Despite confrontations with their landlord and his lawyer over the weekend, residents of the RedHouse said they will likely continue living at 744 Comstock Ave. until their lease expires.

Roy Pinsky, the owner of the property, met with members of the house Friday, threatening eviction or prosecution for the alleged vandalism of the house’s porch and some parts of the interior that occurred after residents learned the house had been promised to the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity starting June 1.

‘There were some bad decisions made by particular housemates that sent things boiling over,’ said Carl Cowan, president of the RedHouse and a senior information management and technology major. ‘I agree with the general statement, but a few of the particulars could have been different.’

Pinsky and his lawyer arrived at the house Friday at about 4:30 p.m., Cowan said, and threatened the residents after observing the paint on the front of the house and on some appliances or interior areas.

‘He accused us of vandalizing the property and threatened to take the furthest legal action possible,’ Cowan said.

Pinsky also demanded the name of the person pictured in Thursday’s issue of The Daily Orange, Cowan said, adding that he refused to comply.

After the meeting, residents frantically painted over the exterior images and words in white paint and then in red, as well as removed paint on the interior, as a gesture to their landlord, RedHouse residents said.

‘I think we needed to make a statement, and it was a very RedHouse thing to do. I just want him to know we’re upset and think he made a mistake,’ said Tasha King, a junior magazine journalism and sociology major, and spokeswoman for the residents. ‘Really and honestly, we made our statement – I was happy to paint the front and take it off again.’

A lawyer who said he represented Pinsky visited the residents on Saturday, and residents said the repairs and painting they completed seemed to improve the situation.

‘Parts of the house look better than they did before,’ King said. ‘We all understand his concerns.’

Cory Crosland, president of TKE, said Pinsky was concerned by complaints from the community, and any possibility the residents would irrevocably damage the house.

‘I think that doing that is pissing him off more, so instead of being more lenient with finals and everything, he’s playing hardball because it’s his house, and they’re destroying it,’ Crosland said. ‘It’s obviously illegal to have signs and words like that on the front of the house. So if there was tension between them and their landlord before, they pretty much just made it worse by doing that.’

Residents painted the word ‘$OLD’ across the doors onto the house’s porch, as well as ‘NO FUTURE’ and the images of skulls on the exterior walls. ‘FUCK ROY’ was written on one of the walls.

‘He was – at the very least – unhappy with our decisions,’ Cowan said, adding that he doubted Pinsky would take legal action against the residents. ‘It would involve seeking damages for the ‘damages,’ and using the proceedings as ground to throw people out. But it depends on how he feels, I guess.’

TKE’s plans to move in on June 1 have not changed, Crosland said, whether or not current residents are evicted.

‘Obviously I want them to stay in their house and finish the school year, and not worry about exams, finding a new place to live, cleaning up the house and being evicted,’ Crosland said. ‘That’s obviously a worst case scenario for them.’

Residents of the RedHouse are now looking for different housing for next year, or possibly trying to ‘reseed’ and begin a new – but different – tradition, Cowan said.

‘I would never want to make a RedHouse II,’ King said. ‘but it’d be nice to have some place to go. Now, I just want to enjoy being here for the final two weeks.’

Published on April 25, 2004 at 12:00 pm