If I'm not mistaken I believe that its possible to join tournaments with a certain range of ratings regardless of your own rating. This means that, for example, a 1800 rated played could potentially join a 1200-1400 rated tournament and win every single game. Obviously that player's rating won't increase by that much but I think it lowers the chances of the players that are playing within the range.

Of course there may be a 1450 rated player joining the same tournament but ratings tend to fluctuate...

Is there a way to ensure that no players with a rating higher than a certain amount over the range could join? If not I think this should be an option for those that host tournaments.

Btw I'm speaking about chess.com tournaments of course...

Let me know what you think...

You are mistaken. The revised description for the 1201-1400 tournament states the policy that has always been in effect.  It appears that erik has not added this to the other tournament descriptions.

http://www.chess.com/tournament/2nd-chesscom-tournament-1201-1400

"Players who's ratings move beyond the rating range of this tournament will be automatically moved to the correct tournament section when the event begins."

For a member-created tournament others have stated they were automatically removed.