For those like the narrator, who work late into the night, the $250 penalty for a lost or malfunctioning card isn’t just a fee—it’s a barrier to safety, independence, and peace of mind. The struggle to come and go freely becomes a quiet ordeal, revealing a deeper story of resilience amid neglect and the yearning for dignity in a place meant to be home.
I live in a housing unit / dorm just outside of our college. It’s not affiliated and is run by a third party company. It’s a bit average, but it’s an nice place to live and is a bit cheaper than living on campus.
The problem is our room keys. We use cards with magnetic strips on the back, like you would find in a motel. Most of these cards are between 3 and 6 years old, and in terrible condition – when you move in, you get given cards from the last people in that room and if you’re lucky, you have minimal problems, but this is the minority more than the majority.
If you want a replacement card for any reason, you are charged $250. Lost, damaged or just not working – it’s $250. Most people just make sure they come and go during office hours so the RA can let them in if their card doesn’t work, or people just share within a room as they might have 1 working card between 4 people.
This doesn’t really work for me, because I work until 4am most nights, so if my card doesn’t work, I have to sleep in my car until someone can let me into the building at 8am.
Recently my card stopped working altogether – wouldn’t swipe in at all. The office staff told me it would be $250, despite the card being around since the beginning of time, which is clear because you can’t even read the name of the company that was once printed on it.
No exceptions. Now this sucks, because I – like most people here, don’t just have a spare $250 for a card.
So I did a bit of research. A card with a mag stripe doesn’t have a lot of security on it. So I purchased a $85 card reader/writer from Amazon and had it sent to me overnight. The next day, I borrowed a roommates card, and cloned it onto a new blank card (the machine came with 20) and it worked amazingly.
Problem solved. Of course, my roommates heard about this, so I cloned all their broken, worn cards onto new ones and we just threw the old ones into the office drop box.
This spread like wildfire, and when everyone started coming back after COVID restrictions, I was the go-to person for card replacements. I charged people $2 for the card ($1 to help me pay off the machine and $1 for the blank card) and then just threw the damaged cards in the office drop box as well.
The building administration caught on after I had done about 50 cards and asked to speak with me. They gave me a massive lecture on how I was depriving them of much needed income during a pandemic and that it was a security issue that I was cloning cards and said I need to stop what I was doing and they will be the only people who can provide cards.
I thought I was doing something good and helping out people who couldn’t afford the replacement, but the lecture the administrators gave me got me thinking that I may be the AH as they’re pretty good to us otherwise.
Conclusion
The original poster (OP) faced a significant financial burden and practical difficulty due to the housing company’s excessive $250 fee for replacing faulty, old key cards, which directly conflicted with their need to access their home after working late hours. In response, the OP chose to bypass this policy by using technology to clone replacement cards for themselves and others at a minimal cost, essentially creating an unauthorized, affordable service.
Was the OP justified in undermining the management’s high-cost policy to provide necessary relief to fellow residents facing an unreasonable fee, or did their actions constitute theft of service and a genuine security risk that warrants management’s intervention? The debate centers on whether equitable access outweighs strict adherence to a financially exploitative contractual term.
Here’s how people reacted:
You’re not an asshole you’re a hero, but you should be careful and stay on the down low. The last thing you want to do is get kicked out. Don’t be so blatant about it. Don’t throw the old cards in the drop box, that makes it so obvious. If the old cards don’t get returned they don’t know there is a problem. Don’t do lots of then at once. You’ve solved your immediate problem, so just lay low for a while.
That said … your card cloning operation is one HELL of a security risk. Are you requiring ID before dispensing your cards? Are you checking to make sure the person actually is living in the complex for the foreseeable future? Do you have the ability to disable one of these cards if somebody loses it? Do you have liability insurance to cover you if somebody uses one of your clone keys to break into someone’s dorm?
ESH.
What you did was absolutely brilliant, though bear in mind that they probably could cause trouble for you if you were to carry on – I’d imagine it technically breaches various terms you’ve agreed to. They’re assholes, but they’ve probably got the law on their side. So you’ll need to either stop or keep doing it very secretively.
If I were you I’d tell them you’re all in the pandemic together and if they want you to stop they can come to a compromise and stop gouging people and charge a fair price for replacement keycards- Taking in equipment usage, resources and admin time into account.
The policy sucks. If the key is damaged from normal wear and tear then it should be replaced. I had analog keys that had to be copied at the hardware store. The only time I had to pay was when I lost it. I can understand the $250 if someone LOSES a card. Because they SHOULD rekey that room and replace all the keys for that room.
You also just proved the cost of key replacement is a money grubbing scheme AND that the security in their building SUCKS.
Normally I would say doing this is wrong, but the complex is the one failing here. They should be keeping everything in working order and not depending on kids and charging them for shitty equipment and not granting reasonable access to their own homes. I would bet it’s not legal, so you found a good work around. Just remember to use your power for good as with great power comes great responsibility 😉
I’d take that up with student affairs, and if that didn’t work the local newspaper. College students have enough to pay for without BS like that.
I almost wonder if that’s something you could sue for.
They want to be the only distributors of something THEY want to be the only provider of, and charging a rediculous price for it.
I know it’s allowed for a lost key, but if the key they provide you is defective, it should be on them to replace it. I’m sure there are loopholes, but honestly you might consider asking over at r/legaladvice
If no then YTA only on the safety issue not on the rest of it.
Did they threaten legal action or eviction? If they didn’t then that should tell you something.