UW sorority hit with lawsuit, accused of violating eviction moratorium

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by KatieKate1244

If someone has some time on their hands, here's the complaint from the Washington AG:

https://beta.documentcloud.org/documents/20463481-ag_aoiicomplaint_12521

A good portion of the doc is made up of Exhibits - the Governor's Proclamations, proposed budgets and capacity for members to vote on for the 2020-2021 school year, an email to a member, etc. But Section IV (Factual Allegations), Part B (AOPi's Conduct), which starts at the bottom of page 4, describes what the organization is up against.

To sum it up: AOPi's housing agreement, while disclaiming intent to create a "landlord-tenant relationship", bears many hallmarks of a traditional tenant lease.

The AOPi house has a max capacity of 80 students. In September 2020, members voted in an online poll to close the chapter house for the 2020-2021 school year (over the other options of reducing capacity to 56 members, 30 members, or 20 members). The members determined this would be the cheapest option, but it still required thousands of dollars in fees to be paid.

Following the poll, AOPi asked members to sign a "Housing Agreement Addendum" which required them to pay $6,250 as an "Adjusted Across the Board Cost for 2020-2021" which was now recharacterized from a "Housing Fee" to a "Development Fee". The Addendum noted that if members did not sign the document by September 15, 2020, AOPi would bill their accounts - through BillHighay - on a monthly basis.

Members who have not made payments have been assessed late fees, and BillHighway invoices contain language that threaten any member who does not pay with membership probation, suspension, and referral to collections.

After receiving several complaints from members, the Attorney General of Washington sent AOPi a letter on November 2, 2020, requesting that it rescind all actions threatening to assess charges and reimburse all members for payments made for any duration that members' occupancy was prevented.

AOPi continued to charge members through BillHighway and threaten membership suspension and collection referrals.

The State brings this action to stop AOPi's ongoing violations, prevent them from recurring, and remedy the harm caused to date.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

A good portion of the doc is made up of Exhibits - the Governor's Proclamations,

And that might be where the organization's best defense lies. Many State Supreme Courts have been overturning these emergency COVID rules issued unilaterally by governors. I don't know about Washington's constitution or the history behind it, but here in Oklahoma, the governor's emergency order shutting down bars after 11 PM was overruled by the courts.

As a practical matter, I kind of support the courts in these overrulings. While emergency proclamations might be needed and even enforceable in truely emergent situations where the legislature could not reasonably act, fine. Emergency proclamations made to stand for months or years without the input of the legislative branch seem beyond the pale. Particularly in this situation when it appears the group was making its own reasonable emergency efforts with the consent of the membership.

Members don't have to like everything--and that may cause them to leave. That's the risk that the organization appeared to embrace and it should be allowed to chart its own course, subject to validly enacted rules and regulations of course.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by Kevin

And that might be where the organization's best defense lies. Many State Supreme Courts have been overturning these emergency COVID rules issued unilaterally by governors. I don't know about Washington's constitution or the history behind it, but here in Oklahoma, the governor's emergency order shutting down bars after 11 PM was overruled by the courts.

As a practical matter, I kind of support the courts in these overrulings. While emergency proclamations might be needed and even enforceable in truely emergent situations where the legislature could not reasonably act, fine. Emergency proclamations made to stand for months or years without the input of the legislative branch seem beyond the pale. Particularly in this situation when it appears the group was making its own reasonable emergency efforts with the consent of the membership.

Members don't have to like everything--and that may cause them to leave. That's the risk that the organization appeared to embrace and it should be allowed to chart its own course, subject to validly enacted rules and regulations of course.

Even outside of the Proclamations, would members not have some legitimate complaint against the organization since they were forced to pay a housing fee - for a house they couldn't live in - that they never signed on to?

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Even outside of the Proclamations, would members not have some legitimate complaint against the organization since they were forced to pay a housing fee - for a house they couldn't live in - that they never signed on to?

Members sign all kinds of contracts with all kinds of entities these days. From the thread, it appears they have a contract with some kind of A/R firm and maybe another contract (titled "this is definitely not a lease"[but it's kind of a lease]) with the Organization. I'm going to give a lawyer answer--I don't know, and could not possibly know without some kind of background in Washington law, and at least a copy of all of the agreements.

Many organizations charge a housing fee for non-residents. I don't know if this was that. If it was, it seems pretty steep, but the members and maybe their families signed.

And what this article is silent on is the financial pressures the organization itself is under. If the House Corp is made up of folks who have personal guarantees to the financial institution and a mortgage premised on full occupancy of the House, combined that with a sharp decline in membership and a disasterous recruitment, due to COVID, then we can start to see how and why these decisions are made.

Unfortunately, the governor's emergency declaration did not suspend commercial mortgages.