Preparing Your Room/Suite/Apartment for Checking Out

All residents are expected to leave their room/suite/apartment in good condition, clean, with any furniture in its original placement. A final check of the room/suite/apartment will be made by staff.

Cleaning Your Residence Hall/Scholarship Hall Room/Suite

• Remove belongings from your room/suite. Prior to your check-out appointment, all your belongings should be removed from the hall.
• Thoroughly clean room/suite. Wipe all surfaces, including walls if needed, and sweep floor. Mop floor. Cleaning supplies are available at the front desk or from your scholarship hall staff.
• Clean the suite bathroom. Clean the mirror, toilet, sink, shower door, and shower/bathtub with appropriate commercial cleaners.
• Empty closets and drawers. Sweep the closet, wipe out drawers, and leave closet doors open.
• Remove all writing, putty, nails, decals, and tape from walls, doors, and ceiling without damaging the paint.
• Remove any rug tape from the floor.
• Remove trash. Empty and wash trash cans. See your Resident Assistant or refer to posted signs for the proper location for discarding large trash items, such as bricks, carpeting, etc. Large trash items should not be left in your room or the hallway.
• Clean and secure windows. Clean off all tape and signs from windows. Lock windows. Window blinds should be down with slats open.
• Arrange furniture. All original room furniture must be in the room/suite and properly assembled. Return beds to original placement.
• Affix the Safe & Secure poster to the back of your room/suite door using masking tape. This poster was affixed to your room door when you moved in to the room/suite in August.
• Return any dishes or utensils you have borrowed from Student Housing facilities to the dining center, hall front desk, or your scholarship hall's dining room.
• Turn room heating/cooling unit to low. Fan and temperature range should be left in the "off" or lowest settings. Residents in GSP should leave air ducts open. Residents in Corbin Hall should turn air conditioning unit off.
• Clean hallway outside your room. Your belongings and any trash should be removed from this area.

Cleaning Your Apartment

To avoid cleaning charges when vacating the apartment, all residents should clean cooperatively before moving out. The following cleaning checklist may be helpful.

Kitchen

• Oven - clean and remove grease and food stains
• Stove top - as above, plus clean the drip pans
• Exhaust hood - remove grease
• Refrigerator - clean inside and outside, defrost
• Sink area - remove stains and food particles
• Cabinets - scrub interiors and exteriors
• Floors - mop, avoiding build-up on edges
• Countertops - remove grease and stains, wash backsplash
• Walls - remove stains and fingerprints

Bathroom

• Toilet bowl, tank, seat - remove any stains and scrub thoroughly
• Tub - scrub clean, remove residue
• Shower - scrub clean, remove residue, launder shower curtain
• Wall tiles - scrub clean, remove residue
• Sink area - scrub clean
• Medicine cabinets - clean inside and mirror
• Plumbing fixtures - wipe clean
• Floor - mop, avoiding build-up on edges

Living Room, Halls & Bedrooms

• Interiors - remove all trash and personal items
• Floors - sweep and mop, avoiding build-up on edges
• Carpets - vacuum thoroughly
• Walls - wipe clean, remove fingerprints from light switches
• Windows - wash insides of windows, dust mini-blinds
• Furniture - dust, vacuum upholstery
• Storage closet - wipe clean, mop floor
• Doors - wipe clean, remove stains

Apartment Exterior

• Sweep clean and remove trash from the area
• All personal items should be removed from the apartment exterior and stairwells

Commercial cleaners such as Easy Off can be used for oven interiors. Do not use these cleaners on oven exteriors; the paint will come off. For stove tops, exhaust hood, counter tops, refrigerator exterior, walls, doors, furniture, and light fixtures, use cleansers such as Pine Sol, Glass Plus, Mr. Clean, or Fantastic. Use a mixture of vinegar and water or baking soda and water for the refrigerator interior. For the toilet, use cleaners like Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner. Tub and tile cleaners like Softscrub or Scrubfree Dow are designed for bathtubs and showers. Scrub hard to remove any residue. After sweeping, Mr. Clean, Pine Sol, or Spic n` Span with a sponge mop is recommended for floors. Wash windows with Windex or vinegar-water and wipe dry with newspaper or paper towels. Do not scrub too hard on walls and other painted areas. If using strongchemicals or cleansers, we recommend that you wear rubber gloves. You will be charged for cleaning if the apartment/suite is not cleaned to our satisfaction and our staff has to finish cleaning. All general cleaning will be charged at an hourly rate. Contact the Apartment Living office for current rates. Note: Cleaning products listed are suggestions only, not endorsements by the Department of Student Housing.

Cleaning and Damage Costs

If additional cleaning is necessary, residents will be assessed cleaning charges. Excessive soil and/or conditions requiring extensive cleaning time will result in increased charges. Damage charges will reflect the cost of replacement materials only; labor charges are assessed on an hourly basis. For current rates, contact your Complex Director. Charges will result if staff is required to do any cleaning from the above list. Charges will also result if any repairs are needed.

Checking Out

Residence Halls, Scholarship Halls, and Jayhawker Towers

At least 24 hours prior to checking out, arrange a check-out time that is convenient for both you and your Resident Assistant, Scholarship Hall Director, or Apartment Resident Assistant. At the close of the academic year, you are required to contact your RA or SHD prior to stop day to schedule your appointment. The check-out process takes only a few minutes and includes turning in your keys, having your room/suite/apartment checked for any damages or missing items, and filling out a forwarding address card. Failure to follow this procedure, as well as any procedure specific to your complex, may result in a charge for an improper checkout, a bill for a lock change, or other charges.

Stouffer Place and Sunflower

You must arrange a preliminary inspection of your apartment prior to moving out. At that time, the maintenance supervisor or Resident Assistant will advise you of items that need attention. Maintenance personnel will help you with any questions or concerns. A final check is mandatory and subject to the following regulations:

• The inspection must be attended by the contract holder and a representative of the Department of Student Housing.
  Both must sign the final inspection.
• All personal belongings must be removed and all cleaning completed.
• The inspection must be scheduled between the hours of 9:00-11:30 a.m. and 1:30-4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
  Special appointments may be available upon request.

Failure to complete this final check-out obligates you to damage and cleaning assessments as determined by housing personnel.

Failure to Vacate

When residents have not vacated assigned space as scheduled (internal transfers as well as the end of a contract period) or have not removed personal property, Department of Student Housing staff will make reasonable attempts to contact the residents. Residents who have not vacated assigned space as scheduled will be charged $50 per day plus the daily rate of the unit for each day they or their property remain in the space. If after 48 hours, residents have not vacated assigned space, personal property will be removed from the space and stored at the residents' expense.

Residents are responsible for personal property at all times and will be charged $20 per hour per Department of Student Housing employee involved in removal and/or storage of personal property ($50 minimum), and billed $50 for a storage fee. Personal property removed by Department of Student Housing staff will be stored for 30 days. After 30 days, the items will be considered abandoned and either donated to charity or discarded. The Department of Student Housing is not liable for damage to or loss of property which might occur during the course of removal or disposal. Residents will be billed for all costs incurred in removing and storing personal property and restoration of the unit to usable space.