Hunter College has now been forced to take legal action against the former student who allegedly owes more than $94,000 in residence fees over two years.
Hunter College in NYC has filed a lawsuit against one of their former students, claiming she's been squatting in their Manhattan dorm after dropping out two years ago and has racked up over $94,000 in unpaid fees.
According to a recent lawsuit, Hunter College is attempting to evict the 32-year-old former student named Lisa S. Palmer who they believe has been illegally squatting in their 25th Street dorm for two years (one of these dorms is pictured above).
The lawsuit alleges Palmer, who was a Geography major, failed to pay her dues "almost immediately" after enrolling in the dorm, and dropped out in 2016 when she was denied summer housing.
The school claims they've sent her notices of owed residence fees as well as repeated eviction notices over the years, that have been "ignored," the lawsuit alleges. Hunter College is asking for repayment of "a staggering $94,000 in unpaid residence hall charges on account of her continued occupancy."
Palmer is not only ignoring these legal demands, she is denying she owes the school anything. BuzzFeed News has made repeated attempts to contact the former student. In an interview with CBS2, Palmer believes she should be entitled to stay. And paying the accrued bill is not "realistic," she said.
According to Palmer, Hunter College forced her to drop out a semester before she was able to graduate because she was unable to pay her student fees. Therefore, she claims, she should not have to pay them.
“I don’t think paying it off is realistic, and I also don’t believe that I should have to pay it off,” she told a reporter at CBS2.
“I feel like every semester is a new opportunity to register for courses,” she added. “I think I should just stay and fight the case.”
The lawsuit, however, alleges in the fall of 2016, a Hunter College official settled with Palmer an agreement that she could remain a resident in their 25th Street dorm if she paid off her course fees at the time and re-enrolled in courses.
The school claims Palmer had "neither paid of off her balance, nor
had she enrolled in any courses." They're now seeking to evict her within 30 days.
Online, the legal dispute between the university and former student has caused curious conversation and disputes.
A Facebook post defending Palmer has captioned her motion as “reparations” and incited support for the position she’s been put in.
"She ain't taking space from nobody and she ain't costing you shit,” a top comment reads.
"I went to Hunter. It's a commuter school. Most of the student body lives in the 5 boroughs which is why the 8 people who come from other parts of the country to go to school here get away with this stuff. The dorms are EM-PTY...I ain't mad at her,” someone else weighed in.
Others are questioning how reasonable the high residence fee is against a much lower tuition cost for the school.
"Dorm rooms are a very important resource for a commuter school," they added.
You can check out the entire lawsuit below.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/2I9gDV5
No comments:
Post a Comment