RA trouble

SirCretop

I need some advice. I live in a campus apartment in ucd -i wont say which one. Recently a group of 11 people including 3 of us resident there were sitting around having a few drinks before we went out to Bondi. We werent making much noise - none of the apartments beside us or above us knew that anything was going on. Our apartment is above an RA office and one of them said they came up because they heard movement upstairs. Two RAs burst in the door and made us get everyone out because the "party" was over. It was ten past ten at the time. When everyone had left we brought back four people again so there was only 7 in the house. We basically were making no noise at this stage. They came back again and made us get them out again. We now have a hearing with the head of accomodation - Can anyone help us out? We felt we have been very hard done by. especially because there was only 11 of us and it was only 10 past 10 when they turfed everyone out. Can anyone tell us any rights we have and any defence we can make?
Thanks
John

SirCretop

I need some advice. I live in a campus apartment in ucd -i wont say which one. Recently a group of 11 people including 3 of us resident there were sitting around having a few drinks before we went out to Bondi. We werent making much noise - none of the apartments beside us or above us knew that anything was going on. Our apartment is above an RA office and one of them said they came up because they heard movement upstairs. Two RAs burst in the door and made us get everyone out because the "party" was over. It was ten past ten at the time. When everyone had left we brought back four people again so there was only 7 in the house. We basically were making no noise at this stage. They came back again and made us get them out again. We now have a hearing with the head of accomodation - Can anyone help us out? We felt we have been very hard done by. especially because there was only 11 of us and it was only 10 past 10 when they turfed everyone out. Can anyone tell us any rights we have and any defence we can make?
Thanks
John

tintinr35

read your licence to reside, take your slap on the wrist and dont do it again, you would think that you would have been aware of keeping the noise down when u had that many people over. the reason they go so nuts about stuff like that is because thier insurance would not cover that many extra people and its also a fire hazard!
ah first years!! you will learn!

Blush_01

I'm not entirely sure, but isn't it 11pm that you have to have guests out by? God, I should read my lease!

panda100

Tis unfortunate where your apartment is based. Tis also unfortunate with the RA's you have. They can either be really sound or total twats.
It does say in your licence to reside that visitors arent allowed over so the Ra's have every right to break up your little 'party'.
The trick is is to use someones flat that is far away from the Ra's office or get really friendly with the ra's. While you may think you are being quiet,the walls really are paper thin on campus so you're probably being a lot louder then you realise.

Stabshauptmann

Pop down to the union corridor and have a chat with Mike Pat the accomadations and employment officer.

AFAIK, no guests between 10pm and 8am

pigeonbutler

I must say I'm shocked at that. I know quite a few RA's and can't imagine any of them carrying on like that. You sure there's not more to it? Had you any previous history with those RAs?

ferdi

some people just cant handle power
just put a big heavy wardrobe infront of the door and party hearty

generalmiaow

^ ^ basically what Panda said. They are not only allowed to annoy you like this but it's their job. Also remember it's coming up to exam time and people do actually study/sleep sometimes. But if you're discreet and quiet you shouldn't have any problems holding parties. Whatever you do don't argue with the RAs, it's not going to help I've seen the guards get involved over what started as a small thing. As regards your hearing, just be apologetic, make lots of promises, and make sure you stick to them at least for a while because they'll be watching you. You do have rights, but in this case you have already forfeited some of them, so don't play the victim for the hearing. Oh and from past experience, you should all dress reasonably well (no pyjamas) and wash for this because what type of resident you are perceived as will make a difference.

Vainglory

Gawd, I would HATE to live on Res.

I realise that doesn't help much.

Go down to the SU and give 'em some work to do.

Stepherunie

10.10 does sound a bit harsh - if i remember correctly the licence says noone in the flats past 11.30 for insurance reasons.

I wish our RAs would be a bit more fortright.... damn people have had friends over making far too much noise until 3am, to the point where I was tempted to call the RAs on my own flat!

Red Alert

I know an ex-RA and i'd say the person involved had more parties than any of the non-RA residents.

singingstranger

Can we get a thread merge for this thread and the 'Urgent Please Help' btw?

dirtydress

I lived on res in first year and yeah they can be tough but that does seem a bit excessive. I'm sure your hearing will go fine though I dont think they like to kick people out for arbitrary reasons in general.

passive

HUH? http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055016795

pretty*monster

Stepherunie wrote:

.
I was tempted to call the RAs on my own flat!

I think somebody actual did that when I was a party in Glenomena in 1st year.

cast_iron

pretty*monster wrote:

I think somebody actual did that when I was a party in Glenomena in 1st year.

Saucy:D

Stepherunie

Further Investigation has informed me that the person who was the cause of said party in my gaff is an unwelcome friend of one of my housemates and she too has agreed if he tries it again the RAs will be called. Wootage of high proportions there methinks.

more ot: most RAs are reasonable enough - I know they are in Roebuck Hall anyways - though I have heard reports that merville is a lot stricter this year.

mloc

Only two of the RAs in merville are "rollover" RAs, that is, the rest are first time RAs and unexperienced. In fact, of those two rollover RAs, one only started last week.

And I've heard some of the newbie RAs are taking stuff far too seriously this year.

Blush_01

I think I know the other newbie RA and he's by no means over the top. He's the kind of guy who can appreciate a bit of fun and is pretty laid back, but won't take any sh*t if things are (or are heading towards) dangerous. Sounds like the perfect kind of RA to me.

SirCretop

we see you!!!! 10 is the best!

Scraggs

By any chance did you have your meeting today at noon?

SirCretop

yeah we did.

Mr.Nice Guy

When I saw the title of this thread I figured it was to do with Irish Republicans making their presence felt on campus. Thanks for getting my hopes up.

MichaelJos17

first of all - you should not accept any punishment whatsoever - or if you do make sure they get the punishment they deserve aswell. From what I hear they try to scare you with a formal hearing where you can bring your solicitor - two friends of mine got a reprimand during the first week and it completely ruined their year in college. RA's are losing the point of why they are there.

They ARE NOT ALLOWED IN YOUR APARTMENT UNIVITE - NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES OTHER THAN AN ABSOLUTE EMERGENCY -and there is no way anything like this could be quoted as an emergency- i quote from the residences website

Privacy

We shall not enter your apartment unless requested to do so or where there is dire need to do so in cases of fire or flood etc...

If we attend in your absence we shall leave a note confirming our attendance and what work has been undertaken.

We will not enter a bedroom when an occupant is present unless escorted by a third party.Back to Top


If you didn't invite them in then anything after that is irrelevant. If you have a bit of money or know someone in the legal profession please take this further. Give those idiots there own "slap on the wrist" to quote the sap who wrote the first reply. If you are the RA who came in uninvited shame on you - its seems that there are rules for the residents and the RAs can invent their own rules

mloc

MichaelJos17 wrote:

They ARE NOT ALLOWED IN YOUR APARTMENT UNIVITE - NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES OTHER THAN AN ABSOLUTE EMERGENCY

Unfortunately, what is on the website is not actually part of any contract signed by residents. Legally, they have a right to come in whenever they want. In practice, this is generally whenever they think there's too much noise etc.

As a campus resident, your rights are severely limited.

MichaelJos17

surely its a sad state of affairs when basic rights such as this are non existant. RA's have too much power and it has really gone to their heads by the sounds of things.

I mean, I don't know those guys - and I'm sure that they aren't angels themselves, but I lived on campus last year and I know that it does say on the license that there are no parties- but then it doesn't say what they are - they can make up their own definition to suit the circumstances

Stepherunie

In all fairness to most RAs they're fair enough - if you're not making noise they generally don't mind.

All the RAs i've dealt with have been perfectly reasonable and I've never taken issue with any of their actions - and they also do knock when they're entering to break up parties.

nando

I had a problem with the RAs walking into my appartment without knocking several times last year. Nothing to do with noise - often there was only one or maybe two of the appartment residents there at the time watching tv or eating dinner. They came in several times with post without knocking which gave me a fright, and one morning I came out of my bedroom door at 7.30am to find an RA standing in my hallway which really freaked me out considering I had no clue who he was! Apparently he needed to check something to do with the water heater... Surely these kind of instances are ridiculous!

Blush_01

Well I have no problem with RAs opening the apartment door to deliver post (I'd rather they dropped it in the door than left it in the hall!), and every time something has had to be checked in the apartment - like when the trip switch had to be changed because it was faulty - they rang the doorbell so far this year.

RAs, for the most part, are pretty ok. They're students themselves, remember? And they are employed to do the job they're doing.

mloc

Have to agree with most posters, whilst I'm biased because I know a lot of RAs and some of my best friends are both current and past RAs, they generally are pretty easy going. Most of the ones I know don't want to make work for themselves unneccessarily and if people are having a good time without causing huge amounts of noise they'd rather stay sitting down than going to break things up.

Again, they are students too, and whilst they are receiving free accomodation, they are not receiving cash in any form and sometimes certain duties like tending to late night fire alarms on a saturday night when they have to get up to study the next day can really become a burden. They also work weekends and holidays (including christmas day and new years eve) which is a pain in the ass. So generally, with a few exeptions, they're just gonna want to do the least amount of work neccessary to keep thier bosses happy whilst remaining fair and trying to keep a good relationship with the other residents.

nando

I have nothing personally against the RAs at all and have found the vast majority to be really nice friendly people. But I still have a problem with them coming into the appartment without at least ringing the bell first, even if it is to deliver the post. I'll admit I'm of a nervous disposition and I have to say it scared me several times last year.

dirtydress

When i was there in first year they delivered the post by pushing it under the door, if it was bigger than a letter you were given a slip to collect it in the reception. There should be NO instances where an RA (or anyone else for that matter), enters YOUR house without permission. If they'd done that when I lived there I would have caused SUCH a fuss, thats just ridiculous! When you rent accommodation it's part of your basic rights that the landlord has to given written warning before they come to your house and even then they cant just come you need to be present unless you've given permission for them to be there. Why shouldnt these basic rights not apply with campus accommodation??

Blush_01

To be honest. there's not much that would fit under the door in our apartment. I'm happier about that than I would be if anything could be shoved under it. I personally have no problem with someone dropping off my mail if that's part of their job and I know it's going to happen - which I did when I signed my lease. I hate having to go down to that stupid office to collect post. I'd rather they came into my bedroom and bounced up and down on the bed than have me go down there more than is absolutely necessary. If it's that much of a problem, every door has a lock on it anyway, keep your room locked. After that, meh.

MichaelJos17

nice to know they can make promises on their website which they have no intention of keeping. very good of them. take it out of the contract but make it very clear on the website. that can't be right

Sangre

If you don't have exclusive possession its not really a lease.

nando

Blush_01 wrote:

To be honest. there's not much that would fit under the door in our apartment. I'm happier about that than I would be if anything could be shoved under it. I personally have no problem with someone dropping off my mail if that's part of their job and I know it's going to happen - which I did when I signed my lease. I hate having to go down to that stupid office to collect post. I'd rather they came into my bedroom and bounced up and down on the bed than have me go down there more than is absolutely necessary. If it's that much of a problem, every door has a lock on it anyway, keep your room locked. After that, meh.

Fair enough but I still don't think it's unreasonable to expect them to ring the bell first so you can at least be given the opportunity to open the door for them - if nobody answers then then that's a different story. My problem is not really with them dropping in post when I'm not there but them coming in to do it when I am without warning. And in Glenomena the lock on your bedroom door doesn't matter since RAs have the master key card and can open it anway.

ctnrocks333

hey look first years, its time for ye to start realisin that the RAs are in charge around on campus and if ye don't like it thats just tough luck. i know a lot of people are jealous of us because we get free accomodation but get over it. We have every right to go into a persons apartment if we want to. Its may not be in the contract but if you want to challenge it why don't you come down to the office and we'll have a chat and see and theres only going to be one winner. first years take your slap

mloc

ctnrocks333 wrote:

hey look first years, its time for ye to start realisin that the RAs are in charge around on campus and if ye don't like it thats just tough luck. i know a lot of people are jealous of us because we get free accomodation but get over it. We have every right to go into a persons apartment if we want to. Its may not be in the contract but if you want to challenge it why don't you come down to the office and we'll have a chat and see and theres only going to be one winner. first years take your slap

troll!

Stepherunie

Ok stating 'we have every right to go into a persons apt if we want to' sounds a bit overly aggressive.

Not everyone posting here is a first year either.

'i know a lot of people are jealous of us because we get free accommodation but get over it.'

Okay I don't think anyone here sounded snide about the fact you get free accommodation - anyone who lives/ has lived on res knows you work hard to get free accommodation. Actually in general I've never heard anyone complain/ sound jealous of your free accommodation.

Personally I've never had any problem with RAs coming into the general living area of the apartments - okay i've gotten a few shocks when i've gone to answer the door and they've walked in but I think I scared them as much as they scared me! We did have an issue last week with builders going into our bedrooms without notice and with no one with them - definitely not meant to happen but in general I find the RAs to be nice friendly people who are easy enough to get one with.

MichaelJos17

the discussion in this thread has highlighted the loopholes that would exist if you were brought to court for having a so-called party. i mean, what we sign (our copy of the license to reside) does not state what a "party" exactly is, so like i reckon in court you would win that argument. Ok, it does say about excessive noise levels but that's between certain times so apart from those times stated you can, technically anyways, make more noise than during those times. Basically what I'm trying to say is that the "party" you guys were having just after 10pm was not really in breach of any rules at all - nothing that you should be reprimanded for anyhow.
It does then seem that the RAs do actually twist and make up their own rules to suit themselves where appropriate.
Whatever you sign applies to you. Not the "additional handbook" they have that nobodies ever seen before.
On another point again, nobody can enter your apartment without the permission of the tenant - That's one of the main laws relating to renting in Ireland I believe. Personally, even though I don;t live on campus, I'd find it extremely weird if randomers could just walk in to your place unknown to you.

ctnrocks333

look. the ra's are in the right and you are in the wrong. you did sign the contract that said you are not allowed to have a party without the express permission of ucd. ok, even though what you did sign doesn't state exaactly what a party is everyone knows what a party is. i was an ra last year and if this thread was here last year i would have purposely cracked down on any disturbances what so ever or anything light at all just to annoy people since people like you are trying to find ways out of punishment. again, take your slap on the wrist would ya.

Stepherunie

Hmm that sounds a bit harsh to me; someone voices an opinion you don't agree with so you take the view that had it been said when you were in power you would have punished people, who more than likely had nothing to do with it, for the views of one person who for all you know didn't (well he doesn't but besides the point) live in the residence you were RA for.

mloc

ctnrocks333 wrote:

i was an ra last year

just out of interest, which res were you an RA in last year? are you an RA this year?

bobbi

on a kinda unrelated matter anyone see that new merville RA hes tall, dark and handsome yummy!:D

Sangre

Don't feed the troll.

mloc

bobbi wrote:

on a kinda unrelated matter anyone see that new merville RA hes tall, dark and handsome yummy!:D

that would be damir, one of my best friends. he'll be chuffed to hear that!

melekalikimaka

bobbi wrote:

on a kinda unrelated matter anyone see that new merville RA hes tall, dark and handsome yummy!:D

i'm sure he'd be more than happy to help 'settle in' he's 'lovely' like that

ctnrocks333

there's no chance of me telling you what res i was on last year. it's besides the point anyway. all RA's do are implement the rules. and if people start becoming out of control, etc, we have full power to do what we deem is necessary to put a stop to that situation. And if someone, like the starter of this thread, wants to take action against us, feel free as we'll have more power than you'll ever have

Blush_01

I'm almost certain I know who you are. It's adorable, the way you're deliberately being antagonistic, rather than rationally explaining what you guys have to do. Really, well done, we all applaud you for it. You're giving the decent RA's a bad name.

griffdaddy

ctnrocks333 wrote:

there's no chance of me telling you what res i was on last year. it's besides the point anyway. all RA's do are implement the rules. and if people start becoming out of control, etc, we have full power to do what we deem is necessary to put a stop to that situation. And if someone, like the starter of this thread, wants to take action against us, feel free as we'll have more power than you'll ever have

yeah thats a great attitude to have mate. walk into a party with a load of people who are more than likely locked, mightn't know/care who's apartment it is, or even be in UCD, and start pushing your weight around and talking like McDowell on coke instead of being sensible, getting the person who owns the apartment and telling them to cop on the fúck. i'm obviously talking about big parties and not small joint gatherings or pre-beers.