News Jun 10, 2015 at 4:20 pm

Uncapped Rent Increases Are Displacing Portland's Most Vulnerable

Comments

1
"There are very few options for renters because they have no leverage in this market," Buri says. "People are having to make some really hard choices."

and they deserve the lack of choices those stupid middle calss go their head up the wrong hole. Ill say it again- the ONLY solution is to open infrastructure. take down the walls...if only for the poor and they'll pull the rental prices down for the middle class. 200-300 bunkbeds at $200 / month = PROFIT for the owner and AFFORDABILITY for the homeless or poor college students and DEFLATION/ LEVERAGE of rental prices for the middles class.

stop reporting problems and start reporting solutions or find a different job.
2
My rent went up and I started daydreaming about the Detroit dream. About getting that $500 house, investing and rebuilding it it into something my own, all for next to nothing. I would have a great place and low living expenses. I could read and relax. I would finally have time to turn my hobbies into businesses. But at the end of the day I would still be in Michigan, a red state. I would have carved out my perfect little paradise in hell. It's the same reason I won't live in Austin, because you have to travel through the rest of Texas to get there. So I'll deal with the higher cost of living and stay in a city that values openness and equality. I'll work my butt off to stay here. I'll do anything. I love Portland.
3
That made no sense EGAZZOLA.
4
Portland is not the only nice place to live.
Eugene is still affordable, check it out.
5
So how will Portland find a win-win solution to this issue that we have been aware of for a decade or more? I' love to see who and what will make Portland rise above this bleak issue. Can we do it? How? Is anyone making gains in slowing this heartbreaking force that has ripped the cultural seams of other cities? I look forward to some more in-depth journalism on this topic as opposed to hand-wringing.
6
Rent Control is not the answer, it just locks people in to living places they no longer want to live because if they move they will lose their below market rent. The solution is to build more of a supply, and the only way that can happen is if Portland begins to allow multifamily housing to be built in places besides a few major streets.
7
@amigodeego...hate to tell you this, but Oregon is a red state without Portland.
8
I see a lot of articles on high rent prices, but what I don't see in any of them is the mention of the landlords charging the rent. When my douchebag ex-landlord tried raising my rent illegally out of retaliation, his opening sentence in his email was, "Well, it's a great time to be a landlord, but not such a great time being a tenant looking for housing these days."
For new homeowners whose mortgage is high, then charging higher rent seems reasonable. But I have to assume that the majority of rentals are owned by people who have lower mortgage payments and just rake it in and let their greed carry them away. Shame on you, landlords.
9
Unfortunately, the poor are going to have to go east of 205, where the poor and the criminals are. The elderly ought to make easy targets out there. It's hard to see the artists and musicians flocking to crumbling neighborhoods in auto oriented suburbs the way they colonized cheap close in neighborhoods following the white flight of the 50's and 60's.

I'm with Burt Reynolds, property owners ought to be shamed, but they'll hide behind the market of course. But the market determines prices...they'll say.
10
I've been witnessing this happen for the past few years in Portland--and over the past 25 years in L.A. If the stats are that horrendous for Portland--they are far worse for L.A. It has been and still is a virtual exodus from L.A. to Portland/Eugene for creative types trying to escape the madding crowds of L.A., and the scathing rents! And, as you've very succinctly put it: there is no escape! Or: the escape is no longer the escape! It's like Patti Smith said about Seattle and rock 'n roll a few years back: "This town is dead.Find a new town!" People thought Portland was "the new town," and have flocked there. And now the rents are through the roof, the traffic is INSANE....where is the new town??
11
I am a landlord in Portland. I try to keep rents as low as possible. The last few years I have seen a new Multnomah county business tax - double if in Portland and Multnomah County as my properties are. Also skyrocketing water bills and property taxes. Up to 10% a year if certain levies pass. I absorbed this for years! The squeeze was put on me. Since I can't go bankrupt and stay a landlord, I more and more raise the rent. I am not netting more money! The city, county and water however are netting vast surpluses. Please understand then what is causing the upwards spiral. Also see if rents were controlled without the landlords costs contained what kinds of landlords you will have left when the ones like myself are forced out. By the way, I have multiple section 8's we pay the water on. No vacancies in the foreseeable future.
12
I think Than's point is well taken. We need to understand who is profiting from the higher rents. There's always been a strategy of buy rental property, raise the rent, sell it for a new price based on the higher rent. Repeat. Personally I think the city should control the price of property, because it's flipping that raises prices over and over, and no-one wins but the capitalists.
13
The reason your rent is so high is because your landlord is making you pay all the Multnomah taxes, for the luxury of living here. So think about all the disadvantaged people you're actually helping by paying too much to live in Portland. Good, citizen.
15
Don't forget AirBnB and Vacasas rentals. Tourists get to rent whole houses, while Portlanders are forced into apartments the size of hotel rooms. Taxes go unpaid.

BDS will not pro-actively pursue illegal rentals- it is up to citizens to check pictures on the websites, identify the properties & call BDS- which will whine.

If we had a few full time investigators we could put an end to whole buildings downtown where investors bought condos that are mostly used for AirBnB.

It won't solve all our problems, but we could house about 5,000 Portlanders if we killed the leeches that are AirBnB and Vacasa and VRBO.

If you are using AirBnB to make it- tough titties. If everyone who is in financial distress
broke the law- we would have no civilized society. Nut up and get a room mate or get financial counselling.
16
@AmigoDeego I have done the "Detroit" thing very recently and I submit to you the wealthier the city of Portland gets the less open it will become. How can you think it values equality if the majority of people who aren't rich are pushed out for predominately rich white people? I was heartbroken to leave but it was great decision. Oh, and btw, it doesn't cost "next to nothing" to get a house, fix it up, move 2400 miles, find a job, leave all your contacts behind and start over in Michigan. It costs a lot to me, but I'm not wealthy, and it's been worth every penny. There's more diversity and open people here in Detroit than you realize and more coming all the time. It's a red state sure, but defining a place by a made up context of "blue" or "red" is an example of how few people really know anything about the world outside their own narrow window whether progressive or conservative.
17
@Bianka Black

I've lived in four different countries on three different continents. I've lived in over a dozen states, mostly red, and visited every state except Hawaii. I don't think I have a "narrow window". I spent many years living in liberal bastions inside of conservative states (Tucson, Austin, Memphis, etc.) I have no wish to do it again. I no longer want be the single blue dot in a sea of red. I just want to have a beer with like-minded people and send my kids to schools where creationism is not taught alongside evolution. I'm sure in twenty years Detroit and maybe Michigan will be an awesome place for someone like me. And it will all be thanks to enterprising individuals like you.
18
The rental property owners in inner Portland are ripping everyone off and not just the poor. But the city is in on it too, with high property taxes and high water/sewer bills. I promise you that Portlanders aren't rich, so there is some kind of mental disconnect that can't continue. However if you are willing to skip hot/popular places like Hawthorne, Alameda or NW 23rd, there are still good deals without having to live in high crime neighborhoods.
19
It costs a lot to live in a city, and this is not a Portland-only issue. We are finally catching up with other major west coast cities from a cost of living perspective, and the acute pain comes because the catch up is happening so rapidly. As others have noted, the high and rising city taxes do not help things.

One cannot have it all in any major west coast city, ...i.e. wish to live in a vibrant, close-in spot with great schools, bars and restaurants, etc. on anything but a "professional"-like salary. Our economy has simply grown to a point where there are more than enough 60k, 70k, 90k + earners to fill the demand for limited close-in rentals and home purchases.

Sorry for the long post, but the moral of the story is that the rents and home values we are currently seeing are not a uniquely Portland thing (and remain lower than places like Seattle, San Fran, popular LA neighborhoods,). It isn't driven by "Portlandia" episodes, ice cream shops, or any other popular scapegoats. It is simple economics driven by the changes in Portland's economy and people's discovery that we have (had) all these great amenities at a discounted cost of living to the rest of the West Coast. We can and should talk about issues like subsidized affordable housing, but unfortunately, this will only help a small percentage of those affected and there isn't a whole lot anyone can do about the overall picture as long as we have a free market.
20
The difference between Portland and all those other west coast cities - that have already felt the sting - is....Portlanders still make drastically less money than those other city dwellers. The "catch up" process is two pronged, and we've only got the one - the skyrocketing rents.
21
I'd LOVE to see some reporting on the history of why the State pre-empts rent control.
23
PS - mayor hales is a dumb ass...just had to throw that out ther- is %100 relevant to this thread
24
Not sure what all that other stuff is on my comment. Sorry, on my smartphone
25
I agree with reverendbiteme... people shying away from buying (when prices were low, like 2010) and the rise of the sharing economy have contributed to this current situation. Yeah, the rent is always too high, but traditionally, rooms, from people that weren't property management automatons, helped fill the needs. Now, it is a lot easier for them to air bnb and not deal with flaky tenants.

Putting the air bnb fee revenue into 1) enforcement and 2) affordable housing was no brainer. I.e., something we can't expect from city of Portland muckety mucks.
26
I find it interesting (or not, since almost everyone there is white and hasn't a clue about the real U.S.) that no one commented on what would seem to me to be one of the most troublesome issues: "PHB's first 'State of Housing in Portland' report, published in April, indicates there are zero neighborhoods in town where the average working African American or Native American household can afford a two-bedroom apartment."

Great reporting, however!
27
Yep
We pay 970 for two bedroom apt in raliegh hills, been notified rent is going up 300 or so when lease is up in August. What's really fun is all the construction activity noise and daily parade of contractor dudes on our patio taking weeks to finish work that should be completed in a day or so.....
GOOD BYE and RIDDANCE PORTLAND.....
28
I guess people that have lived here all their lives and refuse to uproot can just turn to black market ways to make rent. I recall a TV show where a teacher started making meth to pay his bills. That would be great for the city!
29
@AC-1......wait a minute I thought Portland was the real US...your telling me ~%85 white people in smurf pants and elf boots with overgrown beards and too much friendliness to spare as their biggest problem is non-vegan vendors is not what it means to be an american?
30
@JTR: Sorry, but this is much less about a changing economy in the organic sense than it is about an influx of moneyed people and those that cater to them from other locations prospecting in poor neighborhoods. There's no evidence to show that employment sector trends have changed drastically in the last ten years, but many to show that the demographics have. You can want it to be that way, but it ain't that way.
31
i have lived here for tens years. we just moved out of a house that is 7 miles north of downtown. we lived in it for 3 almost 4 years, but our landlords saw rising rents and raised ours. the house was sinking and full of mold. cracked windows, and so on. they are leaving it in the same state and raised the rent 300 dollars. assuming we would find a place we gave our notice 6 weeks before the end of the may. we have been 2nd or 3rd in line for applications until this week. now we are moving to Beaverton. Portland as we have known it is gone. transplants should be expected. unrealistic rent rises that displace people are the problem. you thought the homeless were a problem before just wait. for us it hasn't been about the money, but the race and we are just too slow. its pretty crazy to have never been homeless in my life and to now be. we have gone from hotel, to friends house,and back to a hotel at the end of this month. we have 15 days before our new apt will be ready. even if you believe we deserve it because we haven't yet purchased a house; there is no way we could have expected this.
32
If I were just starting out in life on my own, I don't think Portland would make the long list of places I would want to set out to find adventure and make a name for myself. So tame and blameless.
33
I'm happy to see the discussion here has mostly not reverted to name calling and sarcasm, unlike all the things I've read from the wi!!amette &$@k. I think it might be partially due to the professionalism and good, non-sarcastic/negative reporting done by the author, as opposed to t. Hu&$t from the other paper. Thank you for starting this discussion.
34
@Smb - That's a wild story! I definitely don't think you deserve to be homeless while looking for a new place - but you finished by saying 'there was no way we could have expected this!' That part's crazy - why did you think your landlord was raising your rent? It's because there are a lot of other people who want to live there. When you gave notice before finding another place, you volunteered to walk out into that crowd and hope for the best.

There are a lot of comments in this thread about 'greedy landlords,' but that's crazy. Demand is the problem - there are a LOT of people moving to town, and we haven't been building enough new places. That's the only problem - if there were more apartments than there were people, rent would be super cheap. People hate infill housing, and people hate replacing old Portland homes with apartment buildings, but there are only a few choices. We can build up, and keep the center of town busy. We can build out, and add new suburbs and turn into LA and Dallas. Or we can stop having babies and letting people here.

Here's Portland's population growth compared to other cities on the West coast: http://www.pdxpatentoffice.com/_/rsrc/1327…
35
Reymont: you say that talking about "greedy landlords" is crazy because demand is high. A high demand does not require property owners to raise rents to the extent that many Portland-area renters have seen, it merely gives property owners the opportunity to do so.

You've posted about being a landlord many times on Blogtown. How much have you raised your tenants' rents over the past couple of years? How much have your costs of doing business raised in the same amount of time? How much has your profit increased or decreased?
36
@albert - Charging the going rate doesn't qualify someone as 'greedy,' though. 'Average' has to be the definition of 'normal,' right?

I've done some small rent increases on existing tenants - less than $100/month - but for the most part I've done my big raises when someone moves out and I re-rent. I just rented a 1-bedroom for $995/month this week, but a tenant in the same building who's been there a few years is still paying $800/month. My biggest 2-bedroom is also still at $800/month, because they've been there a long time. I won't do any AirBnB rentals in my buildings.

I'll need to bring everyone up to market rates soon though. It's time to sell some of the buildings, and the sales price is based on the rent income, so I need to get it as high as I can. I don't mind forgoing some monthly income to keep good tenants in there, but I can't delay selling the building without delaying my own retirement, and that's important to me.
37
Oh, and you asked about my costs. My property taxes have gone up by $195/month over the last 5 years, I just looked that up. Garbage and recycling has gone up by $50/month. I don't know about electricity and natural gas, but water/sewer is the big one and it's gone up by quite a bit. I pay about $415/month now, and I think it was under $275, five years ago. Insurance goes up every year as well, based on the supposed 'replacement cost' of the buildings.

So, yes, costs have gone up a lot - but no, they haven't gone up as much as rent has.

Landlords who have owned for years are making more now than they were before. But that's factored into the sales price of the buildings, which is interesting! Your first few years, until rent goes up, your costs are about the same as your rents. People are willing to pay that much for the buildings because they are making a big bet that rent will go up over time. A lot of people end up losing money for the first few years, until rents goes up more than costs do.
38
This article begins with an account of a woman whose rent was increased $337 per month. Stories like this have become common in Portland. I certainly know people who have been in a similar situation. Landlords can do that because that's what the market and laws allow. If the tenant can't afford the rent, he/she/they can move out, try to find something affordable, and -- if he/she/they can't afford to buy a residence -- hope the next landlord doesn't raise rents as much. That's what's become normal in Portland. Does that normality mean that the landlords who significantly raise their tenants' rents aren't being greedy? Does that mean that other landlords who follow suit and raise their tenants' rents accordingly, driving up the average rent, aren't also being greedy? I don't buy the argument.

You say that you will "need" to raise the rents in some of your buildings as high as you can, because that allows you to sell the buildings for a higher price. "Need" is not the correct word. It's not a need. It's a choice. It's a decision. Your retirement is important to you. Of course it is. Having a home that one can afford to live in is important to that person, too.

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