Policy on Financial Indebtedness Limits For Self-Ops and Co-Ops

1. When any house's debt to the University, regardless of amount, is more than sixty days old, the financial manager will have five working days in which to pay the bill or provide the Row Office with a written explanation for the house's being in arrears. All non-rent house bills will be distributed through the financial manager mailbox located in the Row Office at 584 Mayfield (Grove-Mayfield house). It will be the responsibility of each financial manager to check their mailboxes twice a week.
2. If the financial manager is unable to clear the debt within those five working days, he/she will be required to sign, on behalf of the house, an agreement of intention to pay, which will grant the house the following extension of the debt repayment deadline: either six weeks, or three weeks into the subsequent academic quarter (not counting summer quarter), whichever date is earlier. Failure to clear the debt by the date shown on the agreement will bring into question the house's continued status as a student-managed residence.
3. All houses must be debt free by June 1st each year. In all student-managed houses except fraternities, by June 30 of each year, all unpaid University house bills will be converted to individual NSI (Bursar) bills. Fraternities with an outstanding debt at the start of the academic year will have until the second Friday of Fall quarter to clear the debt or face possible loss of student-managed residence status.
4. Repeated failure to pay University bills on time will result in an evaluation by the Director of Residential Education of whether the student group will be allowed to continue to occupy a University residence, or in the case of special priority houses (theme and fraternity houses), whether they will be allowed to continue as such.

It is strongly recommended that financial managers budget for each quarter with a 10% cushion in their bills. This will serve as a hedge against inflation, unexpected expenses, and going over budget. Should the 10% reserve not be used for one quarter, it can then be applied against the subsequent quarter's budget.

It is also recommended that financial managers take, at the beginning of Spring quarter, a year-end closing deposit from each resident. These deposits should be held until all debts including any year-end cleaning, damage or rekeying charges have been paid and the house is completely debt free.