Students get taste of sweet, sour homes

by Benjamin Roode
Senior Campus Writer

Ohio University Student Senate’s Tour of Homes last week aimed to inform students living off campus of Athens code policies and legal actions they can take to correct violations.

Student senators toured more than 50 off-campus student residences to judge the best and worst houses in Athens, said Jessica Lawrence, off-campus housing senator. While senators looked at criteria such as rent and landlord relations, they mostly considered overall conditions of the house or apartment.

Students signed up to enter their homes in the tour.

“We want students to actively participate in their off-campus situation,” Lawrence said.

OU senior Bud Ahrens resides in the house the OCH commission judged the worst in Athens, 226 W. Washington St. He said water leaks, weak wall supports and faulty insulation are some of the reasons he thought his house should be voted worst.

“The banister fell off a couple weeks ago,” Ahrens said. “We called our landlord at least two weeks ago, but we haven’t heard from him.”

But Guy Philips, landlord of the voted “worst house,” said his maintenance system works well.

“I feel like we have a good system,” Philips said. “Apparently, this is a glitch. Maybe the ball got dropped on this one.”

Maintenance requests can be reported online for Philips’ properties, he said. They are sent directly to his maintenance employee.

If the residents sent a request in for the house, it must have gotten lost or put on low-priority status, he said.

But Philips said the senate’s tour is effective.

“I think overall this program is good for the community,” he said. “I want to be a good landlord.”

OU senior Dorothy Wright, resident of the house judged the best, 138 W. Union St., said her house’s appearance made it one of the best.

“Everyone told us to enter,” Wright said. “It’s furnished and everything.”

Wright’s housemate, OU senior Cheryl Levy, said she thinks the contest makes landlords review maintenance and security deposit policies.

“It raises standards that landlords should have,” she said.

Greg Chapman, landlord of the “best house,” said the tour and contest will serve to better represent the housing community.

“There’s an awful lot of publishing on the negatives (for housing),” Chapman said. “It’s refreshing to have something in the positive direction.”

Some landlords and city officials think students make houses look bad in the city, Lawrence said. But many students think landlords do not do enough to take care of the houses.

“There’s quite a few good landlords in Athens,” she said. “But some aren’t.”

Student senators want to help students know who to go to with housing problems, Lawrence said. By showing students code violations and allowing them to air complaints, students can better understand how to deal with problems.

“We want (students) to be more alerted to their situations,” she said.

Lawrence said she hopes senators can work with Athens City Council to bring to light some of Athens’ housing problems.