A Hamilton County magistrate Thursday appeared unimpressed with residents' contentions that a Legal Aid attorney acted without their permission when he agreed to a plan to close their Bond Hill apartment complex.

        “This courtroom is not the place for this,” Magistrate Richard Bernat told attorney Ken Lawson, who now represents a group of five Huntington Meadows residents protesting a settlement agreement closing the apartments.

        Residents have demanded an evidentiary hearing. “If you have problems with an attorney, take it to the appropriate authorities at the bar association,” said Magistrate Bernat, adding that he was not rendering a decision Thursday on the residents' request.

        It was unknown when the magistrate will rule, but residents are not optimistic he will decide in their favor. In addition, their time is also running out. As a condition of the settlement, they have until Monday to vacate the beleaguered complex.

        Maryland-based Habitat America, which took over the complex after the limited partnership that owned it declared bankruptcy, is shutting the property down because it says it doesn't collect enough rent to pay for upkeep or the removal of health hazards such as asbestos and mold.

        Tenants fought the closure, but opposing sides reached an agreement that was approved July 31. The agreement gave tenants until Sept. 3 to move or be evicted and provided a $500 stipend.

        On Aug. 9, five tenants who formed the Huntington Meadows Tenants' Association that fought the closing asked Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Crush to hold an evidentiary hearing to decide once and for all whether Huntington Meadows should be closed.

        The judge sent the case to Magistrate Bernat because he had approved the settlement agreement.

        They contended that Gary Pieples, the Legal Aid attorney who had originally represented them, went against their wishes when he agreed to a settlement order closing Huntington Meadows.

        Mr. Lawson accuses the attorney and the agency of fraud. He says his clients' signatures were transposed on to the settlement agreement from a blank piece of paper they signed when they initially began meeting with Legal Aid.

        Juanita Mitchell, one of the five tenants, said they signed the blank piece of paper to create a list of members of the Tenants' Association. Legal Aid has denied any wrongdoing and says the tenants gave them permission to enter into the July agreement.

        Asked if there could have been some kind of misunderstanding, Mrs. Mitchell said she and the other tenants made it clear they were not interested in settling the case. They wanted a full hearing.

        Following Thursday's proceedings she said she was disappointed but not surprised.

        “We came here today under the impression that we were going to get to tell the magistrate how we felt and what happened,” she said, adding that after 14 years as a Huntington Meadows tenant she and her family will move to a new residence today.

        Mr. Lawson said he plans to file an appeal for a hearing with Judge Crush.

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