Atlanta Worries About Olympic-Sized Rents

A landlords’ group has come out against Olympics price gouging following tenant complaints that one management company wants to charge exorbitant rents during the 1996 Games.

In a letter Friday to Gov. Zell Miller, Atlanta Apartment Association president Drury W. Ghegan said he is concerned that the “actions of a very few unscrupulous companies will reflect on the entire industry.”

Intown Properties Inc. recently told its midtown tenants that any lease coming up for renewal between May and October of next year will require a rent of at least $3,000 for each of those months, unless the tenant vacates the apartment so it can be rented to Olympic visitors. Some of Intown’s residents now pay $400 to $500 a month for one-bedroom apartments.

Intown officials have refused to comment.