A&G Rental Management, a rental management company in Portland recently agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by a former tenant for $105,000. The suit was filed earlier this year and alleged that the former tenant, Aleina Langford, lived in “deplorable living conditions that included hypodermic needles, rats and overflowing garbage at her Southeast Portland apartment complex.” To make matters worse, her attorney, Michael Fuller, claimed the rental management company sent a “collection agency after her seeking more than $1,500 in so-called bogus charges.”As a result of the alleged deplorable living conditions and bogus charges, Langford filed a lawsuit against the rental management company for emotional harm. When commenting on his client's decision to sue, Fuller said, “She didn’t fall through a walkway, and she didn’t get poisoned by lead. This was a case where she was treated like it didn’t matter and all of her concerns were ignored.”

Apartment Building; image courtesy of Pexels via Pixabay, www.pixabay.com

For Langford and many of her fellow tenants, the complaints against the rental management company began back in September 2016 when their rent increased by 45 percent. Such a drastic increase bumped Langford’s rent from $825 per month to $1,200 per month. That's more than many people pay for their monthly mortgage.To combat the price increase, a group of tenants began circulating fliers “chastising the man they identified as the new owner of the company that recently bought the apartment complex.” According to Langford, the flier's “featured a photo of her young son standing outside the family’s apartment and holding a sign that read: 'My mom can’t afford $1200 a month. She worries every day. Someone was shot right here.”Despite the tenant's complaints, the rent increase was enacted and was totally legal at the time. Unfortunately, the price increase caused many, including Langford, to move. When commenting on her experience, Langford said she fought an “uphill fight against the management company from the beginning, and she felt powerless at times.” She added, “If you complain about something like I did throughout your whole tenancy and nothing happens, you just feel disheartened,”Prior to the hike in rent prices, Langford said she endured the deplorable living conditions because in Portland, rents are expensive and she “didn't think she would find a cheaper, better place to live.” However, when her rent increased to $1200 per month, she had to move. Shortly afterward, she reached out to Legal Aid of Oregon for help. The organization referred her to Fuller and the two filed a formal lawsuit against A&G Rental Management.Fortunately for Langford, A&G Rental Management finally agreed to a settlement. Shortly after the settlement announcement, Langford said, “I'm just relieved that it's all over.” Fuller also chimed in about the settlement, saying “such big wins by tenants are rare enough that he’s heard of only two other tenant-landlord lawsuits in Portland in which landlords have ended up paying more than $100,000.”

Sources:

Portland tenant secures $105k settlement after complaining of bad living conditions

Oregon Rental Company Settles for $105k in Living Conditions Suit