
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 3, 1991                   TAG: 9104030604
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                                LENGTH: Medium

2 OWNERS SEEK TO REGAIN HOUSES TAKEN IN UVA RAID

Owners of two of the three fraternity houses seized in last month's drug raids at the University of Virginia have begun the process of attempting to get them back.

The corporate owners of the Delta Upsilon and Tau Kappa Epsilon houses filed papers in U.S. District Court that said they will fight the federal government's seizure of their privately held property.

No similar court papers had been filed by Tuesday on behalf of Phi Epsilon, the third house seized by federal agents in the March 21 raid. The deadline for filing the initial papers is still several weeks off, court officials said.

The filings by the two houses represent the first in a series of required steps to try to regain their properties.

More papers will be filed stating why the government should not retain control of the Delta Upsilon house, assessed by the city at $271,000, said John Zunka, lawyer for the alumni group that owns the property.

Zunka said the corporation continues to pay the mortgage on the house, even though the government controls the property.

"The alumni group desires to recover the house and keep it as a Delta Upsilon fraternity house," Zunka said. "They want to do whatever is reasonable and responsible to make sure the fraternity is a responsible member of the university community."

The company that owns the Tau Kappa Epsilon house, which has been assessed by the city at $349,500, said the seizure also will be opposed by Sovran Bank, which holds a $100,000 note on the structure.

Under federal law, owners of properties seized by authorities on civil drug charges must initiate action to try to retain them. If they do not, the properties are presumed to have been abandoned and are relinquished to the federal government.

The law allows the government to take over properties alleged to have been bought with drug money or, as in the case of the three fraternities, alleged to have been used for the distribution of illegal drugs.

Also seized at the school was a sports car, valued at about $12,000, that belonged to one of the 11 students indicted on felony drug charges.

A 12th person who was not a student at the school also was indicted on felony charges.

by CNB