Current Member Lease Information

Renewal of Leases
Returning house members must notify the house membership coordinator by March 1st (Ke$ha’s birthday) whether they will be returning to the house that fall. All returning Brooks House members will be subjected to a vote to renew their leases. All renewal meetings must have quorum. Renewal decisions will be made during house meetings during the month of March.

The person who is being considered for lease renewal is encouraged to be present at the beginning of the meeting. If the house member cannot meet by the end of March, the vote can be held without them.

The member in question may speak on his/her own behalf before he/she is required to leave the room. All votes will be held by paper ballot, so that anonymity is guaranteed, but the ballots will be counted in public. Lease renewal votes are decided using modified consensus. If two or more people vote to renew (or not to evict), the lease is renewed. The member in question cannot participate in the vote.

If someone is voted out of house membership, they have the right to break their lease, without a penalty, within a month.

Anyone who decides to renew after the deadline (and doesn’t inform the membership coordinator before the renewal notification deadline) must go through the new member process (in other words, they would be need to be approved by modified consensus and have room selection priority according to acceptance)

Summer Sublease Policy
When a room is sublet, the original lease is continuous, which means that the original house member can be held responsible for their rent for the entire period. All house members must notify the Membership Coordinator if they would like to sublease at least a month in advance. Exceptions may be made by house vote. Subletters must be accepted through the normal membership process. They must be able to stay at least a month, and there cannot be more sublettors than regular house members at any given time.

The subletter signs an agreement with the house as a whole. Each subletter pays their rent directly to the house. The rent will be sent to COUCH from Brooks House.

Rent payments from all sublets are pooled, with each subletting person receiving a proportional share of their rent. The amount of reimbursement is calculated by the day. The finance coordinator will arrange payments through an estimate at the beginning of the summer. If a house member does not pay the required money, they will not receive their security deposit and may be sent to collections.

Eviction
A call to evict a member can be issued at any time for any concern. There must be a vote to consider eviction, which requires a simple majority and can be conducted by email to the Brooks Listserv. Meetings to discuss evictions can be a part of a normal house meeting or called with 48 hours notice to the Brooks Listserv. An eviction meeting must have quorum (at least half).

The person who is being considered for eviction is encouraged to be present at the beginning of the meeting. If the house member cannot meet at any time within a month’s time, the vote can be held without them.

The member in question may speak on his/her own behalf before he/she is required to leave the room. All votes will be held by secret ballot, so that anonymity is guaranteed, but the ballots will be counted in public. Eviction votes are decided using modified consensus. If two or more people vote not to evict, the member can stay. The member in question cannot participate in the vote.

Food Boarders
It is possible to become a "food boarder" at Brooks and get access to meals and the kitchen, without actually living here. See the policies on Food Boarding