FAQs about Renting Off-Campus Athens OU Housing from KPR

Utilities vary depending on the unit, but a good general average is $75 - $100 per month, per person. Some of our leases for off-campus apartments and houses include city utilities (water, sewer, trash), so in those cases our tenants pay electric and internet for their uptown rental unit. 

Most KPR leases do not include utilities, so tenants are responsible for city utilities, electric, internet, and in very few cases, gas, if the rental property has it.

Utility costs for your uptown apartment will also vary by roommate usage and time of year. If everyone bails for Winter or Summer Breaks, the utilities are going to go way down. There’s also the weather to consider. In the winter months, utilities will run higher than in the Fall and Spring. Most of our uptown OU rental housing has AC options of some sort, which will affect your bills in the summer.

We do not allow dogs or cats in our off-campus rentals. However, we do allow small caged animals like birds, rabbits, hamsters, fish etc. 

If you want a fuzzy little friend to live in your apartment with you, you must get our permission first.

No, we only offer 12 month leases: either May to May or August to August, depending on the rental unit. If one of our off-campus apartments or houses is already on a May to May lease, it cannot not be offered as an August to August lease. 

* Each of the listings for our Athens, Ohio housing will clearly state whether the lease is May to May or August to August.

We do not hold our rental properties for potential tenants; you can secure your OU off-campus housing by signing a lease and putting a deposit down. KPR rental properties tend to go fast, so remember to plan your living situation ahead of time; apartments in uptown Athens are in high demand.

Some of our rental properties come with free parking, but most parking is offered on-site or nearby as an add-on rental fee. For our parking space rentals, only tenants with a vehicle need to pay for parking, regardless of the number of bedrooms in the housing unit. 

* We rent parking spaces for the entire year, not monthly. 

If you know you’ll need a parking space rental, we strongly suggest you secure one when you sign your lease. We do not hold parking spaces; it’s on a first come, first serve basis. There is no guarantee that you will have a space until you pay for one. Paid parking spaces are always assigned spaces, so you can be sure you’ll always have somewhere to park. Without a secured parking space rental, you’ll be at the whims of Athens’ street-side neighborhood parking, which is a mixed-bag at best.

Depending on the condition the rental unit was left in, we often give our tenants the option to clean the unit yourself and forfeit having us clean it so you can move in a week early. We still clean the carpet and paint any walls that are damaged.

No, nothing can be moved into the unit before your lease starts, nor can items be left for you by prior tenants. Student rentals must be totally empty so that we can clean and paint without anything in the way. This also ensures the move-out and move-in procedures are straightforward for all parties involved.

First, determine which utilities you’re responsible for per the lease terms on your apartment rental. Often, we only ask tenants to pay electric, gas and internet, though most of our student rentals don’t have gas. One less bill to worry about!

• City Utilities (only if they’re not included in your lease): (740) 592-3347

• AEP Electric: (800) 672-2231

• Columbia Gas (only if your rental housing has gas service): (800) 344-4077

• Spectrum Internet: (866) 874-2389

Questions? Ask someone on our staff for help.

Because of COVID, we no longer meet with new tenants in-person on move-in day. Instead, you set up a move-in appointment with our office and settle on a date and time for move-in. When the day comes, we will have unlocked your new apartment and left the keys and a move-in checklist at a specified place.

Before you move anything in, you’ll do your own walkthrough of the space and fill out our move-in checklist. Also, take photos of any damage. Once you’re finished, also take a photo of the completed checklist and email the pictures to our office.

Only one tenant is needed to do the checklist and walkthrough, so if all the roommates can’t make it in time to move into your 5-bedroom house uptown, it’s no big deal.

The reason that we have a lease is to ensure that there is a legal commitment to keep our property rented. If we let you out of a lease with no repercussions, it would defeat the purpose of the lease, which is to protect us from losing money on our rental properties. So, there are penalties for tenants who want to leave their apartment before their lease is up. 

We do allow you to find a sublettor, and in some cases, particularly if it’s before you move in, we will let them replace you on the lease. That said, as soon as you know that you will need someone to take over your lease, call us – we may be able to help you find someone!

Always call us. If the issue with your off-campus unit isn’t urgent, send us a maintenance request using our current tenant contact form. If it’s after hours and an emergency, call Michael Kleinman, the owner, at 740-592-5979. 

* Never call a repair man yourself; Kleinpenny Rentals will not pay for a repair that we did not authorize. 99% of all problems can be handled by our staff, and we will reply quickly to your situation.

Sometimes, the light bulb you use to replace the old bulb also turns out to be bad. Check the bulb by screwing into a working light. If the bulb is good, then check the electric panel box to see if a breaker has tripped. Breakers will not reset if you just flip them back on, you must flip them off first and then back on. If you’re not sure which breaker it is, you can flip all the breakers off and then back on. After you do all of this, make sure the light is turned on when you check to see if it works. This should also reset an outlet that had the same issue.

As always, if your OU rental needs maintenance or repair, even for the little things like this, get in contact with us using our tenant contact form. 

First, make sure you’re parked in the correct spot. You can email us to confirm your spot assignment. We suggest putting a note on the car warning that you will have them towed if they do not move. If they do not move, then call us. Curtis Towing no longer takes calls from students, so call Michael Kleinman, the owner, at 740-592-5979.

Athens now has mixed, single-stream recycling. Large, rolling blue bins should be available at your rental property. Contact us if you can’t find them. Put all clean items into one container and then dump that into the bin each week. The recycling center really appreciates it when you don’t put everything into additional bags; just dump it all into the bin. For a list of what can be recycled, check out their website.

To find out which day is recycling and trash day at your unit, check here.  Please recycle: Athens landfill is getting full, and recycling is a great way to show you value Athens.

Most of the time, we find that our tenants’ windows are not closed at the top and not latched. If the window is open even an inch, you will let out most of the heat in your unit, and your bills will be twice as high. If you’re in a 1 bedroom apartment or a studio, it’s easy to figure out the culprit of the heat loss. But if you’re leasing one of our 4, 5 or 8-bedroom rental houses, make sure it’s not one of your roommates sleeping with the windows open in January. 

If you have trouble figuring out how to close and latch your windows, or you’re still noticing a draft after securing them, contact us and we will help.

You can turn the thermostat down to 55, and most of the time there will still be enough heat that your pipes will not freeze. We recommend keeping your OU student rental at at least 60 degrees even when you’re gone. If you are gone on break during the winter, let us know, so if the temperature goes below zero we can come over and turn your heat up until it is safe to turn it back down. 

* You are responsible for all damages due to not having your heat turned on.

Because Athens housing close to OU and uptown is sought after, most of our rental properties are secured a year or more ahead of time. We give current tenants priority, though; at any point in your lease before Fall Semester begins, you can renew the lease on your apartment rental.

Should another potential tenant be interested in your uptown unit, we give current tenants 24 hours’ notice to decide whether they want to renew their lease before we sign with the interested party.

* Once Fall Semester starts, if there is another party interested in leasing your off-campus address, we will sign with them. After Fall Semester begins, we do not give a 24-hour notice.

No; we don’t do walkthroughs as part of our move-out process. We rely on the move-in walk-through checklist to determine if there’s any new damage to the rental unit aside from expected wear-and-tear to determine if there’s any expenses your security deposit should cover before we return the remainder of your security deposit to you.

*Note: There are penalties for failing to move out on time and/or return your keys at the appointed time and location. See our Sample Lease for those details.

Regardless of any decision to move out early, you must pay the remainder of the lease term. In certain cases, we might allow subletting of the apartment rental, but you’ll need to consult with the landlord and get permission.

Tenants are expected to leave the apartment in the condition it was in when they moved in, and must remove all belongings from the premises upon move-out deadline.

We return the appropriate portion of your security deposit to you within 30 days of the end of your lease. Standard deductions for security deposits in all our OU off-campus housing includes a cleaning fee. Additional deductions might apply for damage that exceeds wear-and-tear, as well as if any personal or furniture items are left in the rental unit after move-out.

• The security deposit may not be used in place of your last rent payment.

• Provide a forwarding address upon the end of your lease for us to return your security deposit.

• If you leave your rental house or apartment excessively dirty, additional fees will be applied to the standard cleaning fee.

Have any other questions you can’t find here or in our Sample Lease? Just get in touch!