United Athens County Tenants

06/10/2026

Chauncey's elected officials working to repeal protections for LGBTQ+ and HUD-voucher renters have a conflict of interest – they are also landlords, writes Damon Krane in this op-ed. Link in bio.

04/03/2026

"One experience that continues to shock [RIPS Subcommittee founder Solveig] Spjeldnes to this day is when one of her sons discovered part of his ceiling and roof had collapsed after he entered his room on the top floor for the first time...

Unfortunately, experiences such as these are not unheard of among renters in Athens. These issues are compounded by the fact the majority of renters in Athens are Ohio University students, Damon Krane, co-founder of United Athens County Tenants (UACT), said.

“Most Athens renters are new student renters with very little experience as tenants,” Krane explained. “They are unlikely to know about the landlord's legal obligations for maintaining the physical premises properly.”

Perhaps one of the most dramatic incidents involving rental housing in recent years was when the ceiling at a rental property on 79½ Shafer St. collapsed in 2022.

Nine days earlier, the property had been inspected by code enforcement and given a passing grade. Incidents such as these illustrate the need for improving the thoroughness of code enforcement's rental housing inspection program, Krane said.

“In my experience, for most inspections that I was there for over 18 total years of renting in Athens, the inspectors were in and out the door in 90 seconds,” Krane explained. “All they did was press the test buttons on smoke detectors.”

In an effort to improve rental housing conditions, the Athens City Affordable Housing Commission is collecting information from thousands of renters about their experiences with rental housing.