A student contracting for housing accommodations accepts and is committed to those accommodations for the entire contract period, unless the University has sufficient demand to allow for the vacancy left by the cancellation to be filled by a student who is not already committed to a housing contract. If there is not sufficient demand as noted above, the Housing Agreement can only be cancelled if student’s affiliation with the university is terminated by: All signed Agreements are considered final and cancellations are not permitted except for the following reasons:
- graduation
- withdrawal from the University
- academic dismissal
- enrolling and participating in a University approved study abroad program
- active military induction
- death of an immediate family member/guardian
- long term hospitalization of the student
- in special circumstances at the discretion of the Assistant Director of Residence Life Administration in consultation with the Director for Student Support or designee upon written request from a resident when there is a material change in the resident’s health/safety or disability status.
If a resident vacates their room without obtaining written approval of a cancellation request from the Assistant Director for Residence Life Administration, the resident will remain financially responsible for the room. Except as stated above, cancellations will not be allowed under any circumstance after the first two weeks of the fall and spring semesters.
Housing Agreement cancellations have a direct impact on the University’s housing operations because the budget for the housing operations is derived entirely from operating revenue under the Housing Agreements. The Housing Agreement is similar to other consumer contracts. Its value is that its terms provide conditions to which either party is assured compliance by the other. While many consumer contracts do not provide opportunities for a party to terminate the agreement, the Housing Agreement does provide for termination but only in accordance with the seven specific reasons listed above. If a student needs to cancel the Housing Agreement for one of the eight permitted reasons, the student must submit a request to cancel to oncampus@echo.rutgers.edu and attach documentation that supports your request (tax returns, hospital records, etc).
Once the cancellation request is processed, the Assistant Director of Residence Life for Administration will respond in writing. If the student cannot demonstrate that they have met one of the seven enumerated reasons for cancelling the Housing Agreement, the cancellation request will be denied.
