This article was changed May 31, 2007.
The house at 15 Park Place exhibits all the signs of a pseudo-fraternity house: empty cases of beer, an old keg that's used as a stool, an inflatable pool, absent door handles and enough open space on the ground floor to play host to a four-table beer pong tournament.
The 15 residents contend that the house, which is next to the new Baker University Center, always shows the strain of a negligent landlord. Half of the second floor does not have power, a sewage line leaks, the ground-floor bathroom doesn't work and an electric fixture in the basement once caught on fire.
About half of the residents of the house belong to the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity, though that organization does not own the house.
Their landlord, John Wharton, has sent them three eviction notices this year in a ongoing legal battle. Wharton, who owns and manages more than 80 properties through University Off-Campus Housing, found the residents at fault for what he deemed failure to pay utility obligations
failure to pay lease payments and failure to maintain premises in clean and reasonable condition according to an eviction notice sent March 16.
Wharton did not return calls seeking comment.
Judge William Grim twice rescheduled the initial hearings on forcibly removing the tenants. Another hearing to evict the residents is slated for June 5, four days before the lease ends, said Ohio University senior and tenant Kevin Goergen.
That's pretty pathetic Goergen said.
The rent at the house costs $85,800 for the year, or about $5,700 per resident. The collective lease stipulates that residents pay the rent in four installments and pay for all utilities and city services directly or through Wharton's company.
Residents of the house, including senior Jay Greenberg, said Wharton took rent money and applied some of it to a contested heating bill in September 2006.
(Wharton) charged us
but we didn't have heat until December
said resident Cory Cottingim, an OU sophomore.
Pat McGee, the managing attorney for The Center for Student Legal Services, filed a motion last fall on behalf of the residents, asking that Wharton turn the students' heat on. The heat had been turned off June 13, 2006, for repairs, according to court documents.
The students said Wharton told them that he spent about half of a late payment to fulfill the heating contract, which meant the residents had breached their contract by not paying the rent in full.
We're trying to be civil
Greenberg said.
Meanwhile, the house continues to deteriorate, Cottingim said. Workers sent by Wharton to fix the top-floor balcony and other problems sealed off three fire escapes, which the Athens Fire Department ripped open when an electric fixture in the basement caught fire.
Residents said the majority of damages existed before they moved in, though the eviction notice lists the condition of the property as a violation of the lease.
It's just been this on-going thing
Greenberg said. He and other residents tried to meet with their landlord, Greenberg said, but Wharton told them to leave. Wharton, his company, the Park Place residents and other former tenants of Wharton-managed properties are in separate litigation concerning the legality of arbitrary deadlines for rent payments.
He's using us to set a point ' 'don't push or I'll push harder
' Greenberg said.
Junior Michael Weisman, who will move into 15 Park Place this year, said he and the other prospective tenants met with the present residents to discuss the difficulties.
We know what to look out for
he said. I'm not too concerned.
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