Tenants of Stadium View Apartments II have filed a class action lawsuit against their developer because only one of an original four lawsuit settlements has been paid in full.

The tenants are seeking compensation for having to live in motels when their apartments were not ready. Contracts were signed for the apartments with the promise they would be ready by Aug. 22 or 23, 1990, but the earliest students received rooms was early November, said Lynn Richards, attorney for Students’ Legal Assistance.

Of the four original lawsuits, three were settled but Rubeck and Co., the developer, only paid one in full, Richards said.

“The fourth lawsuit is the one we turned into the class action lawsuit,” Richards said.

For a class action lawsuit, there is a numerical requirement mandating that there be more than 20 people involved, Richards said.

The tenants had two options when the apartments weren’t ready: They could receive $3.65 a day for food expenses and live in a motel or receive $12 a day and find other accommodations.

However, no matter which option was chosen, the tenants later had to pay rent for the time they were still homeless. Those who took the daily $12 route eventually had to return $5.17 of each day’s allotment for seeking alternative housing, Richards said.

Officials from Rubeck and Co. were unavailable for comment.

Compensatory and punitive damages will be sought, Richards said. Under compensatory damages, food expenses and the inconveniences of having to leave the motel when it was loud or overbooked will be covered, she said.

The tenants were put up in either the Georgetown Motel, the Days Inn or Motel 6, she said.

Rubeck and Co. told the tenants they would only have to stay in the motels for a short time, but some students were living in motels for 100 days.

During the stay in the motels, some students had to leave because of problems with the heat, Richards said. Also, those living in the Georgetown Motel and the Days Inn had to vacate during Homecoming and Parents’ weekends because the rooms were already reserved.

For the tenants who finally moved into Stadium View II, there were other problems as well, including difficulties with the doors and some first-floor residents were flooded.

Richards and a private attorney will represent the tenants. “We feel confident we have a strong case,” she said.