• Mike Moriarty owns four properties around campus.
• Moriarty has rented to MU students since 1974, and had only one significant problem when Chris Farley started a fire in one of his houses.
• Moriarty owns the Red House Apartments, Efficiency Apartments, a house on 17th and Kilbourn and a house on 16th and Kilbourn.
• All properties have on-site managers, but Moriarty is almost always accessible on his cell phone.

Marquette students have found reliable housing in Mike Moriarty's properties since 1974, said Mike Moriarty, current owner of four properties around Marquette's campus.

"I am a Delta Chi alum," said Moriarty. "They started their Marquette chapter in 1972 and I helped them buy their first house in 1974."

Moriarty said he fills his properties every year, and most renters end up staying for two years, though there are always exceptions.

Moriarty said he has had only one significant problem with his properties. That problem resulted when comedian Chris Farley started a fire in Moriarty's 1621 W. Kilbourn Ave. house, also known as the Aqua Box.

"Other than that, I get pretty good, responsible people around here," Moriarty said. "I ask for no pets and no smoking, which tends to eliminate the people who bring the bars home with them."

Moriarty said he currently has 80 students renting from him. He said the students seem to be

happy because they do not call him much and they all have on-site managers if they need assistance.

"I've been very lucky with Marquette students over the years," Moriarty said. "I've had very few bad renters, and I only have to send someone over to the properties if a neighbor calls and makes a noise complaint."

Moriarty added that his properties are well-lit at nights. He said he installed double-lights on the sides of the buildings to ensure the area is still well-lit if one light goes out.

"I still have one five-bedroom apartment left for next year, and a couple Efficiency Apartments left for graduate students," Moriarty said.

Moriarty currently owns the Red House Apartments, Efficiency Apartments and houses located at 854 N. 17th St. and 1621 W. Kilbourn Ave.

Moriarty has been around Marquette for a long time and has established himself on campus, said Colleen Cary, a junior in the College of Education.

Cary currently lives in the Moriarty property located at 854 N. 17th St., which serves as the sorority house for the Marquette chapter of Alpha Xi Delta and is also known as the Blue House.

"Getting a hold of Mike has been very easy," Cary said. "Jay is his handyman and he lives next door, so that has worked out really well."

Last year was the first year this property served as the Alpha Xi Delta house, Cary said.

"There were a couple of issues last year, but Mike fixed things up for us in the transition time," Cary said. "They put a lot of time and money into making the house nice for us."

Katelyn Jorgensen, senior in the College of Business Administration, lives in one of Moriarty's five-bedroom Red House Apartments, located at 848 N. 17th St.

"When we were looking for housing, we had a group of four or five girls that wanted to live together, and most places on campus have between two and three bedrooms, so that was really frustrating," Jorgensen said.

Jorgensen said Moriarty has been very accommodating, and he has genuinely listened to their requests and concerns.

"At first there was a problem with the heating because when we signed the lease we thought the heating would be covered," Jorgensen said. "He told us if the boiler broke we would be responsible for our own heating, but he ended up replacing the boiler in the summer before we moved in."

Jorgensen said she and her roommates were then expected to pay for heat, despite the fact that they had not broken the boiler. She said they spoke with Moriarty about the issue, and he agreed to cover the cost of heat himself as long as it stayed within a certain temperature range.

Jorgensen said Moriarty has been very understanding and she has been very pleased with her choice to live in the Red House Apartments.

"I lived in 2040's last year, and I like this apartment much better than the 2040's," she said. "It doesn't feel like a corporation, it has a much more personal feel."

Jorgensen said she also likes the Red House Apartments because they come with free parking in the back of the building. She said they fit three cars into the space they were allotted.

"The apartments are very close to campus, which is really nice. I'm very close to all the restaurants and to Open Pantry, which is nice if I need something small like milk or eggs," she said.

The Red House Apartments are five- and six-bedroom units. Monthly rent is $475 per person, which does not include utilities but does include parking for approximately two cars per apartment. The apartments are not furnished, but come with a refrigerator, stove, air conditioning, a garbage disposal and a dishwasher. Laundry and extra storage are available.

The Efficiency Apartments mostly house graduate students. The monthly rent is $450 for a studio apartment, which includes water and gas. These apartments also include a refrigerator, stove, air conditioning, garbage disposal, dishwasher, parking and laundry. There is no extra storage, and the studios are not furnished.

The Alpha Xi Delta house has nine bedrooms, and monthly rent is $475 per person, not including utilities. The house is not furnished and does not offer parking, but does include laundry, two refrigerators, a stove, air conditioning, a freezer, a dishwasher and a garbage disposal.

The Aqua Box, 1621 W. Kilbourn Ave., has eight bedrooms, and monthly rent is $475 per person, not including utilities. Neither parking nor extra storage are available, but the house comes with two refrigerators, a stove, central air conditioning, a dishwasher and a garbage disposal.