Rent Control – Bad for Landlords, Tenants, and Portland
Fair Rent Portland (“FRP”) has a proposal on this coming Tuesday’s ballot (Portland Question No. 1, not to be confused with State-wide No. 1, regarding a casino in York County), seeking to implement what it calls “rent stabilization,” a term... Read More →
The Lease I Can Do Promotion!
Or, for the grammar sticklers: The Lease, I Can Do! When you rent an apartment, house or condo, the biggest part of the rental process (aside from paying the rent) is signing the lease. The lease agreement sets out the... Read More →
It Takes Balls to Fight the CPSC
Zen Magnets, LLC won a massive victory against the CPSC on Tuesday, with a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the CPSC overstepped its bounds in its crusade against rare earth magnets and overturning the promulgated standard. The U.S.... Read More →
Portland Adopts “Housing Insecurity Policies”
After months of policy proposals, amendments and hearings, late Monday night the Portland City Council voted unanimously to adopt the Housing Committee’s five-point plan for addressing housing insecurity in Portland. The new provisions will require some additional fine-tuning to flesh... Read More →
Brush Up On Grill Safety
As Memorial Day approaches and the weather warms up, we’re all gearing up to spend more time outdoors these days and dusting off the grills to get ready for another summer. We all know the traditional safety stuff when it... Read More →
Pay It Forward: Bad Movie, Terrible Policy
A few clients, tenants and landlords alike, have recently come to me to deal with situations caused by the rental policy of “paying it forward” when it comes to tenants’ security deposits. It’s a policy that comes up most commonly... Read More →
The Legal Fiction of the “No-Fault Eviction”
There has been a lot of talk among tenants’ rights groups, the press and others in Portland about “no-fault” or “no-cause” evictions, but the truth of the matter is there is no such thing as a no-fault eviction. The term... Read More →
What to Expect When You’re Being Inspected
If you own or manage rental property in Portland, you’re undoubtedly aware of the changes that have been taking place with regard to how the City treats rental units. Portland recently established a new Office of Housing Safety and enacted... Read More →
How to get evicted when you’re not being evicted.
The flyer pictured here showed up mysteriously on doors of a Portland rental property late last week. With no letterhead, logos, signature or any identifying information as to the author, it’s hard to tell who posted these, but given the... Read More →
Safety First! A Lesson from Google’s Barge Bust
In a coastal city like Portland, Maine, it takes a lot for a ship to draw attention. All manner of maritime vessels ply the waters of Casco Bay surrounding Portland, from the ubiquitous lobster boats to the Casco Bay ferries,... Read More →