Those still scrambling for a place to live next year may want to stay away from Associated Students of Madison's winner of the \Worst House in Madison"" at 116 N. Broom St.
The ""Worst House in Madison"" contest, according to ASM representatives, was not held for two years because of legal action on the part of the ""winning"" tenants' landlord.
""It is illegal for the landlord to retaliate against the tenant if [the tenant] feels like they are living in a bad situation,"" ASM Legislative Affairs Committee intern Loreen Targos said.
After its two-year hiatus, Targos said she wanted to continue on ASM's search for the worst house in order to increase tenants' awareness of their rights.
""We want tenants to know that they can withhold half of their month's rent if landlords aren't making changes that they need to,"" Chair of ASM Legislative Affairs Committee Kelly Egan said.
According to UW-Madison sophomore Derek Thiel, there were too many problems to fit on a form given to them by their landlord, Madison Properties Management.
""First of all [the house] is totally slanted, the heating doesn't work and it's not safe,"" UW-Madison sophomore Willie Mullen said. ""The floors are ready to give, the doorways are ridiculously low and we hit our heads all the time. When it started getting warm out, the nails came back up through the stairs and we stepped on them.""
Targos said the most common complaint among those applying for the title of ""Worst House in Madison,"" including the tenants of 116 N. Broom St., was that of poor heating and insulation.
""We got one heating bill for the second half of February and all of March that was $500, and the thing is, it was only 60 degrees in the house,"" Thiel said.
Adding to the residents' complaints, a list of problems found in a building inspection was also reported to the landlord.
""On May 26 of last year, there were numerous building-code violations that were to be corrected by September 5,"" said Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4. ""The landlords should be fined potentially thousands of dollars.""
Mullen said he and his roommates are waiting for action by Madison Property Management. In the meantime, he said, they may put up a banner on the house and are considering making T-shirts proclaiming themselves the tenants of the worst house in Madison.
