PHB Allows Landlord to Charge Tenants for Bedrooms that Do Not Exist
The tenants at Everett Station Lofts have been fighting a long battle. For over 20 years, the landlords have been vastly overcharging residents that live in their designated affordable housing units. They managed this by making up non-existent bedrooms in each of their studio (read: 0 bedroom) lofts, pricing them as if they had 2, 3, or even 4 bedrooms – an outright lie, and a violation of their 1998 affordable housing contract with the City of Portland.
When families that qualified for the affordable units moved in, they were shocked to find that the apartments had none of the promised bedrooms and were forced to construct makeshift partitions out of curtains and boxes to create some semblance of privacy. They’ve lived like this for years, all the while paying for the rooms they don’t have.
Last summer, after much advocacy, the tenants believed they’d received a glimmer of hope.
Portland Housing Bureau (PHB), the department responsible for overseeing the city’s affordable housing contracts, wrote in a July 2024 letter addressed to the owners of the building: “After extensive research and review by PHB’s Risk Analysis & Compliance team, PHB has determined that rents should be based on the HUD limits for a 1-bedroom apartment throughout the remaining term of the Regulatory Agreement in order to align with the requirements of the Regulatory Agreement and PHB’s administrative practices.”
There was initial excitement, and then months of waiting. PHB couldn’t have been more clear – so why hadn’t their rent gone down? The hostile property management began taunting tenants, stating they would not be complying with the letter. In fact, they claimed that they would get PHB to change their position. As tenants started to ramp up their organizing efforts by knocking on doors and distributing the summer letter, management threatened them and tried to shut them down.
For months, tenants sought answers on when PHB would enforce their decision and lower their rents. They were ignored, delayed, and told to wait. Meanwhile, PHB continued private backchannel communication with the landlords.
Last month, in a cruel and absurd move, PHB wrote another letter overturning their previous decision. The reason? Neither PHB nor the landlords could produce the original agreed-upon rent schedule. While PHB did have a rent schedule from 1998 that listed all lofts as equivalent 1-bedroom units restricted to $523/month, the landlords failed to complete it. PHB director Helmi Hisserich exploited this fact to rule in the landlords’ favor. She called the agreement “ambiguous”. She noted that what the landlords are doing would normally be illegal if HUD dollars were involved, but because the affordable housing loan provided by the city was locally funded, she could technically allow it. So she did. Against all logic, reason, and PHB’s very own “extensive research and review.”
In response, tenants have redoubled their organizing efforts. On Thursday, February 6th, a group of tenants and RAN organizers rallied outside of the PHB office with large printouts of the original PHB letter and agreement. They called out Helmi Hisserich’s bias and collusion with the landlords of Everett Station Lofts. They circled in bright red ink a document listing the rent tiers by number of bedrooms and wrote “THESE BEDROOMS DO NOT EXIST!”
The fight has been long, but it’s just getting started. We will not allow Helmi and PHB to get away with doing the landlords’ dirty work. We stand with the tenants of Everett Station Lofts, and we ask that you do the same! Follow us for information on upcoming events, rallies, and actions to force PHB to do right by the tenants.