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Pursuant to Ind.Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as precedent or cited before any court except for the purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata, collateral estoppel, or the law of the case. APPELLANTS PRO SE: XINGYA LIU XIMING HUANG West Lafayette, Indiana

FILED
Oct 01 2009, 8:54 am
of the supreme court, court of appeals and tax court

CLERK

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: JAMES R. SCHRIER KEVIN J. RILEY Lafayette, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
XINGYA LIU and XIMING HUANG, Appellants-Defendants, vs. CITY OF WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA, Appellee-Plaintiff. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 79A05-0803-CV-184

APPEAL FROM THE TIPPECANOE SUPERIOR COURT The Honorable Thomas H. Busch, Judge Cause No. 79D02-0611-PL-00103

OCTOBER 1, 2009 MEMORANDUM DECISION - NOT FOR PUBLICATION

BARTEAU, Senior Judge

Statement of the Case

Xingya Liu and Ximing Huang (collectively, the Landlords) appeal the trial courts grant of summary judgment and judgment in favor the City of West Lafayette (the City) in the Citys action alleging that the Landlords four-bedroom rental house in West Lafayette was over-occupied during the 2006-2007 Purdue University academic year in violation of a West Lafayette ordinance limiting occupancy of rental houses to three unrelated persons. We affirm in part and reverse in part. Issues The Landlords raise the following consolidated and restated issues for our review: I. Whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of the City; Whether the trial court erred in granting judgment in favor of the City; Whether the trial court erred in admitting the tenants testimony; and Whether the trial court erred in awarding deposition transcription costs to the City. Statement of the Facts The facts reveal that the Landlords own a house at 702 N. Grant Street in West Lafayette, which they rent to Purdue University students. In December 2005, students LeighAnne Schwartz (Schwartz) and Amanda Kristy (Kristy), as well as sisters Anne (Anne) and Elizabeth (Elizabeth) Wirtz, signed a one-year lease for the house to begin in 2

II.

III. IV.

August 2006. The lease cited the Citys occupancy limitation ordinance and expressly incorporated the Citys limitation of occupancy to three unrelated persons. In March 2006, Anne told the Landlords that she was moving to another state and would not be renting the house. Anne subleased her part of the lease to Stephanie Phillips (Phillips). Anne may have informed the Landlords that Phillips was her cousin; however, the Landlords never received any documentation that Anne and Phillips were related. The Landlords refunded Anns deposit and accepted a deposit from Phillips. The Landlords accepted rent checks from Phillips beginning in August 2006. Elizabeth, and Phillips each had her own room in the house. In the late summer of 2006, Sarah Martin (Martin) moved into the basement of the house. Martins basement bedroom contained a bed, a chair, a desk and a clothing rack. Huang spoke with Martin at the property the day she was moving in with her furniture. In September 2006, the Landlords asked the Tenants to complete a required written Occupancy Affidavit for the City. The Landlords told the tenants that only those tenants on the lease should sign the Affidavit. Elizabeth signed both her name and her sister Anns name on the Affidavit, and Kristy and Schwartz also signed it. Phillips and Martin did not sign the affidavit. In the fall of 2006, Huang entered Martins basement bedroom in search of a raccoon that had entered the house. Martin told Huang she did not want the raccoon in the basement to ruin her clothes. Also that fall, the Landlords continued their annual Schwartz, Kristy,

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tradition of taking their tenants to dinner. In October 2006, the Landlords took Schwartz, Kristy, Elizabeth, Phillips, and Martin out to dinner. In the fall of 2006, City Inspector Curtis Cunningham began noticing five vehicles parked at the Grant Street address on a daily basis. City Inspector Cunninghams

subsequent investigation revealed that although there were five names on the mailbox

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