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Home > Staff > Staff Resources > Row Student Management > Resource Guide for Student-Managed Residences > Guidelines for Collection of Rent/Board Bills
Guidelines for Collection of Rent/Board Bills
As self-ops, co-ops and student managed dining services you have taken on a tremendous responsibility to not only provide a full board plan to your residents and members but to be financial accountable for all monies received and dispersed. Collecting money from peers can be the most difficult part of your job. You need to look at your operation as a small business and run it as such. Remember, that a HOLD is your most powerful tool in collecting board bills if applied in a timely manner. If you are inconsistent in applying HOLDS or miss the deadline by which they must be placed you lose the effectiveness of the HOLD. You also need to respect your residents and members and release HOLDS in a timely manner when debts are paid. You need to have a formal Supplemental Housing Agreement between each resident (including borders), member or eating associate that acknowledges they understand their responsibilities as a resident of your house or member of your dining service. When you place a HOLD at the Row Office you need to attach a copy of the individual's SIGNED Supplemental Housing Agreement or Board Bill Contract.
* Students who are not registered at the beginning of a quarter are not supposed to be allowed into University Housing. If someone owes you a full quarter bill (made no payments the previous quarter) and you have already placed their registration on hold, don't allow them to move back into the house until their bill is paid. * Reminder: Before releasing a HOLD make sure that personal checks have cleared the bank. ROW OFFICE - place and release registration/transcript/diploma HOLDS for you Stephenie Petrilla , petrilla@stanford.edu (650) 723-7088. Sergio Hernandez, sergioh@stanford.edu (650) 723-7087. BURSAR - advise on collection methods, options for students having difficulty paying Jon Erickson, bursar@leland (650) 723-3455. Please keep for your records the names of residents referred. FINANCIAL AID - short term loans (not available if registration already on HOLD) Cynthia Rife, AK.CAR@forsythe (650) 723-1543. Please keep for your records the names of residents referred. As a small business, you must plan for start-up costs each year, bad debt, unexpected expenses and going over budget. For this reason, it is strongly recommended that financial managers budget for each quarter with a 10% cushion in their bills. Should the 10% reserve not be used for one quarter, it can then be applied against the subsequent quarter's budget. You may never roll over debt from one year to the next thus increasing the need for a healthy reserve. If you end a year in debt all current residents of the house will be individually billed for their pro-rata share of the debt. Even though you may need to write off bad debt at the end of an academic year to close your books, people who owe you money should continue to be listed on your Historical Accounts Receivable List (ask Row Office for copy of form). Also, keep a file on each person with any related back-up, explanation of fees owed and description of past efforts to collect or negotiate with student. This documentation is critical due to the annual transfer of leadership within your house/operation. Remember it may be years before the student settles and without good records you may have to release a HOLD without receiving payment.
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