Besides word of mouth, prospective South Oakland residents have limited resources to find… Besides word of mouth, prospective South Oakland residents have limited resources to find reputable landlords or realty agencies.

For this reason, Student Government Board, the Community Outreach Partnership Center and Oakland Planning and Development Corporation conducted a survey about off-campus housing options.

The results show which landlords or property management companies satisfied or dissatisfied tenants, the reasons for their opinions and how tenants have dealt with complaints and security issues.

“We can use that info for people who have complaints. A heads-up,” OPDC intern Laura Halula said.

On a scale of 1 to 5, 126 Oakland residents gave an average response of 3.8 for the level of their satisfaction with their current landlord/property management company. In regard to safety and security, tenants responded with an average score of 3.9 (1 being unsafe and 5 being safe and secure).

Students recommended Bates Hill Apartments, Cathedral Mansions, Confluence Properties, A-1 Realty, JJ Land Co., Patrick Altdorfer, John Elachko, and Grant and Lee Friday.

“JJ Land Co. is awesome, and I would highly recommend [it],” an anonymous respondent said. Another respondent said of A-1 Realty, “great landlords; very quick repairs.”

Five of the 126 respondents filed a formal complaint with building inspection, the Health Department and other organizations, while two out of the 107 students who had contacted their landlord/property management company about a problem with their apartment never had their complaint addressed.

Respondents reported living in Oakland an average of 1.7 years, a result that may be inaccurate because of the lack of clarity in the survey question.

The results can be misconstrued, Halula said, adding that because of the possibility that students living in Oakland for, say, two years, but in the dorms for one, might report that they have lived in Oakland for one year.

Even so, for OPDC intern Erin Ramsey, the results indicate that students spend few years in Oakland, which, she said, creates two types of residents: temporary and permanent.

“We found that the transient nature of the students creates a disconnect from the long-term resident,” Ramsey said, adding that the main goal of Keep It Clean Oakland is to get students and long-term residents involved.

Thirty-five out of 123 respondents said that they would recommend their landlord or property management company to other students.

OPDC would not disclose any of the landlords or realty businesses that received negative survey results. OPDC wants to build with the landlords, and these results could hinder that, Halula said.

“The intent was to create a list of landlords that had a good reputation,” Ramsey said.

“I do think eventually we will want to publish our findings somehow, probably on our website,” Halula said.

By the end of April, OPDC will disclose the results on its Web site, www.opdc.org.