O'Neill said that Harvard does plan to include a factual history of the dispute between tenants and the University that both parties will be able to "sign off on. "Everyone will be looking at a set of facts and have different interpretations of what happened and what the motives were," she said.

Kuehne said that the "mechanics" yet to be worked out include the political considerations of the tenants. These include a possible promise by Harvard to refrain from keeping apartments empty in the future.

The city's removal ordinance prohibits the conversion of rent-controlled housing to other uses such as condominiums or offices. But the rent control board has not ruled conclusively on whether keeping apartments empty constitutes a violation of the ordinance.

In testimony before rent control board hearing examiner James Packer, Harvard attorneys contended that such a practice is not prohibited; tenant attorneys argued that vacant apartments represent an effective illegal removal.

In addition to the problem of Harvard's future housing policy, there have been other recent, indications that the proposed settlement to the long dispute over the 80-year-old Craigie building may no longer be satisfactory to tenants.

"My understanding is that they [the tenants] feel they've been duped." Graham said