Q: Can I sue college for inhabitable dorm conditions?
My daughter is living in a college dorm and there is an intercom system in the building. Each room has a ceiling speaker that is very very loud. The speaker comes on every night and a scary clicking sound like a horror movie comes on. You also hear people talking in the background and sometimes student RA s get on and make jokes all around 2-3am. At first it was just a passive issue. Now my daughter calls me up crying in the middle of the night because of being awoken by this noise that even me as a grown man would get freaked out by at 3am. I ve called furiously to speak with the security that manages the office day after day and they just keep saying "sorry the button was stuck". I've spoken with the managers of the building multiple times and all they say is that they will look into it. I have since pulled the speaker down from my daughter's ceiling and disconnected it and then re-screwed it in. Can I sue the college for this problem for restlessness and decreased grades?
A:
Yes, you most likely could. All lessees of real estate, including students in dorms, have a right to the quiet enjoyment of their residences.
Now, as a practical matter lawsuits are very expensive. It could easily cost $2,000 just to file such a lawsuit. If it went all the way to trial, that cost could rise to $10,000 or more. Therefore, many people would seek alternative means of resolving the issue, such as dealing with the housing administration at the college directly, or trying to get a change in dorm.
Joseph D Garrison agrees with this answer
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