It looks like a building from MTV's Fear.

The windows are boarded. "Keep Out" and "No Trespassing" signs adorn the outside, and one sign warns that the structure is unfit to be inhabited. The white and blue-gray paint has faded from the weather and a single 2-feet-by-4-feet board is nailed across the front door to prohibit entry.

But there are no people completing dares or investigating paranormal activity to win cash at this place. The house is the former residence of Phi Mu Delta fraternity, located on the corner of West Fairmount Avenue and South Allen Street.

The house was vacated in 1998 when it was deemed structurally unsafe because of faulty beams in the roof. The house has stood uninhabited since that time and has been the target of vandals and arsonists. A fire, along with the weather, created a gaping hole in the roof that is partially visible from the front and allows an observer to look directly into the attic in the back.

The only two parts of the house not dilapidated over time are the fire escape, which leads up to the hole in the roof, and the stone wall motif on the first story outside of the house. A chain-link fence surrounds the house to deter trespassers and vandals.

The property has been abandoned for about four years, said Tom Murphy, the national vice president of the fraternity. Phi Mu Delta has had nothing to do with the property since it was vacated, he said.

"The original plan was to destroy the house and rebuild, but they were not able to raise enough money," Murphy said. "They've functioned as a frat without a house for two years."

Members of Phi Mu Delta could not be reached for comment, but Murphy said the current members of the fraternity rent a house on the corner of McAllister Street and Beaver Avenue.

The State College Department of Public Works lists the owner of the abandoned property as the Delta Sigma Lambda Alumni Association, Inc. The alumni association could not be reached for comment about its future plans for the property. A spokeswoman from the State College Borough Council's office said the town cannot do anything with the property since it is still owned by the alumni association.

Tim Knisely, senior fire and housing inspector of the Centre Region Code Administration, said that the situation at the abandoned frat house is unusual and is not a problem in other houses in the area. He said that the house's structure became unsafe over a 20 to 30 year period.

"What it comes down to is general appearance," Knisely said regarding administration requirements about when a deteriorated structure must be fixed. He said when a house is "vacant and not in danger of collapse" the code administration cannot do anything.

The Borough's legal remedies to make a property owner fix a run-down structure are limited to ordinances for specific nuisances, he said.