Portland tenant wins thousands of dollars in rent control case against landlord

PORTLAND (WGME) — A $16,500 settlement has been reached in a Portland rent control violation case, and for the first time since the ordinance went into effect, the tenant will receive substantial compensation.

However, the city did not impose any fines; it was a private agreement between landlord and tenant.

Portland renter Bradley Davis reported his landlord in the spring after she offered him a lease that violated the city's rent control ordinance. After he complained, his landlord, Elizabeth Kane, rescinded the lease offer for her Sawyer Street apartment.

After weeks of hearings, the city's rent board found that Kane had violated retaliation rules by charging too much rent and failing to register her apartment with the city. In June, the board recommended that Kane be fined $8,700 plus $200 a day until the violations were corrected.

In June, Davis said, he asked the city for help in reaching an agreement, but they refused.

“We had gone through this whole process and proved that city ordinances had been violated,” Davis said. “And when I was told the city wasn't going to help me fix those violations, it felt like we were back to square one.”

Since Portland's rent control ordinance went into effect in 2021, the city has never issued major fines. Instead, staff works with landlords to fix violations and repay overpaid rent.

In a memo on the Sawyer Street case, the city's legal team explained that if the city had pursued the penalties in court, the case would have taken much longer to resolve. Additionally, they would have paid any penalties to the city, not the tenant.

Wes Pelletier, a tenants' rights activist and candidate for Portland City Council, wants the city's stance to change. He says the city should be able to enforce rent control without settlements costing thousands of dollars.

“This is due to the city not enforcing rent control laws sufficiently,” Pelletier said. “This costs the landlord a lot of money and the tenant a lot of stress and time defending their home.”

CBS13 has reached out to the landlord several times for comment since June but has not received a response.

But Brit Vitalius, president of the Southern Maine Landlord Association, says he is grateful that the city is not quick to impose fines that would hurt landlords.

“We have one of the strictest rent controls,” Vitalius said. “And the city gives all the power to the tenants and leaves all the costs to the landlords.”

Davis says the agreement allows him to stay in his apartment for a few more months, but he will move out on September 1.