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Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Ind. Decisions - "Weidas lose appeal; West Lafayette law called 'vague'"

Yesterday's Court of Appeals decision in the case of Jerry M. and Patti A. Weida v. City of West Lafayette (see ILB summary here - 3rd case) is the subject of a story today in the Lafayette Journal Courier, reported by Sophia Voravong. Some quotes:

Property owners and managers Jerry and Patti Weida did not do enough to monitor how many people were living in one of their rental homes, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.

The unanimous opinion, issued Tuesday, ruled in favor of the city of West Lafayette and its over-occupancy ordinance, which allows only up to three unrelated people to live together in areas zoned residential.

The decision also echoed the findings of Judge Thomas Busch of Tippecanoe Superior Court 2, who presided over a bench trial last year in which the Weidas were sued by the city. They were accused of allowing five women to live in a home at 112 Sylvia St. during Purdue University's 2005-06 academic year.

"The Weidas did not present any evidence from which we can infer that they satisfied their duty to personally monitor the occupancy of each dwelling unit." Judge Patricia Riley wrote in the 19-page ruling.

"Rather, the evidence suggests that the Weidas had been put on notice that more than three unrelated persons were occupying their rental property prior to the city filing its complaint. ... The Weidas never conducted any follow-up on the notice." * * *

The civil complaint against the Weidas, who own several rental properties in portions of West Lafayette largely populated by Purdue students, was one of three lawsuits over alleged code violations by landlords.

The city's legal fees mounted to tens of thousands of dollars fighting the court battles.

In its ruling, however, the appeals court also chided West Lafayette's ordinance for "being poorly written ... in places, highly ambiguous."

The purpose of West Lafayette's occupancy ordinance is to "protect neighborhoods and provide safe and decent housing," according to the city's Web site.

For much more, see this ILB entry from Oct. 4th.

[More] A reader writes to say:

The headline of the Journal Courier article about the Weida case says that the Court of Appeals called the West Lafayette ordinance (quote) "vague." The word "vague" does not appear in the opinion.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 3, 2008 08:44 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions