Citing disciplinary and educational services as facets of residence-hall living that differentiate it from traditional housing arrangements, co-interim General Counsel Dan Shaphorn maintains that residence halls fall exempt from the terms of state landlord-tenant laws. He claims that the communal living situation of residence halls deviate too far from traditional, self-enclosed rental units for both to fall under the same legal guidelines. But Shaphorn neglects to consider that students' payments for residence-hall space presumably include fees for maintenance. Accordingly, the University should use the room and board fees to maintain the residence halls - even if it requires replacing or repairing vandalized items.

The University, however, has opted to wrongfully exercise its control over student accounts to force the Couzens residents to absorb the cost of repairs that legally are the institution's responsibility. The University finds itself in a situation unique to lessors in Michigan: It has jurisdiction over its tenants' living quarters and influence over their finances. It not only wields the power to levy the repair charges upon students, but also to exact late fees from students who dispute the charges. According to Director of Housing Public Affairs Alan Levy, the University has employed this ability on four separate occasions over the last four years.

Under the property damage section of the Michigan Landlord-Tenant Relationships Act, landlords cannot hold any tenant liable for damages without proving that the renter actually caused the damages. If a tenant denies responsibility, the issue must come before a court. As it is unlikely that the University will be able to prove that all the residents of Couzens' sixth floor contributed to the destruction of the bulletin board - in or out of court - it has no legal basis for levying charges upon them.

In holding students financially responsible for the damages, the University fails to consider that no barrier actually prevents students from other halls - or even people from outside the building - from reaching Couzens' sixth floor. Consequently, there is a good chance that the perpetrator of this vandalism - or of the other four instances for which the University charged students in the past - did not even live on the affected floor. In charging floor residents, the University will effectively punish the victims of the crime.

The University should discard its group-billing practices and fall in line with all other leasing organizations in Michigan. It misuses its power over student finances when it unfairly bills students living in residence halls for damages.

04-06-98