Correction to your bolded text: $3,833.80 was just the amount put on principal. $3893.25 was the "last payment" total. Did they pay before the last payment, too? That would make the amount even higher.

Pay up bitches!

So the lease is pennies on the dollar, and the city is only charging $1400/month in penalties....seems like a pretty decent rent rate for a prime location in the heart of the city. Especially when divvied up between the dozens of resters. Maybe one less herion fix or three less Steel Reserves for each person once a month would have paid that off if they had been willing to be participants in society.

I'm being kind of jerky about it, and have a lot of sympathy for the homeless that have honestly not chosen this path for their life....but c'mon, there are options for those people slightly better than homelessness.

Yeah, "there are options for those people slightly better than homelessness." It's exactly what they have now -- and it's R2DToo. I'm downtown frequently, and they are really doing it right at at that corner. I also know one of the organizers who has been homeless as long as I've lived in Portland. He wouldn't be supporting if it was folks drinking and shooting up. I know you are just be facetious, and that shit obviously goes on in the homeless community, but R2DToo sprung up because the city doesn't have enough beds for everyone who wants one. Period.

Yes, some homeless folks are addicts, and yes some homeless folks choose to not get a job, but everyone deserves a safe space to sleep at night, I think. It was a sleazy porn store beforehand, and an empty lot after, and it my estimation it's being used for the greater good now. And it's not hurting anyone. So I think the city should just lay off and/or work with the group to find another space. Because if homeless folks aren't staying there, then they are just going to be spread throughout the city and endangered. I'm happy this is a safe space for people.

The city doesnt have the right to charger anything when its on private property. that is being leased by the landowners themselves. The city claims that the rest area is a recreational facilities. I don't see anyone there that want to be sleeping in tents. The point of the rest area is for the houseless to have a safe and uninterrupted place to sleep. So they will be able to function the next day just like you and me who need to go to work, school or where else that life take us for the day. In December alone 12 people who stayed at R2DToo found housing.

@ j'peaux & skinhnarath Thank you for the replies. I really don't like the corner probably due to the fact that I'm uncomfortable with it. I'm consistently one paycheck away from not being able to afford rent, and while I'm far from being homeless, since I do have some family and friends that would be welcome to take me in, it can scare the crap out of me.

I would agree that an empty lot is an appropriate place to have a tent rest area, but I think another reason I am somewhat uncomfortable with the location is the overall concentration of poverty in that area of Old Town and it's effect on the local businesses (uncomfortable people like me are weary of making the area anything more than a very focused destination, i.e. I'm going to Brody Theater and not even thinking about going anywhere else - not that there is much else for money spending loiterers [but how much does this have to do with businesses not setting up shop there due to the perceived concentration of poverty?])

The City does have the right to charge for land use violations. That is one of the core duties of a today's planning departments around the nation. I applaud Right 2 Dream Too's attempt to challenge this in the court however, and I hope media other than the Portland Mercury pick up the story to bring light to the fact that we have a huge problem with people who don't want to camp out for the rest of their lives. I believe the statistic of 12 people finding permanent (or at least warm) homes in December. That is great news and I hope it's a consistent statistic!