A hearing about a landlord’s contention that SIUC Housing ignored provisions of a court order was postponed Friday as attorneys attempt to settle the matter out of court, attorneys say.

The hearing was to deal with a motion for contempt made by opponents to a new freshmen housing policy for next fall. The new policy would have required single students under 21 who do not live with their parents to live in University-owned facilities, not off-campus facilities approved by Housing.

A preliminary injunction was issued in December to postpone the change until the courts could decide if the new policy was legal.

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Shari Rhode, SIUC chief trial counsel, said the motion for contempt hearing has been delayed while attorneys for both sides attempt to reach an agreement.

All I can say is discussions are ongoing, Rhode said. We (SIUC) are trying to work out what was meant by the preliminary injunction, and if things are worked out, there will not be a contempt motion.

Stan Lieber, SIUC geography professor and owner of Stevenson Arms, 600 W. Mill St., an off-campus University-approved facility, filed the lawsuit against SIUC.

He said the motion for contempt was filed because 3,500 prospective students received information about the policy change, but did not receive clarification after the preliminary injunction was issued. Lieber said the University did not tell the freshmen that they could live in his facility and other off-campus residence halls.

I felt the new SIUC attorney, Kent Plotner, is more concerned about getting things done right, Lieber said. They (the attorneys) sat down Friday to try and clarify what the preliminary injunction meant. Overall the court case is not settled.

Lieber said if an agreement is not reached, the hearing on the motion for contempt will resume, but he said it is too early to tell what the outcome of the matter will be.

Rhode said she could not comment on anything else regarding the lawsuit while it is still pending in court.

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University Housing officials also said they were not able to comment while litigation is pending.