Campus Crossings, a Tryon Road apartment complex that many N.C. State students call home, was recently cited for illegally charging tenants for services and electricity that were not being used.
Elizabeth Long, a recent graduate in criminal law and justice, helped bring Campus Crossing’s billing practices to light.
Long’s mother, Judy, initially found it odd the apartment charged each roommate $30 per month for utilities with an additional charge if the apartment unit went over a designated quota, according to a News & Observer article.
Long’s suspicions escalated when Campus Crossings billed her daughter extra for utilities when no one was even living in the apartment during winter break in 2011.
When Long went to the Utilities Commission, she was redirected to North Carolina’s Consumer Protection Agency. The agency investigated the housing company and confirmed Long’s doubts, saying that the complex’s billing practices made the complex itself a ‘public utility.’
Long said what angered her most was the company was taking unfair and illegal advantage of college students.
While Judy paid for her daughter’s housing, some students do not have financial support from their parents.
“These kids are [already] struggling to stay at school,” Long said in the News & Observer report.
Students rarely file such complaints, according to the Utilities Commission.
Sunaina Tailor, a junior in nutrition science, lived at Campus Crossings and said she was not happy with the management.
“My roommates and I found out just before the spring semester ended that Campus Crossings hired another company to handle our utility bills and that we would be charged for it,” Tailor said. “I just thought it was absurd, and at first I actually thought that I didn’t understand, but now everything seems clear.”
Tailor said she was happy she and her roommates moved on from the apartment complex, saying even reading the fine print isn’t enough.
Campus Apartments, the company that owns Campus Crossings and The Warehouse at UNC-Chapel Hill, fought back against the complaints and lobbied the General Assembly to allow it to register as a utility reseller.
Long’s mother still isn’t convinced.
“Thankfully Elizabeth was my last child going through college so I can be done dealing with these huge companies that just deflect the blame on each other,” Long said.
This all comes as at least two student-oriented complexes, College Inn and Wolf Creek, have announced price hikes, and two more, Valentine Commons and The Retreat, prepare to open their doors to students willing to pay top-end rent each month.
“I am glad I am done with apartments,” said Tailor, who plans to rent a townhome in the area.
As for the refund Campus Apartments was ordered to issue to its tenants, Long remained skeptical. “It’ll be interesting to see if we ever see the money from [them],” she said.
