Some tenants scrambled to hide their mattresses in the basement. Others disguised beds as couches and rearranged bedrooms to look like lounges. Many vacated the premises early Thursday morning to avoid questioning.

But roommates Michelle Leontsinis and Alison Sexton decided to open the door of their apartment on 724 Simpson St. when a city inspector knocked at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

When the door was opened, the roommates were greeted by a city official investigating suspicions of excess tenants and zoning violations in the apartments at 718-724 Simpson St. The inspections were ordered by James Wolinski, director of Community Development, after he received complaints of excessive foot traffic in the building.

According to an Evanston zoning ordinance, no more than three unrelated people may live in a residence at the same time regardless of the number of bedrooms.

Wolinski said the city defines unrelated people as those who “have no relationship other than that they are living together.”

“All my friends who live off campus live in illegal housing according to this,” said resident Gretchen Barnes, a Weinberg senior living in the apartment. “This town would have to build a 500-story skyscraper to accommodate all the illegal renters.”

The city found that at least half the units inspected Thursday morning were “over-occupied,” Wolinski said.

Officials declined to comment on results of their invesitgation.

Cameel Halim – owner of Wilmette Real Estate Management & Co., which manages the apartments in question – will be informed of the city’s findings in writing within the next few days, Wolinski said.

On Tuesday, Halim informed his tenants about Thursday’s inspection, which gave renters time to prepare.

Those who met with Halim on Tuesday said they were given ideas on how to disguise the number of residents living in each apartment, including hiding beds in the building’s basement and making up fake relatives.

Resident Kipp Davis, a Weinberg junior, said, “They did everything but tell us we were supposed to make it look like less than five people live here.”

Halim denied knowledge of the ordinance and said he never told residents to “hide” the number of people living in each apartment.

“We told them clearly that we could not tell them what to do,” Halim said.

Most buildings are inspected about every three years, unless multiple complaints are made about a building, Wolinski said.

The zoning ordinance is a way for the city to protect against overcrowded neighborhoods, said Ald. Arthur Newman (1st). For example, many streets cannot accommodate the congestion caused by residents with multiple cars, he said.

Similar zoning ordinances have been struck down in other cities because they can exclude a certain portion of the community from living in a specific neighborhood, said Paula Haynes, director of the Human Relations Commission, which deals with fair housing laws.

“There are those who believe that the ordinance would not stand up if it went to the Supreme Court,” Haynes said. “To my knowledge, Evanston’s (ordinance) has never been challenged.”

Students living in the building were surprised to learn of the ordinance and spent Wednesday night and Thursday morning panicking over possible evictions.

Evictions are made after a long court process, Haynes said, and neither the city nor the landlord has the right to “toss” residents at “a moment’s notice.”

Once the city concludes that a building is in violation of city code, the landlord has 21 days to rectify the situation, Wolinski said. But Newman said he would do everything within his power to see that the tenants on Simpson St. weren’t evicted.

Davis said he and his roommates were not told of the ordinance when they signed their lease, although they informed the realtor that five people would be living in the apartment.

Leontsinis said Halim must know the number of people living in the apartment because he receives five rent checks each month.

With rent at about $2,600 a month, Davis said it is absurd to think there will not be more than three residents in each apartment.

Halim said he leases each apartment to only three people, but he acknowledged the presence of extra residents in some of the apartments.

“I think that it’s ridiculous to have a four bedroom apartment with only three people living there,” Halim said. “But we don’t go counting beds in the apartments.”

If Halim is in violation of the ordinance, he could be fined up to $750 for each day the unit is in violation, Wolinski said.

Newman said that if it is proven that Halim purposely tried to cover up any violation, Halim will be “dealt with harshly.”