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Moving In

[Overview] [Necessary Payments] [Moving Permits] [Inventory Form]

Overview

Information about your apartment will be mailed to you well before your scheduled move-in date. You can sign your lease and pick up your keys between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday in the WMU Apartments Office, located on the third floor of the Faunce Student Services building. You may move-in any time after your lease is signed, but your rent begins on the day your lease is dated. If you are married, you will be asked to provide an original or certified copy of your marriage certificate (and birth certificates for your children, if applicable) to verify eligibility. Passports for international students are accepted as verification of family status. Only those persons listed on the lease may reside in the apartment.

Apartments at WMU are available by lease dates that match semester dates for the academic calendar. Although this is beneficial for students, it presents drawbacks for maintenance. Because so many residents move out on the same day, and many of these same apartments are then assigned to new residents, the opportunity to make repairs and clean apartments is limited to only a few days.

There may be maintenance, including major project work like painting and floor covering, which did not get completed in your apartment before your arrival. Routine repairs, like window screens, that your resident manager has turned in will be completed by your maintenance staff as quickly as they can, according to the priority of the work required and the date the work order was received. You do not need to be at home, as the maintenance staff has access to your apartment.

Due to the limited amount of time between semesters and the large number of people moving in and out, it is generally not possible to move in before the effective move-in date.

Necessary Payments

A Non-Refundable Cleaning Fee of $180.00 (one hundred eighty and 00/100 dollars) must be paid before your lease is signed. If you share an apartment with another student, each of you will pay an equal portion of the total Non-Refundable Cleaning Fee. In addition to the cleanign fee, the pro-rated portion of the first month's rent (from the move-in date until the end of the month) must also be paid at this time.

If you are receiving financial aid it may be possible to defer the first month's rent payment and your portion of the Non-Refundable Cleaning Fee until aid is received. IMPORTANT! If rent is billed by the month, financial aid only pays the first month of the semester. You are responsible for paying the remaining months of the semester. If billed by the semester financial aid will pay entire semester.

As stated in your Lease Agreement:

"Rent is due the first day of every month and is considered late if it is not paid by the 5th (fifth) day of the month for which it applies."

If you fail to pay rent by the close of business on 5th day of the month, a late fee of $30.00 is applied to your student account. Single residents will see the $30.00 late rent fee applied to their student account, and roommates will see the charge applied to their student accounts apportioned according to the number of people on the lease. Three roommates on a lease, for example, would result in a charge of $10.00 for each student.

Your Lease Agreement also states:

"If one or more person sign this lease as tenant, their liability for any breach of this lease, without regard to which person caused this breach, shall be joint and several."

This means that each roommate will be assessed an equal portion of the late fee unless all roommates have paid the rent - in full - by the close of business on the 5th day of the month.

Obviously, if rent is paid on the 1st of each month, late fees are never a concern. If you regularly wait until the 3rd or 4th day of each month, and particularly if you then utilize the web or telephone credit card methods of payment, you need to BE AWARE that neither of these methods is currently capable of direct- specific payment. Instead, payments made via the web or telephone automatically apply to the oldest charges on an account. If you have tuition charges, parking tickets, Sindecuse Health Center Charges, or the like - even though you submit payment in the exact amount of rent due - the payment will be applied to all charges on your account beginning with the oldest and proceeding to the most recent. By the time all older charges have been deducted, there may not be a sufficient amount left of your payment to cover your monthly rent in full, leaving you open to a late rent fee charge.

The safe method is to make certain that you (and all roommates) pay your rent on the 1st of each month. If you go to Bronco Express, please tell the cashier that you are making your rent payment so your payment can be accurately applied to your WMU apartment rent.

Moving Permits

If you are moving into a Stadium Drive apartment, you may request a moving permit to drive inside the courtyard area for unloading large items. These permits are free and available at the WMU Apartments Office. This is the only way and time you are allowed to drive vehicles in the courtyard.

Inventory Form

When you move in, you will be asked to complete a move-in inspection and schedule an appointment with your resident manager to meet with you at your apartment and go over the inspection. It is in your best interest to be thorough when completing the form as it will be used to assess any damages at move-out time. Ultimately you are responsible for returning your inspection form within 7 days, regardless of whether a joint inspection is completed. Return the completed form to the WMU Apartments Office.