Frequently Asked Questions

Bear Creek offers tours every day, year round; if the office is open, you can ask for a tour!

The Bear Creek main office is open seven days a week! Our office hours are:

• Monday-Friday, 8:00am - 7:00pm
• Saturday, 10:00am - 7:00pm
• Sunday, 11:00am - 7:00pm

The office will remain open during school vacations (i.e., Spring Break, Winter Break), but will observe limited hours. The office is closed during all holidays observed by the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Our phone number is (303) 735-2275, and our fax number is (303) 735-2277.

To meet with a manager you need to set up an appointment. The easiest way to do this is to call the main office at 303-735-2275 or to stop by the front office and ask to set up an appointment. Generally, the managers are in the office from Monday-Friday 8am-4pm.

All utilities (electricity, water, sewage, heat), trash/recycling removal, satellite television, local phone service with voicemail and high-speed internet are included in your monthly rent payment!

Wireless internet is in the final stages of being installed at Bear Creek, and should be fully operational by September of 2009.

Each floor has a trash/recycling room located behind the front elevator. Please make sure that all your trash and recyclables are bagged before placing them in the containers. You do not have to sort your recycling; a list is posted in each trash/recycling room which says what recycling you can place into the containers. Trash is removed every morning and recycling is removed once a week.

Please do not place your trash anywhere else; leaving trash around overnight leaves unpleasant odors lingering in the air and will make your neighbors very upset!

Yes, there is at least one laundry room on every floor except the 6th floor. The laundry machines are the same as the ones used in the residence halls. The machines take quarters (which can be obtained from the change machine located in the Building A Business Center) or money from the Campus Cash account on your Buff OneCard. The loads are $1.00/wash and $1.00/dry.

If you have a significant amount of money still on your old WEB laundry card, please call the front office and we can give you a number to call to get a refund.

Yes. If you have a newspaper subscription, the delivery company will leave your newspaper in the building's front entrance every morning for you to pick up.

No pets are allowed at Bear Creek: the fine for having a pet is $250 and you will be required to remove the pet from the premises.

There is always somebody on-call at Bear Creek, no matter the time or day. When the office closes, at least one staff member will have a cell phone with them that you can call in case of an emergency. The duty phone Numbers are:

• Building A (apartment numbers that begin with "1"): (720) 254-7094
• Building B (apartment numbers that begin with "2"): (720) 254-7196

You can call the duty phone if you are locked out of your apartment, if you have a maintenance emergency (such as a water leak or if your heat isn't working), or to report a noise complaint.

If you are in a life-threatening emergency, do NOT call the duty phone; call 911!

After you call the duty phone, a staff member will follow up with you within 15 minutes (30 minutes on holidays and over vacations).

Do not call the duty phones to pick up a package, get a temporary parking permit, or anything else that can wait until the office reopens. For security purposes, staff members cannot release any personal information to callers such as phone or apartment numbers.

During regular office hours, the front office staff can check out temporary keys. You have unlimited office hours lockouts.

After hours, call the Duty Phones. The staff will be able to unlock your apartment door for you, no matter the hour. You receive 3 free after-hours lockouts each year; after that, you will be charged $10 per lockout.

Bear Creek strongly discourages removing the furniture from your apartment. If any furniture is damaged or missing at check-out, you will be held responsible for it.

No. Smoking is prohibited in all Boulder campus buildings. There are designated smoking areas with ashtrays located outside of each entrance to Bear Creek. There is a $300 (or greater) fine for smoking inside.

• If you lose your Buff OneCard...
  • The office can make you a temporary card to access both your apartment and Bear Creek. Due to security concerns, the card will only be valid for up to 5 days from the date of creation. The temporary card can be renewed once at the end of the 5 days. If you have not found your Buff OneCard at the end of the 10 days, you will need to purchase a new one from the Campus Card Office, located in Willard Hall. Replacement Buff OneCards are $20.
• If you lose your bedroom key or your mailbox key...
  • Office staff will be able to let you into your bedroom and/or mailbox for up to 24 hours past your initial report. If you have not found your keys after 24 hours, you will need to place an order for new keys. Replacement bedroom keys and replacement mailbox keys are both $45. During the time that your keys are being ordered, Bear Creek staff will be able to lock/unlock your bedroom/mailbox for you.

If you lose any of your keys (your bedroom key, your mailbox key, or your Buff OneCard), notify the front office immediately; a lost key is a security risk.

Bear Creek is staffed 24/7 with Community Support Staff members (also known as CSS'). A CSS member works in the front office, helps to plan events at Bear Creek, and can be on-call in case of an emergency. There is always a staff member within reach at Bear Creek, whether they are working in the office or carrying the after hours duty phone.

CSS' are NOT RA's! Since CSS' live and work at Bear Creek, they are often compared to RA's. Unlike RA's, CSS' will not conduct inspections of your apartment or similar behavior; instead, they are here to help in case something goes wrong, such as an emergency or a lockout.

If you need to contact the on-site staff after the office is closed, visit our Duty Phone page.

Yes, the Buff Bus has a bus stop located in front of the buildings (in the horse-shoe shaped loop). It picks up every four to 12 minutes on school days (depending on the time) and every 24 minutes at night and on the weekends. The Buff Bus drops off at the following locations before returning to Bear Creek:

• Williams Village
• Kittridge (upon request, drop-off only)
• Broadway and Euclid (UMC)
• Emig Music
• Muenzinger Psychology
• Mathematics
• 30th and Colorado (upon request, drop-off only)

For complete Buff Bus information, check out their webpage.

No, the residents are expected to maintain their apartment.

Check out our Mail page for information on how mail is handled at Bear Creek.

Bear Creek will sign for and store your packages. If you receive a package that is small enough to fit into your mailbox, we will put it there (Netflix envelopes will fit). Otherwise, we will log the package and store it.

Once we have received and logged all the packages for the day (usually around 3pm), we will send out email notifications. When you come down to the office, tell the office staff the date that you received your email, and be prepared to show a photo ID (your Buff OneCard works).

If you receive delivery confirmation from your delivery carrier (FedEx, UPS, etc) but have not yet received an email from Bear Creek, just be patient; we receive between 50 and 100 packages on a normal day (more during holidays and textbook times), and logging them all can take anywhere from an hour to five hours. Just be patient, and you will receive your email soon.

Your security deposit, minus any charges for damages or cleaning costs, will be returned to you within 30-60 days after you move out. It will either be mailed to your permanent address or deposited into an account you specify with the Bursar's Office; this account can be set up via CUConnect.

Your mail will be forwarded for 30 days after the date that you moved out; packages are not forwarded.

The first month's rent is due the day you move in, but this will be a prorated amount and you will be notified of the amount via email before move-in. This amount is NOT the same as the monthly rate that you will begin paying on the first of the next month. To expedite the move-in process, you can submit payment between the first of the move-in month and move-in day. See our Rent Options page for information on how to mail or fax a rent payment.

Yes; the lots at Bear Creek are patrolled twice a day, everyday, including weekends, holidays, and school vacations. If our parking attendants find a car without a permit, or a car parked in the wrong lot, it is given a warning sticker. After a car receives three warning stickers, it is towed on the fourth violation. Towing is handled by Marv's Quality Towing.

If you are having a guest over, they can park in the Bear Creek parking lots if they have a guest parking permit, which are given out at the main office during regular office hours. The parking permits are good for up to 48 hours and only in Lot 630 (the lot adjacent to the soccer fields). Do not call the duty phone to pick up a guest parking permit; plan ahead and come in during office hours!

Parking is the only amenity that is not included in your monthly rent total. You can add parking for a per-month fee, which is based on how close to the apartments the parking lot is.

• $50/mo. parking is located directly in front of the buildings
• $45/mo. parking is located behind the $50/mo. parking lot, adjacent to US Highway 36
• $40/mo. parking is located behind the buildings adjacent to the soccer fields, less than a five minute walk from the buildings.

Once parking is added to your contract, the total amount due per month is automatically added to your monthly rent total; in other words, you still only need to write one check. After parking is added to your contract, it CANNOT be taken off, except in extreme circumstances.

To add or remove parking, contact the front office.

Check out our Rent Options page for information and forms for paying rent.

Since all contracts at Bear Creek are individual, you are NOT liable if one of your roommates does not pay rent or does not pay it on time.

To be released from your contract, you must submit a request in writing to our leasing coordinator; this can be done in the office or via email. Once our leasing coordinator receives your request, the release process will start.

Please be aware that if you are breaking your contract for a non-approved reason, you may have to pay penalties. Approved reasons are generally academic in nature (studying abroad, graduation, etc), and require proof to be submitted. Penalties will change on a case-by-case basis; our leasing coordinator will be able to give you specific information.

Since all contracts at Bear Creek are individual, this does not affect you. You will NOT be responsible for finding another person to fill that space in your apartment. It is likely that the vacant room will be filled with another student. In this event, Bear Creek makes every effort to fill the space with a student who will match you and your current roommates based on your application preference sheet.

Yes, upon request. However, in such situations, all residents in the apartment must request a coed apartment and it must be filled. For example, in a four-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment, there must be four people who request each other. If there are only three, a fourth person who wants to live in a coed apartment must be found by the resident, not Bear Creek, or the three residents will not be put together.

Yes. You will be matched with roommates according to the preferences indicated in your application.

All applications are handled online, no matter if you are a returning resident or a new applicant. If you are a returning resident, you will receive priority as long as you apply before a certain date. If you apply after that date, your current room may be released to the new applicants.

The priority cut-off date varies from year to year, though it usually falls within the weeks immediately following the opening of applications. Signs will be posted around Bear Creek with the date on them.