The Committee on Houses and Undergraduate Life yesterday voted to fine students one-quarter of one semester's room rent--approximately $150--if they fail to inform the College of their intention to take a leave of absence before August 20, the date when the first term bill is due.

The penalty will also apply to students who decide after the August 20 deadline to withdraw from the College or live off-campus. CHUL voted 23 to 7 to pass the measure.

The rule is intended to reduce the level of crowding in the Houses by providing the College in the spring with information on the number of students who will return to school in the fall.

Dean Fox told the meeting yesterday that other ways to elicit this information have failed. He said "attaching a dollar sign is a last-resort solution."

Lee Bains '77, CHUL representative from Kirkland House, told the meeting yesterday that the fine is "excessive" and will "limit student freedom." Bains sought to reduce the fine to $20 by amending the proposal, but the amendment failed by a 23-4 vote.

Lloyd David '77, CHUL representative from Dunster House, told the meeting that the penalty should not apply to students who decide to withdraw after registering because they "come here in good faith."

Fox said that in most years fewer than ten students register and then decide to take a leave of absence, while several hundred students are expected to return but do not even register. He said the measure is intended primarily to affect this second group.

Originally proposed by a CHUL subcommittee that during the summer studied the crowding situation in the Houses, the penalty also came before CHUL with the unanimous recommendation of the Administrative Board.

After the vote Fox thanked CHUL for taking "an unpopular step, but one that in the long run will ease conditions in the Houses substantially."

The proposal passed by CHUL provides for waiver of the penalty upon the vote of the Administrative Board only if "unusual individual circumstances" warrant such action.