Here's how the application and leasing processes for Harvard University Housing work:

• Confirm your eligibility to live in Harvard University Housing.
• Apply online at any time; applications are accepted year-round*. (Submit one application per leasing season only--March 1 through February 28 of the following year; if your name is found on more than one application, your additional application(s) will be cancelled.) *NOTE: Incoming students starting classes in the fall are eligible to submit a housing application on or after March 1.
• Within three business days of submitting your application you will receive a notification email informing you of your application status.
• Upon approval of your application you may, at any time, select a unit from those in the Self-Service Currently Available inventory. This year, units with start dates of April through early June will be posted on the Currently Available list beginning on April 8. Also, any units remaining unrented at the end of the View and Select window process will be posted on this list.
• All valid applications submitted during the main application season (March 1 through May 1 EDT, when our inventory is at its peak) will be randomly assigned to specific View and Select windows around May 3. Units offered through this process will have lease or housing contract start dates of early to mid June or later. You still have the option of selecting a unit from the Currently Available inventory at any time.
• During the View and Select period, an inventory report will be posted on the Self Service page Monday through Friday, informing applicants of the inventory status in the View and Select windows as well as on the Currently Available list. This report may help you decide whether or not to choose a Currently Available unit or to wait until your specific View and Select windows open.
• Important information regarding your application is sent to you via email, so be sure that the email address in your application is one that you check regularly.

Additional Information

• Receiving and Returning a Lease or Housing Contract
• Next Steps
• Subsequent Payment of Rent or Housing Charges
• View Tenant and Building Policies and Procedures
• View a Sample Harvard University Housing Lease or Cronkhite Graduate Center Housing Contract.
• FAQs
• Time Zone Help

Note: Please be aware that an approved application is not a guarantee of housing.

Here's what you do to select a unit from the Currently Available inventory:

• Once your application has been approved you can login to access the Self Service page.
• From the Self Service page, you can access the Currently Available list to view specific details about units that are ready to be selected; some with immediate lease/housing contract start dates and some with future lease/housing contract start dates.
• Be sure to view any Riders and the floor plan associated with the unit.
• If you find a unit you want, click the Select button and follow the on-screen instructions to complete your request.

• Applications submitted between March 1 and May 1 EDT, will be randomly assigned a two-day View and Select Window period and notified of those dates via email on or shortly after May 3.
• View and select windows begin in early May and generally run through late May or early June. Our greatest inventory is available during this time period.
• Approximately 400 applicants will be assigned to each Window period. The total number of Window periods will be determined based on the total number of valid applications received by May 1.
• Your View Window is the time to see what is still available and prepare your wish list. We recommend you identify several units (HUH apartments or Cronkhite Graduate Center residence hall rooms) where you would be willing to live. Be sure to read all Riders and view the floor plan associated with each unit you are considering.
• Your Select Window is when you make your selection.
• Units offered in the View and Select windows will have lease/housing contract start dates in early to mid June or later. (Cronkhite Graduate Center residence hall room contracts typically start in mid August.)
• Cronkhite rooms initially will be available in the View and Select windows to full-time Harvard GSAS, GSD, GSE, HDS, and HKS graduate degree candidates. After the View and Select window period, remaining vacant rooms will be offered on the Currently Available list to full-time degree candidates at all Harvard graduate schools (except Harvard Extension School).
• During the View and Select period, an inventory report will be posted on the Self Service page Monday through Friday, informing applicants of the inventory status in the View and Select windows as well as on the Currently Available list.
• If you do not make a selection during your assigned Select Window, you can still select a unit from our Currently Available inventory.
• Regardless of submission date, all approved applicants can, at any time, select an apartment or room from our Currently Available inventory.

Here's what you do to select an apartment during your Select Window:

Please read the following information carefully to ensure all deadlines are met.

• Once you've selected a unit, a leasing coordinator will review your selection. As soon as your selection is approved, a confirmation email and a PDF of your lease or housing contract, instructions, and other pertinent documents will be sent to you within two business days.
• Our fixed-term leases start on the date an apartment is available for occupancy and typically terminate on June 30. (This year, leases for 20-20A Prescott Street and 22-24 Prescott Street will terminate on January 31, 2014). Leases signed between July 1 and February 28 will expire on June 30 of the current academic year; leases signed between March 1 and June 30 will expire on June 30 of the following academic year.
• Cronkhite Graduate Center housing contracts typically start in mid August and terminate on May 31 of the following year.
• You will need to print out, read, initial, sign, and return the required documents to the Harvard University Housing Office along with your initial payment made by check, money order, wire transfer, or credit card. Be sure to reference your full name as it appears on your lease/housing contract and your new HU Housing address in your payment.
• If your lease/contract begins before the 15th of the month, the initial amount due is prorated for that month. If the lease/contract begins on or after the 15th of the month, the initial amount due includes the prorated first month and the entire next month.
• Our office must receive the signed documents and initial payment within three to five business days of the email being sent to you in order for you to secure the unit. The exact time frame will be clearly specified in the lease/contract documents and is determined by your location listed on your application and the unit availability/start date. You may return your signed documents by email (scan), fax, or by mail. If you return them by mail, we strongly recommend that you use an overnight mail service (i.e., FEDEX, DHL, or similar service) to ensure that the documents arrive on time.
• If the documents do not arrive on time, the unit will be made available for rental by another applicant.

Once you have returned your signed lease/contract documents and initial payment to Harvard University Housing:

• You will receive a confirmation email after we have processed and countersigned your lease/contract documents.
• We will forward your documents to the Property Management Office for your building, where they will be held for your arrival.
• In the meantime, prepare for your move and residency by familiarizing yourself with the "I Live in Harvard University Housing" section of our website. (You will be prompted to login.) This area of our website will be a resource to you throughout the time you live with us.
• Be sure to view "Move-in: Key Pickup Instructions; Shipments" for information on obtaining keys, making arrangements for parking your moving van or truck, and restrictions regarding shipments.
• View Helpful Resources.

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Students

• Monthly rent or housing contract payments due for full-time registered degree candidates are charged to and paid through the University's student billing system.
• Monthly rent or housing contract payments due prior to the commencement of student billing, or after generation of the final or graduation bill, are to be paid directly to Harvard University Housing by check, money order, wire transfer, or by credit card (accepted in person only at the Harvard Campus Service Center).
• When your student bill is active, rent or housing charges are transferred monthly to Student Receivables and billed via the University’s electronic billing system. Please visit the HU Student Receivables website for information about accepted forms of payment. Be sure to frequently check your student bill to ensure your rent or housing payments are not in arrears.
• Please note that students with unpaid charges on their accounts at the end of a semester may not be allowed to renew their lease or return to Cronkhite Graduate Center for another year. Candidates for degrees must have discharged all indebtedness to Harvard University (including any rent or housing payment due under the lease or housing contract) in order to be eligible to receive their diploma at Commencement.

Faculty/Employees (Harvard Paid)

• Monthly rent for those on the Harvard payroll is charged to and paid via payroll deduction, which can take up to two months to go into effect. Once deductions start, they are applied to the following month's rent.
• Rent due prior to the start of deductions, rent due in excess of the deductible amount, or rent due after payroll deduction stops (for example, if your Harvard-paid faculty/employee status changes), must be paid directly to Harvard University Housing by check, money order, wire transfer, or by credit card (accepted in person only at the Harvard Campus Service Center). Once deductions start, they are applied to the following month’s rent.

• Monthly rent for non-Harvard-paid visiting faculty, visiting scholars, visiting fellows, non-benefits-eligible postdoctoral fellows, Harvard teaching hospital employees with a valid Harvard I.D. number, or those in similar affiliation categories, is paid to Harvard University Housing by check, money order, wire transfer, or by credit card (accepted in person only at the Harvard Campus Service Center) on or before the first day of each and every month.

Roommates

Rent or housing contract charges are divided evenly among co-residents, but the “joint and several liability” clause makes every resident (lease or housing contract signer) responsible for the entire amount due and for the full cost of any damages to the unit. There is no paying “just your part.” This is the case regardless of the means roommates use to divide the rent/housing payment and expenses among themselves. If one roommate leaves the group, does not pay his/her share of the rent/housing payment, or causes damage to the unit, then each of the other co-residents, individually as well as collectively, is responsible to HUH for payment of that person’s share and the cost of repairs. If all rent/housing payments and other charges are not paid, all residents may be subject to legal action, including eviction. This may have, in addition, significant effects on your credit rating. Under the “joint and severally liability” clause, if legal disputes arise or back rent/housing payments are owed, HUH can pursue all (or any of) the signers of the lease/housing contract, at its discretion. If you pay the Landlord or Owner for charges due because of your co-resident’s actions, it solely up to you to collect from the non-paying co-resident.

Click here to download detailed information on how rent or housing contract charges are applied, instructions for making subsequent payments, and the HU Housing Charges and Student Term Bill Calendar.

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Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) begins on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November each year. The clocks move one hour ahead in March and one hour back (to Eastern Standard Time, EST) in November. Click here for time zone help.

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