“We’re gearing up for a fight that we’re not going to stop until we win,” Black said.Ĭommissioner Jo Ann Hardesty showed up to the rally in support of the tenants.
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In a statement to KGW, Ryan’s office said he and the Portland Housing Bureau “are committed to working towards a resolution at the Prescott Apartments.” (Read the full statement from Ryan at the end of this article) They’re sending it to Housing Commissioner Dan Ryan. They have a petition with about 300 signatures. These tenants and supporters aren’t backing down anytime soon. “I will be homeless or I will have to go to some other state.” “If I have to move, I can’t move anywhere else in the city,” Schreiner said. “This type of rent increase, it’s not a new lease, it’s an eviction without being an eviction,” Cecchini said. The fear of becoming homeless is now top of mind for many of these tenants. It is not a success if those same people get pushed back out of their housing into tents,” said Margot Black, one of the protest organizers and founder of Portland Tenants United, a nonprofit that advocates for Portland tenants. “People have moved out of homelessness and into The Prescott and into these other MULTE units. If nothing gets done in time, they’re asking for their rent to be subsidized by the city. Meanwhile, these tenants formed a union and are turning to the city for help. KGW reached out to Green Cities but hasn’t heard back yet. “That’s not enough money to move anywhere in Portland.” They’ve offered to pay the increase through the end of January and gave tenants who wanted it money to move. In a letter to tenants, Green Cities Property Management, an investment company that recently bought the building, said the increase is justified because residents’ rent has not been raised for several years, resulting in the rental rate being below MULTE limits.
“So if that new housing to those low-income people is exempt from the rent cap that’s supposed to be keeping people off the streets, you’ve defeated the whole purpose.”
“The whole point of building new housing is to try and get people off the streets,” Cecchini said. The MULTE program at The Prescott expires next year, meaning rent could soon increase for tenants there even more. Portland limits rent increases for affordable housing to 5%, but through a program called the Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption or MULTE, buildings that are newer than 15 years old, like the Prescott, are exempt from that limit for 10 years. “Essentially, that was going to make my rent the entirety one of my paychecks,” she said. “When your chest just feels like it’s going to collapse and you have no stability - that’s what it feels like,” she said.Īnother tenant, Shela Cecchini, said her rent went up $250.
She said there’s no way she can afford to live there anymore. “I’ve got a four-year-old daughter and I’m in school full time for psychology and I don’t know how I’m going to cover that,” Schreiner said. The latest increase was $403, a 43% jump. She’s been living at The Prescott for nine years and her rent has been raised twice. “My rent is almost doubling,” said Kelsey Schreiner. (KGW) - Dozens of low-income tenants and supporters filled the sidewalk outside The Prescott Apartments in North Portland on Monday morning to protest a recent rent increase of nearly 50%, asking the management company to reduce it to 5%.
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