I’m writing in support of An Act to Amend Rent Control and Tenant Protections. I’ve been a landlord in Portland since 2008 and have never raised rent on a tenant, ever, and I don’t want to. I wait until they move out and adjust accordingly with a new tenant who can commit to the higher amount every month, if necessary.

If I have to raise rents every year to protect myself from increasing costs of repairs, taxes, insurance and upkeep, I will do that – but with the greatest amount of bitterness that I can only hope will motivate me to go after the ill-willed who are so universally, irrationally hostile to all landlords.

This is one of the most vicious rent control ordinances in the entire country. The real problem is not the landlords, it’s the lack of available units, and the original laws do nothing to remedy that situation. It’s a question of supply and demand.

Creating more units is the fix. In the meantime, please don’t put us in a position where we have to raise rents yearly to protect ourselves when we really would rather not.

Peggy Cloutier
Portland