Concerned about the rental housing conditions Athens residents must live in daily, the Affordable Housing Commission and Athens City Council decided to evaluate living conditions through two surveys, one for landlords and one for renters.
Based on the results of these surveys, the Rental Inspection Processes Subcommittee will provide recommendations and strategies to strengthen the landlord and tenant relationship, as well as ensure safe and acceptable housing conditions for tenants.
According to a census report of Athens in 2024, 67% of occupied units are rented, which the Athens 2040 Comprehensive Plan said consists largely of Ohio University students. The committee will submit its findings and recommendations to the Athens City Council by Dec. 1, 2026.
The two surveys will be available until May 31, 2026, and are not available for residents of Greek houses and dormitories, Kershaw Greene and Tyler Park apartments or Athens Metropolitan Housing Authority, due to their own inspection policies and procedures.
Renters are encouraged to take the survey before the deadline, which is available for any adult renters or sublessees in Athens. Landlords and property managers within Athens have received an email inviting them to include their experiences as well.
Solveig Spjeldnes, a member of the Affordable Housing Commission and chair of the Rental Inspection Process Subcommittee, is a former city council member and professor in the department of social work at OU. Spjeldnes expressed the importance of this survey and said Athens could do better in terms of housing conditions for renters.
Spjeldnes’ children went to OU, and she spoke about an instance in which her son opened his apartment door to find his ceiling on the floor. She mentioned how her other son also lived in a place in Athens with a hole in his closet, inviting “creatures” inside.
“My goal ultimately is that ... the city will implement (our recommendations),” Spjeldnes said. “It could be changes in how the university is handling some stuff, making more information for students about looking at their leases, strategies for making sure they get their security deposits back, trying to get some systems together that will incentivize safer places.”
Spjeldnes said they would love to receive more responses from residents and landlords, although she was happy with the 30% landlord response rate so far. Since it was released, 181 landlords and property managers filled out the survey, as well as 387 renters as of April 9.
Spjeldnes said the new code enforcement officer, Tom Pyle, who was the former chief of police, accomplished a lot of efficiency changes throughout his time with the Athens Police Department, and plans on doing similar initiatives as code director.
The collaborative project includes several representatives throughout Athens, including Jim Kaufman, the OU director of real estate; Matt Hull, the captain of the Athens Fire Department; Emory Mathy, a student renter; and Ric Wasserman, local business owner, entrepreneur and former treasurer for Athens County.
Wasserman owns The Pigskin Bar and Grille and has helped many employees with their leases and issues with landlords. He has been involved with housing and rental issues in Athens since the 1980s as a tenant, when he attended OU to study telecommunication systems.
Wasserman was on the Student Senate's Housing Commission and helped write a parking law requiring landlords to provide adequate parking for tenants.
“I've helped people go to court and sue their landlords to get their deposit back,” Wasserman said. “There are, and have been, always have been, people who take advantage in Athens. They're taking advantage of a tenant base that is maybe not legally sophisticated, that doesn't have a lot of experience, and in other cases just is not cognizant of their rights.”
Wasserman said housing is a significant business in Athens, as many people live in town for a short duration, with thousands of students arriving for their education.
“You have a lot of renters in the city of Athens, so it's critical to make sure that there's a standard to which those properties are held, so that everybody is safe, and we don't have situations where you've got people getting injured, or worse, a fire or houses collapsing, that kind of thing,” Wasserman said.
Some renters experience issues in their homes and apartments that require maintenance or some assistance.
Len Loomis, a current resident of Chauncey, Ohio, said they used to rent in Athens, and one of their residences was “literally falling down the hill.” Loomis said it was not legal for the residence to have a rental permit based on the amount it was leaning, despite the active rental agreement. After Loomis moved out, the ceiling caved in.
Loomis said they have heard many stories of inadequate living conditions and housing in Athens, and said they wished they knew how far in advance the rental market leases, as they did not realize they needed to start apartment searching immediately after getting into graduate school at OU.
“Because it's such a small town, I wouldn't have expected things to be rented out two to three years in advance,” Loomis said. “But they really are, so you kind of have to be ... willing to pay way more than the houses are worth.”
