The rumor can now come to an end. The Pennsylvania "brothel" law does not exist.

But while there is no state law stating that eight women cannot live under the same roof, there are local zoning ordinances in State College that prohibit the number of unrelated people living together.

The borough is zoned under three main areas: commercial, university and residence. Areas zoned under residence prohibit more than three unrelated people to live together. Herman Slaybaugh, State College Planning and Zoning officer said the law is intended to prevent overpopulated college-style living in family areas.

Large apartment buildings are zoned commercial, he added.

Slaybaugh receives calls about a brothel law every year.

"I've been here for 25 years and in those 25 I have never seen a law regarding this issue," he said.

Slaybaugh said he does not believe the law ever existed.

He added that many students mistake certain zoning laws in the borough for a broad state law preventing groups of women from occupying a house.

State Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, and Richard McCarl, State College Borough Council president, were not aware of the idea of the brothel law.

"You made my day in saying a law like this [would] actually exist," McCarl said. "I can tell you right now, this is something that never came across my desk and is definitely new to my way of thinking."

Benninghoff said he is aware there are laws that control the number of unrelated persons living in a residence, but those requirements are the jurisdiction of local municipalities.

"I have to honestly say that I am not sure if there is a broad state law that states what a brothel is and if it is prohibited," Benninghoff said.

Slaybaugh said there are some exceptions to the borough rules.

Houses in residential zones that have been "grandfathered," and do not have to comply with the three-unrelated persons rule. Grandfathered houses were built and bought before 1979, when the rule took effect.

If the house is sold, residents must comply with the current zoning laws.

"Grandfathered houses have been passed down for years or kept in the family, and therefore they are unable to be affected by new zoning laws," Slaybaugh said.

He added that zoning laws make no distinction between fraternities or sororities when students want to start a residence in the fraternity district. Since fraternities and sororities have a national affiliation, they are ruled exempt from the three-unrelated law.

Jean Welling, Fraternity and Sorority Life staff assistant, said many of the rumors concerning the brothel rule start because sororities do not have houses as they did in the past.

"I have been answering this question for 16 years. There has never been a law that says sororities cannot have houses," she said.

Welling said sororities used to occupy houses on campus in the 1950s. With veterans taking advantage of the Montgomery GI Bill, signed in 1944, Penn State needed more housing. The land the sorority houses were built on was sold, and dorms were then built on those sites.

The dorms were equipped with suites, which the sororities then rented from the university -- as they continue to do today.

Despite assurances from officials, students are still unsure whether to believe the law is real.

"I just wish someone would be honest to me about where this really comes from," Ja Nae Wian (freshman-crime, law and justice) said. "Or that some leasing companies will make all of this clear from the start in our leases."

Wian was told she was unable to house four friends in her townhouse because it was against the health code.

Keira Kawulich, a State College resident, has also heard of the rumor.

"I think its horrible that women are always put out there being judged, regardless of whether this is true or not," Kawulich said. "I love how a group of guys can live in a huge house together and hang up girls' panties, but that isn't seen as wrong or worthy of a rumor."

Brian Stewart (senior-political science) admits to seeing problems with the double standard it creates and believes the idea in general is sexist.

"For people who hear this old-school rumor and actually believe it, I think that in itself is demeaning towards women," Stewart said. "Why could guys have fraternity houses then and now and not sororities? What is the difference between girls and guys?"