Once upon a time there was a small group of tenants and a big landlord. The tenants weren't happy with their building's numerous health code violations, so they complained to their landlord. The landlord would not act, so the tenants took legal action and forced him to respond. The landlord then made all the repairs, and they all lived happily ever after.

Somehow, real life dramas never endure so beautifully as fairy tales. A number of tenants in 22-24 Prescott St., a Harvard owned building, complained in November about their building's condition and the repairs have not yet been completed. They also may face a rent increase for "capital improvements" which they say only brings the building up to the health code, the basic requirements for habitability of an apartment. After six months of negotiations, some tenants were threatened with eviction. Still, the tenants consider the amount of repairs they have gotten, and the eviction and larger rent increase they have avoided important enough to view their struggle as a victory, Howard P. Ramseur, a tenant, said.

Serious problems with the building can be traced back to the "reluctant retirement" of the resident superintendent, George Jordan, in January of 1977, tenants said. Jordan was replaced by a few superintendents, who had to cover more units, and did not always reside in the buildings.

Although Jordan did not prevent some decay in the building's condition, he prevented total chaos by clearing trash, doing minor repairs, keeping a security watch and keeping the heating system in good order, tenants said. But the Christmas after his departure was a Christmas without heat.

Jordan was unable to prevent total decay because of the inadequate amount of money Harvard was allotting for maintenance. In 1967, $4431 was spent on maintenance and repairs, while $1353 was spent in 1978, not counting inflation.

In November, tenants distributed a number of survey sheets to poll the condition of the apartments. The survey revealed a number of violations of the State Sanitary Code, Article II, tenants said.

"In general I thought the building was in good shape," Lorraine S. Wade, director of tenant relations for Harvard, said. "A lot of work had to be done in individual units which we had no way of knowing about," Wade said. "Tenants complained to the superintendent, but not to us," she added.

Windows in the common rooms and apartments were not weathertight, the tenants' report said. One tenant, who wished to remain anonymous, reported that her windows had blown in on her. The stairways were "not in good repair." Lorraine Irritano, a tenant, sprained her ankle walking down them. The "dwelling was infested with cockroaches," the tenants' report said.

In the two years prior to the survey, seven ceilings had collapsed--four in the previous year, tenants said, adding that holes spanned up to two feet wide. Herbert Nipson, a tenant, knew when the occupant below him was smoking a cigar, because he could smell it.

In their survey, tenants claimed that heat was not supplied at the proper temperatures (68-78 degrees). Tenants said this problem was caused by the building's back wall which allowed the wind to blow through cracks between the window fixtures and the wall.

Because of the cracks, some apartments were as cold as 45 degrees when the brisk wind hit the wall. When the wind did not, occupants "boiled" because of the overheating provided to compensate for the wall's heat-leak.

The bad condition of the wall was first noticed a few years ago by ex-superintendent Jordan. His report on it in the Cambridge health department files said that contractors would visit it annually, but that nothing was done after the estimates for repair were received. In 1974, a contractor estimated the cost to be $7000, Jordan's report says. Hunneman and Co.--the company which manages Harvard housing--estimated in April the cost of repair to be $24,250.

On December 10, Richard Bland, Vice-President of Hunneman and Co. and 1978 Realtor of the Year, and Wade met with the tenants to discuss these problems as well as others.

One week later, Bland and Wade announced to the tenants that Harvard and Hunneman were applying to the Cambridge Rent Control Board for a 35 per cent to 90 per cent rent increase. The "special adjustment" hike was based on the capital improvements Harvard and Hunneman were going to make. Sally H. Zeckhauser, president of Harvard Real Estate, just established last fall, said.

"According to Rent Control Board Regulations, a landlord cannot charge to tenants repairs made to bring an apartment or common area up to the Cambridge Sanitary Codes, and therefore cannot get a rent increase because of those repairs," Ramseur said.