Name: Portland landlords sue to stop city's new voter-approved rent control ordinance
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Portland landlords sue to stop city's new voter-approved rent control ordinance

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Sorry, this site is not accessible in your region.Voters approved ordinance last NovemberPortland landlords sue to stop city's new voter-approved rent control ordinanceVoters approved ordinance last NovemberAdvertisementPortland landlords sue to stop city's new voter-approved rent control ordinanceVoters approved ordinance last NovemberCommercial real estate broker and landlord Brit Vitalius thinks of himself as a housing provider.“Most landlords, myself included, spend their time taking care of tenants and providing good housing,” Vitalius says.As president of the Southern Maine Landlord Association, he is leading the fight against Portland’s new rent control ordinance that went into effect last December after 58% of city voters approved it on Nov. 3.Vitalius says, "Rent control just doesn't work. It seems like it's the right idea, it's misguided."The SMLA lawsuit pending in Cumberland County Superior Court seeks to invalidate the ordinance.Sherri Lysy, who lives in and works in Portland as a waitress at a popular restaurant currently closed during the pandemic, supports rent control.“The SMLA is trying to bog down in the courts what it couldn’t defeat at the ballot box,” Lysy says. A political action committee backed by Democratic Socialists of America, People First Portland, collected signatures for and wrote the rent control ballot referendum. Vitalius says, “If the group that put this forward cared about affordable housing, we would see them out trying to get more inventory created in the city. When you’ve got a housing crisis, you need more housing.”Vitalius owns 30 apartments including a three-bedroom with a long-time tenant that rents for $1,400 a month. Under rent control, he can charge the next tenant a maximum 10% more, or $1,540, but Vitalius says that would be below the fair market rent of $1,800."No one is going to spend money to fix up that unit that has been occupied for 10 or 20 years, that's tired, probably needs some upgrading -- that landlord is now in a tough spot, frankly the next tenant's going to be in a tough spot because that unit is not going to get fixed up," Vitalius said. “So, we’ll have buildings falling into disrepair, and we’ll have new ones for the rich, and not much in between.”The ordinance affects 13,000 apartments subject to market rents. There are another 5,000 units in Portland where rent is subsidized by federal, state, or city housing programs.Another modest one-bedroom Vitalius owns is now vacant. The previous renter paid $800 a month, which means Vitalius would be limited to an $80 a month increase under rent control, making it difficult for him to recoup the $7,500 he spent renovating the kitchen and bathroom. That potential rent hike would be subject to rent board approval.Vitalius says, "You actually have to do the repairs first and then go before the rent board and request a rental increase, because of the improvements you've done."Lysy founded Foreside Tenants Union, after, she says, her landlord tried to raise the rent 30% after the ordinance took effect on the apartment she’s lived in for three years.She says her new group has 12 members who reside in five different buildings.Lysy says, “I think housing is a basic human right, and the tenants of Portland deserve to be protected from egregious rent hikes simply because the market will bear it. We're going to push out the people who live here, who make this community what it is, who work here, who keep the city running." A judge has yet to set a date for arguments in the lawsuit.The city has yet to fill its seven-member, volunteer rent board, which the ordinance says, must have at least three tenants and no more than three landlords.Vitalius says the board composition is another way the new rules are stacked against them.He says, “The ordinance really punishes actually the best and most generous landlords, those landlords that are out there that have the low rent, that haven’t raised rents in years, those are the folks that are going to get hurt.”Commercial real estate broker and landlord Brit Vitalius thinks of himself as a housing provider.“Most landlords, myself included, spend their time taking care of tenants and providing good housing,” Vitalius says.AdvertisementAs president of the Southern Maine Landlord Association, he is leading the fight against Portland’s new rent control ordinance that went into effect last December after 58% of city voters approved it on Nov. 3.Vitalius says, "Rent control just doesn't work. It seems like it's the right idea, it's misguided."The SMLA lawsuit pending in Cumberland County Superior Court seeks to invalidate the ordinance.Sherri Lysy, who lives in and works in Portland as a waitress at a popular restaurant currently closed during the pandemic, supports rent control.“The SMLA is trying to bog down in the courts what it couldn’t defeat at the ballot box,” Lysy says.A political action committee backed by Democratic Socialists of America, People First Portland, collected signatures for and wrote the rent control ballot referendum. Vitalius says, “If the group that put this forward cared about affordable housing, we would see them out trying to get more inventory created in the city. When you’ve got a housing crisis, you need more housing.”Vitalius owns 30 apartments including a three-bedroom with a long-time tenant that rents for $1,400 a month. Under rent control, he can charge the next tenant a maximum 10% more, or $1,540, but Vitalius says that would be below the fair market rent of $1,800."No one is going to spend money to fix up that unit that has been occupied for 10 or 20 years, that's tired, probably needs some upgrading -- that landlord is now in a tough spot, frankly the next tenant's going to be in a tough spot because that unit is not going to get fixed up," Vitalius said. “So, we’ll have buildings falling into disrepair, and we’ll have new ones for the rich, and not much in between.”The ordinance affects 13,000 apartments subject to market rents. There are another 5,000 units in Portland where rent is subsidized by federal, state, or city housing programs.Another modest one-bedroom Vitalius owns is now vacant. The previous renter paid $800 a month, which means Vitalius would be limited to an $80 a month increase under rent control, making it difficult for him to recoup the $7,500 he spent renovating the kitchen and bathroom. That potential rent hike would be subject to rent board approval.Vitalius says, "You actually have to do the repairs first and then go before the rent board and request a rental increase, because of the improvements you've done."Lysy founded Foreside Tenants Union, after, she says, her landlord tried to raise the rent 30% after the ordinance took effect on the apartment she’s lived in for three years.She says her new group has 12 members who reside in five different buildings.Lysy says, “I think housing is a basic human right, and the tenants of Portland deserve to be protected from egregious rent hikes simply because the market will bear it. We're going to push out the people who live here, who make this community what it is, who work here, who keep the city running." A judge has yet to set a date for arguments in the lawsuit.The city has yet to fill its seven-member, volunteer rent board, which the ordinance says, must have at least three tenants and no more than three landlords.Vitalius says the board composition is another way the new rules are stacked against them.He says, “The ordinance really punishes actually the best and most generous landlords, those landlords that are out there that have the low rent, that haven’t raised rents in years, those are the folks that are going to get hurt.”Advertisement

Sorry, this site is not accessible in your region.Voters approved ordinance last NovemberPortland landlords sue to stop city's new voter-approved rent control ordinanceVoters approved ordinance last NovemberAdvertisementPortland landlords sue to stop city's new voter-approved rent control ordinanceVoters approved ordinance last NovemberCommercial real estate broker and landlord Brit Vitalius thinks of himself as a housing provider.“Most landlords, myself included, spend their time taking care of tenants and providing good housing,” Vitalius says.As president of the Southern Maine Landlord...

Portland landlords sue to stop city's new voter-approved rent control ordinance

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