Landlords sue Dye, College

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Five landlords have filed a $75,000 suit against College President Nancy Dye and Oberlin College.

In an open letter sent to the Oberlin community March 11, Dye listed the landlords as owners of unlicensed rooming houses. According to the letter, students will no longer be granted permission to live in an unlicensed rooming house.

The landlords, Van Kirkendall, Carol Graham, David Sonner, Betty Baxter and Glenn Gall, claim Dye's letter defamed them and improperly interfered with their contractual relationships.

Fire inspections of rooming houses were expanded last year to ensure compliance with the Ohio Basic Building Code. The landlords repeatedly refused fire inspections until last week, claiming the city of Oberlin was not empowered to enforce the provisions of the Ohio Basic Building Code.

Dye wrote, "Unfortunately, however, some Oberlin landlords refuse to recognize the authority of the city to inspect rental housing and to enforce local and state fire codes."

Kirkendall said he called Dye soon after the letter was released.

"We had a brief discussion," Kirkendall said. "She was friendly at first, but as we went through she became more abrupt. I told her her letter created problems. She said, 'I don't think so Sir, you should talk to my attorneys.' And she hung up. Yup, she hung up."

Dye said, "No, I didn't hang up on him. I was gracious in the face of his threats."

"There's no other remedy," Sonner said. "Dye refused to retract what she had said."

Dye said, "I don't think the suit has any merit. It's a nuisance suit.. They are spending an extraordinary amount of money on this suit that could be better spent on their houses."

Vice-President of College Relations Al Moran said, "The school isn't making any determination of what's safe. The school is doing whatever it can to ensure the safety of our students." College attorney Michael Franz said the College is now preparing a response to the suit.

"I believe the College has been extremely supportive of fire safety on behalf of the students," Fire Chief Dennis Kirin said. "I wish the College much success."

Dye's letter stirs anger
- March 13, 1998