Many applied but only one house claimed the title of “Worst House in Madison” Wednesday.
The Associated Students of Madison’s Tenants’ Rights Campaign announced 414 W. Johnson St. the “winner” of the worst house competition Wednesday. The residents of this house have been accompanied by bats and mice throughout the year and have suffered through lack of heat, shaky floorboards and holes in the walls.
According to Phil Ejercity, co-coordinator of the ASM Tenants’ Rights Campaign, the campaign was designed to raise awareness for UW students about the issues surrounding responsible tenancy and the responsibilities of landlords.
“The City Hall does take the worst house in Madison contest “winner” very seriously, and, in fact, I have already reported the house to our building inspectors,” said Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4. “The building inspectors have pledged to go through 414 W. Johnson with a total inspection as early as Thursday or Friday.”
In addition to the holes and shaky floor boards, this three-story house was packed with space heaters during the winter, compliments of JSM Properties; however, according to ASM Tenants’ Rights co-coordinator Andrew Finn, the tenants were told to minimize their usage of the heaters because they were a fire hazard.
“The thing that really stuck out with the house was the heating,” Finn said, while commenting on the number of homes he toured before deciding on 414. “Over the winter, the tenants didn’t have heat on the second and third floors.”
Finn also noted problems in the way the house was marketed by JSM. Six bedrooms, two kitchens, two full baths, three stories, a basement and porches were just a few of the advertised perks, but according to Finn the porch is condemned and therefore inaccessible and the basement is infested with mice and bats.
“There are dead mice decaying that JSM didn’t feel the need to clean up,” Finn said.
Residents of 414 also noted the way the house was marketed and the distinct differences in how the house actually is.
“Our landlord’s website gave us many things to be excited about before we moved in: an upstairs porch! A basement! A dishwasher!” tenant Bill Brower said. “A quick glance around on moving day proved all these to be quite untrue.”
Brower also commented on the rodent-infested basement.
“The basement is straight out of ‘Amityville Horror’ … complete with dead mice from over the decades, inches of dust and a hole in the wall which may or may not be a gateway to hell,” he said.
However, residents declared the most serious problem to be the winter heating issues, explaining that residents on the top floors occasionally sleep had to in winter coats.
“Every year, I’ve had this dubious distinction of having the ‘winner’ being in my City Council district,” Verveer said. “I do want to give props to the guys who live at 414 for having the guts to enter the contest and speak to the unacceptable conditions that they’ve had to put up with this year.”
The “winners” were awarded prizes from a number of local businesses and remain as residents of the “Worst House in Madison,” although Verveer said that the necessary repairs will be made shortly.
