Q: Is it possible to sue a university for making their students live in uninhabitable conditions?
I'm enrolling into a college where they have a large first-year enrollment rate. Because of this, a lot of students (mainly freshmen) are pushed to live in a specific dorm hall that's farthest away from the entire campus. For the past few years, this hall has gained a NOTORIOUS reputation of having mold, mice, rat droppings, and roaches spotted around/inside of the dorms. However, nothing was done about it. This specific hall was supposed to be taken down and rebuilt years ago due to old age, but it still remains.
My university has rebuilt at least two other buildings on campus this passing year, and has confirmed plans to renovate more. Yet, we are still expected to live in an overcrowded dorm that hosts a lot of potential health risks that could result in the hospitalization of a student. For example, I have asthma. I could be at risk if I breathe in any potential spores due to the mold.
A:
You can't sue anyone for something that hasn't happened yet. You are choosing to enroll in the school. By doing so you are choosing to live where you are assigned. On your facts, you haven't even seen the dorm yet. Your concerns are based solely on gossip. Dorms are often repainted over the summer.
Even if the conditions prove to be as bad as you have heard, you cannot sue anyone before you are harmed. If you continued to inhabit a dormitory that exposed you to these hazards, YOU would be failing to mitigate your damages and that fact would be held against you if you decided to sue. Litigation is not the appropriate means of addressing all wrongs. If the conditions proved to be so bad and you are an asthma patient, I'm certain that you would have no difficulty securing a letter from your doctor stating that you cannot reside in an environment that exposes you to mold. You could then request that the school relocate you or refund your room and board allowance so that you can find housing off-campus.
Whatever you do, you need to do it quickly. I don't know what you know about litigation but if you decided to sue the case probably wouldn't go to trial until long after you graduated. Good luck.
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