Students receive eviction notices

More than 60 IU students received legal summons and will face eviction from their dorms for falling behind in their housing payments if they do not make arrangements to pay their bills, according to the Office of the Bursar.\nIf students pay their bills or make arrangements with the Bursar at any time after their court case is filed, their case will be dismissed or postponed, as long as the student follows through based on the terms that have been agreed upon, Assistant Bursar Kimberly Kercheval said. \n"Like any other lease that a student would sign with a landlord out in a community, one requirement to remain in the housing is to keep current on the housing payments," Kercheval said.\nJunior Raj Patel, one of the students who received an eviction warning, is upset by the legal summons he believes he wrongly received.\n"I paid my tuition off a while ago, and they said once I pay it, the lawsuit will be dropped," Patel said. "I've paid everything off, so I guess it's just matter of days."\nPatel said he believes the Bursar should wait a little longer before taking such action. \n"I know someone else who only received an e-mail from the school saying he didn't pay his tuition, and I received a letter saying the University would take further action against me if I didn't pay," Patel said. "I find it ridiculous that they're just going after college kids like this. They're going to get the money, they just have to wait."\nA review is done at the beginning of each semester to see if any students are no longer enrolled in the University, making them ineligible for housing. At mid-semester, students' payments are again evaluated to see if anyone has fallen behind.\n"We don't do it any earlier than that because we know that many students are waiting for financial aid or loans to come through," Kercheval said. "We really do want our student residents to stay with us, and we know the timing issues that they face. So, rather than jump on people the moment they are one payment behind, we wait to see if pending applications for aid or loans (and sometimes both) are approved."\nKercheval said if students fall behind in their bills more than $1,000, a notification letter is sent to students advising them they have either 10 days to pay their bill or make arrangements to do so. If the student does not take any of these steps, the case will be sent to the Office of Legal Counsel, where formal action is taken. \n"This is a step we take that we believe very few, if any, landlords in the community take," Kercheval said. "It is not required. It is a courtesy that we are happy to extend to give students another chance to come in and talk to us before instituting legal action."\nResidential Programs and Services Director Bob Weith said RPS, as well as the Bursar, make many attempts to try and solve these issues before legal action is taken.\n"We do evict people from time to time," Weith said. "Sometimes it's for tuition, sometimes it's from room and board, but usually there are many attempts made to bring (students) up-to-speed with payments."\nMany students who receive the original letter respond to the warning letter, and those cases are resolved before legal action is taken, Kercheval said.\n"Unfortunately, others either read it and ignore it or do not pick it up or open it in the first place," she said.\nKercheval said if a student does not respond, the case goes to University Counsel, where a summons and complaint is prepared, filed and administered by the Monroe County Circuit Court. The complaint is formally written and states that the University is owed payment based on the signed contract promising payment for housing. The statement shows how much is owed, for what and a court request that the payment be made. \nKercheval said what most students do, which is also the best thing, is to make an appointment with the Bursar's office to address the issue.\n"If, at any time after the court case is filed, the student pays or makes arrangements, the case is dismissed or postponed for as long as the person is following through based on the terms that have been agreed to," Kercheval said. "Otherwise, they will have to appear for the hearing as the court directs, and ultimately, if they don't make the payment, they will be ordered by the court to move out of the University housing. Nobody wants that."\n-- Contact staff writer Mallory Simon at mgsimon@indiana.edu.