No one needs to tell the Freep how bad some Ohio State off-campus landlords can get. Their uncaring and second-class treatment of students and non-students alike has been well-documented for decades.                    

So, it’s no surprise one of the biggest off-campus property managers and owners sent out the following email late last month to hundreds of tenants:

“We understand that some of our tenants have lost hours at work due to working on campus. However, rent is still expected by the 1st of every month and late fees will still apply. Please do not call the office or email us about this since everyone is still expected to pay rent in a timely fashion.

PS. Please refrain from flushing any items other than toilet paper.”

The Freep would like to name the off-campus property management team that sent this to their tenants, but according to its owner they have been receiving death threats.

The owner did confirm to the Freep they sent this initial email, but then later that day re-issued several clarifications suggesting you contact them to arrange a payment plan if need be.

“I had pressure from the landlords (actual owners of the apartments) to send out the first letter,” said the owner. “They’re scared, they want to make sure they can meet their mortgage payments. Until the government allows us to push back the mortgages, we’ve had no choice to say rents are due. We’ve also sent out multiple letters saying we are willing to work with you (tenants).”

Why the owner re-issued further emails suggesting they would allow payment plans is unclear, but several tenants suggested a flurry of complaints probably had something to do with it.

Everyone is trying to find any glimmer of a silver lining, and one can be found just off-campus. An increasing number of “campus kids” – the teens and twenty-somethings across from OSU who in many cases are renting for the first time – are organizing a tenant union on the fly. Probably the first such union the off-campus area has seen in decades.

They quickly bought two-hundred stamps and out went two-hundred letters calling for their fellow tenants to back the improvised union.

As of Monday, over 30 tenants have signed on. Nearly all have paid April’s rent, but they are worried about May, June and beyond.

“We are going to ask them to suspend rent until the pandemic is over and everyone can go back to their lives,” said one of the off-campus organizers who wished to remain anonymous.

The Free Press has spoken to nearly a dozen local renters for our Rent Strike stories and nearly all asked for anonymity. This is testimony to the fear many tenants, especially those off-campus, have of their landlords. Keep in mind even if Franklin County courts are closed until May 11, landlords can still file an eviction.

The unnamed organizer said they are working on a set of demands and will forward to the landlord probably later this week.

“I am feeling a lot of pressure because I don’t want to put these other people in a situation where they are harmed,” said the organizer. “We have a lot of momentum, people are onboard with the idea. I’m just nervous whether we have enough people.”

As the OSU off-campus group gains traction other newly formed tenant unions across Ohio are already up-and-running.

Not far from Kent State, students and residents formed Kent Tenants Union, now with 100 members and growing.

So far, here are their demands:

• Rent should be reduced to cover basic costs such as mortgages, essential repairs and other basic business expenses or be reduced by 50%

• No late fees will be charged, nor will any charge seek to profit at the expense of others’ poverty

• There shall be no retaliation against tenants

• No tenant shall be evicted, sued or be referred to collections agencies for rent

• A system should be established so residents who wish to can apply rent payments against accounts of those who cannot pay

Keeping a watchful eye on how this national Rent Strike is playing out locally is the Columbus Tenants’ Union (CTU), the only Central Oho tenant union which encompasses more than a single building. CTU is run by the Columbus chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.

CTU supports rent strikes, and they’re a highly effective way of exerting tenant power, says attorney Rachel Wenning, who administers the CTU for the Columbus DSA chapter.

“(But) rent strikes require planning,” she wrote in a recent statement made by the CTU. “Without planning, a lot can go wrong.  For one, if few tenants participate, the landlord will have no reason to concede to demands. Instead the strike will give the landlord an opportunity to evict the most engaged and organized tenants in their property.”

Wenning stated organizers should abide by labor tactics and aim for a reliable commitment from over 75 percent of their building or each rental before engaging in the strike.

“To get that majority, you will need to convince tenants that you have a plan to win. Second, there must be a demand. Without a demand, the landlord won’t know how to respond in order to satisfy the tenants. Third, there must be a plan to support tenants who are participating in the strike. It is unfair and irresponsible to ask tenants to put their shelter on the line without a plan for possible negative responses from the landlord,” she wrote.

Wenning continued, “We understand why, faced with this desperation, organizers hope to escalate to a rent strike immediately, but as a movement we have learned the hard way: there are no shortcuts in our work.”

“We hope that this crisis has revealed the desperate need for long-term tenant organizing in this city, and we encourage new and veteran organizers to join (us) in that work. We can’t do it without your help. Thousands are on the verge of losing their homes, and only collective action can change that.”