February 4, 2025
Dear (Senator Pham, Representative Chotzen, Commissioner Brim-Edwards, City Councilor Koyama Lane, City Councilor Morillo, City Councilor Novick:
I’m writing to plea for your help in stopping our landlord from making those of us here at Portland Pines RV and Mobil Home Park, living on a fixed income, homeless. Please support H.B. 3054, although as you can see it doesn’t go far enough to prevent unscrupulous landlords from making people on fixed incomes like me homeless.
For your information, , I will turn Sixty-five this year, am totally-blind, partially-deaf, and recovering from a stroke I had last April.
Today, February 4th, I received the third consecutive annual notice of a rent increase from the new landlord. Fortunately, the former landlord had only increased the rent three times in the last twenty years, so, along with my stroke and disabilities, the rent increase has been both stressful and financially burdensome. Especially more lately because of inflation.
Additionally, there has been very little improvements in the park itself, according to my care giver. Only one washer works, and none of the dryers work. I feel the explanation for the continuous increase in rent must be greed, and only a legislative body such as yourself can solve this problem.
Unfortunately, our previous landlord, Marilyn, died in 2022 and the park was quickly sold to an investment company from California, Monte Christo Communities Inc., which may explain why there are so many homeless people in California . When they bought the park, within days they immediately increased the rent by 10%, and have increased the rent every year since.
To further document their greed, shortly after they took over the park they passed out a new lease for tenants to sign, which stated that our rent would no longer include the cost of water, sewage, and trash removal (approximately $100 per month).
As you probably know, the Oregon Legislature passed a bill in 2022 making it unnecessary for long term current tenants to sign a new lease, except they never told me or as far as I know any of the other disabled and/or elderly renters that they were not obligated to sign. Except for coercion, there was no incentive or benefit for anyone to sign the new lease. It was clearly a deceptive business practice, and maybe even criminal, clearly attempting to take advantage of vulnerable people who wouldn’t or couldn’t question the manager’s request to sign the new lease.
Obviously, this corporation was aware of the 2022 Bill and by immediately printing and handing out to all the tenants a new lease weeks later, it shows a tremendous lack of respect toward both the work of the Oregon Legislature and the interests of the elderly and disabled people who live here.
At the time I wrote to a local attorney from the Portland Renters Association, Troy Pickard, and for your convenience have included my original E mail and his response to document this incident (attached below).
We need a law that either, requires landlords to, with a few exceptions, only increase the rent every other year by not more than 10%, or that requires landlords make sure the rent increase does not exceed the annual COLA amount, which is set by the Social Security Administration and as you probably know is based on the rate of inflation.
I feel this is the only reasonable solution that will protect both fair-minded landlords and responsible tenants. You should know, in the twenty-five years I have lived here at the park, I have never been late on my rent. I hope that mean something to somebody, or I may also end up being homeless in a few years.
You may know that living in a trailer park is as cheap as it gets, and most of us have no other choice. I’m asking the legislature to not let Oregon become another California. Please take steps to slow down the greed of these investment brokers from out of state, who apparently only see our home as an investment property.
Your time is very appreciated.
Sincerely,
Don Wolfe.
(503) 774-3424
Portland, OR 97266
[email protected]
ATTACHMENTS: 2
*****************************
Tue 9/5/2023 7:42 PM
Hi Don,
My first thought is that you have no obligation to sign a new lease at all. In the good old days, a landlord could have just given you a no cause termination
notice even if you’d been living at the park for 13 years. Those days are over, and there is now a nice advantage for the tenant in just being month-to-month
rather than on a fixed-term lease, and very little downside.
So, you could just say: “Hey, I’m not particularly interested in signing a new lease right now. If you can explain how the new lease would be advantageous
to me, and you give me an accessible copy, then I’d be happy to consider it. Otherwise, I’ll pass.”
If that’s not the way you want to go, then you could certainly hire me to send them a scary letter demanding that they provide you with an accessible copy
of this proposed lease – but I’d be reluctant to have you pay me to do that, just so you can get your hands on this new proposed lease that you might not
even want in the first place.
If, after reading, you still think you want to hire me for the letter, let me know. My firm would charge you $600. Again, I’m skeptical about whether that’s
the right move.
-Troy
Troy PickardManaging AttorneyPortland Defender PC
www.portlanddefender.com
Portland Defender | Renters Rights Attorney
Renters rights attorney in Portland helps tenants sue bad landlords and protects renters from unjust evictions throughout the State of Oregon
www.portlanddefender.com
503.592.0606
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Don Wolfe
Don Wolfe
Tue 9/5/2023 11:34 AM
September 5, 2023
Hello,
I am completely blind, partially deaf, and will turn 63 later this month. I’m looking for someone who can call me to discuss some questions I have about our new lease here at the park.
First, I’m having trouble getting the park manager to send me an accessible copy of the new lease, which is over forty pages long. I have requested twice for this accommodation but she is ignoring me. Can you help?
Below is a letter I sent last week with some other concerns about the changes in the lease which is supposed to take effect in October of 2023.
Thank you,
Don Wolfe
503-774-3424
**************
August 22, 2023
Hello Debbie,
On August 22, 2023, My care giver, Vera, provided me with the new contract which I was unable to read, because as you know I’m completely blind.
Furthermore, spending a hour reading me a forty page contract is not within Vera’s purview, as my care giver.
As I have many questions and concerns about the terms of the contract, based on what you told Vera, I am troubled that I have no way to contact the California “investors directly.” And since you never answer your phone, which is understandable, and have not responded to my questions, sent to you by Vera on August 15th since I have no cell phone, I am not obligated to sign anything I can’t read myself or ask questions about.
Further, I’ve written to the Sacramento address previously provided twice and have received no reply, suggesting the address is a dead letter drop, presumably to protect the new owners from all liability.
sIgnoring a tenant with a disability, since I have always paid my rent in full and on time every month, is very disrespectful. In fact, as you know one of these letters sent in April of this year included evidence that I was intentionally injured by a cement block placed in front of my gate by a private contracter of Portland Pines .
I request as an accommodation to my disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act that the voluminous contract be provided in a digital format, which should be available to the person who wrote this document. You can mail it to me here at the park, or give a disk with the information to Vera next Tuesday, August 29, 2023. Or to speed up things, you can E mail it to me directly at: [email protected]
Since I only check my E mail a couple times a week, unless you give it directly to Vera, it would be helpful to send her a text confirming that the information requested is being provided.
Please be advised, I will need at least a couple weeks to review the contract, and either sign it or provide a written response to the owners, which will probably take an additional couple weeks.
Your assistance is very appreciated.
Sincerely,
Don Wolfe
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August 22, 2023
Hello Debbie,
On August 22, 2023, My care giver, Vera, provided me with the new contract which I was unable to read, because as you know I’m completely blind.
Furthermore, spending a hour reading me a forty page contract is not within Vera’s purview, as my care giver.
As I have many questions and concerns about the terms of the contract, based on what you told Vera, I am troubled that I have no way to contact the California “investors directly.” And since you never answer your phone, which is understandable, and have not responded to my questions, sent to you by Vera on August 15th since I have no cell phone, I am not obligated to sign anything I can’t read myself or ask questions about.
Further, I’ve written to the Sacramento address previously provided twice and have received no reply, suggesting the address is a dead letter drop, presumably to protect the new owners from all liability.
Ignoring a tenant with a disability, since I have always paid my rent in full and on time every month, is very disrespectful. In fact, as you know one of these letters sent in April of this year included evidence that I was intentionally injured by a cement block placed in front of my gate by a private contracter of Portland Pines .
I request as an accommodation to my disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act that the voluminous contract be provided in a digital format, which should be available to the person who wrote this document. You can mail it to me here at the park, or give a disk with the information to Vera next Tuesday, August 29, 2023. Or to speed up things, you can E mail it to me directly at: [email protected]
Since I only check my E mail a couple times a week, unless you give it directly to Vera, it would be helpful to send her a text confirming that the information requested is being provided.
Please be advised, I will need at least a couple weeks to review the contract, and either sign it or provide a written response to the owners, which will probably take an additional couple weeks.
Your assistance is very appreciated.
Sincerely,
Don Wolfe
****************
September 6, 2023
Hello,
I found your E mail online and I haven’t received a response from Deborah Sleeper, park Manager of Portland Pines, which is apparently one of your properties.
For your convenience, I’m attaching those E mails below.
While I only know the details of the new lease through my care giver and haven’t read it, I did seek the advice of a local attorney who deals with renter issues. He suggested I say the following with regard to signing a new lease, because of new renter laws in Oregon that give tenants more protection.
“I’m not particularly interested in signing a new lease right now. If you can explain how the new lease would be advantageous to me, and you give me an accessible copy, then I’d be happy to consider it. Otherwise, I’ll pass.”
Thank you, Don Wolfe, Lot 23
********
September 5, 2023
Hello Debbie,
I wanted to remind you that I need an accessible copy of the lease, preferably in RTF or TXT format. You or the owners can E mail it to me.
When is this supposed to be signed, since Vera never said?
It sure makes me suspicious that there may be other things in the lease the new owners don’t want me to know, until after I sign it. I’m wondering, do they expect my care giver to read all forty pages to me?
Thanks,
Don
**********
August 30, 2023
Hello Debbie,
Since my care giver is leaving today for two weeks, I wanted to remind you that I need an accessible copy of the lease before I can sign it.
Although I put this in my text I had Vera send you, I would like to repeat that request since I now have your Portland Pines E mail.
As a person who is completely blind, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, I am requesting that the new lease be provided to me by E mail in an accessible format. This would be most accessible if it were a digital copy, in RTF or TXT format. This way my screen reader will be able to read every word.
Unfortunately, scanning a document doesn’t provide this same level of accessibility, and often mispronounces many of the words. Besides, I learned yesterday that my scanner is no longer working, which is very strange since it worked the last time we used it.
While it seems reasonable to split the cost of trash removal among everyone evenly, As I mentioned in the text Vera sent you, splitting up the water evenly is fundamentally unfair to people who live alone. And since most people with disabilities are on Social Security Disability or SSI and tend to live alone, this violates our equal protection rights under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Obviously, spaces with more than one adult use more water and produce more sewage and should pay their fair share
Also, it seems like we should get a three month notice for this change, since we received a three month notice about the rent increase, which was financially far less devastating.
Also, it would be helpful to have this take effect in January, when we receive our Social Security COLA increase, around $40 or $50 for me. It would also be helpful for the new owners to commit to not raising the rent again in 2024.
It seems to me that the new owners do not care about those of us on fixed incomes. And it appears that this business, that is fundamentally the same business it has always been, is only an investment property to the new owners. Once it shows a profit on paper I suspect they will quickly sell it off as an investment asset, much like Mitt Romney used to do, and move on to some other more lucrative investment property. Meanwhile, those of us on a fixed income are left behind with no affordable place to live.
Thank you for letting me express my thoughts.
Sincerely,
Don Wolfe, Lot 23
******************
Don Wolfe
7911 S.E. 82nd Avenue, No. 23
Portland, OR 97266
(503) 774-3424
S.S. No.: 380-782124
December 26, 2023
SNAP Benefits Reporting Center
Oregon Department of Human Services
PO Box 14015
Salem, OR 97309
Re: Reporting changes in household expenses.
To whom it may concern:
I’m writing to report changes in my expenses, that I was not fully aware of at the time I last reported in September my income and expenses.
I apologize for some additional details and the attached exhibits that may not be relevant to my SNAP benefits. However, I may need to file an additional complaint against my landlord with BOLI or the Fair Housing Administration, and these details may be necessary. For your information, here’s a little background.
I’m sixty-three years old, completely blind and about 40% deaf. I have been run over three times, and one of these accidents may have been intentional. As a result, I have not left my home or yard since February of 2015. I receive Social Security Disability Income and Survivor’s Benefits, totaling around $1100 per month. I have a care-giver that gets my groceries and medicine.
I own an RV and rent a space in a RV and Mobil Home Park in southeast Portland since 2008, called Portland Pines. Along with paying rent ($487.75 per month) I also currently pay for electric, which I use to heat my home.
When I last reported my income and expenses in September of 2023 I also reported I was informed by the manager that I would have to begin paying for water, sewage, and garbage, beginning in October of 2023 at a cost of somewhere between $70 and $100 per month.
When I sent the manager an E mail (see enclosed copy), the manager was vague about when residents would begin paying this amount, and whether she felt it was fair that residents would be charged by space rather than the number of adults living at each space. Most elderly and people with disabilities live alone, so I felt this was discriminatory toward these groups. Further, I argued that the new owners could put in a meter that would calculate the water being use, and therefore, would not discriminate against people who live alone, such as the elderly and people with disabilities.
Ever since it was created, the park, under a different name, had paid for these extra services as part of our rent. However, when the owner died and the park was sold to some greedy investors from California in February, they immediately raised the rent by 10%, which took effect in May of this year. And in August, the manager, Debbie Sleeper, gave my care-giver, Vera Smmith, a copy of the new lease, which included the new policy regarding water, sewage, and garbage removal (see enclosed copy).
As examples of the new owners lack of trustworthiness, the new lease was forty pages long, where the previous lease was only three pages.
In addition, even though the manager knows I’m completely blind, she did not provide an accessible copy. Apparently they expected my care-giver would read this complex legal document to me and I would obediently sign it. Even though I asked for an accessible copy several times in E mails (see enclosed copies), it was almost a month before am accessible copy (RTF format) was provided, my renewal application for SNAP benefits was due by September 12th. As you can see, this created a dilemma as to whether or not to report this increase in expenses. I decided to report the change.
In September I contacted a local renters association, who put me in touch with their attorney, Troy Pickard. In an E mail I contacted Troy and explained my situation. He informed me that under a new 2023 state law I was not required to sign a new lease since I lived in this park for over twenty years (see copy of E ,mail from Troy).
After sending Portland Pines an E mail, which included Troy’s advice, I was contacted by a woman named Alyssa, a representative of Portland Pines, who informed me that she expected renters to begin paying for the water in January of 2024. She thought these payments would begin at $20, and increase to $100 over the next year. To date, Portland Pines has not billed me for this expense, and based on what I was told by Troy, I do not intend to pay anything.
Personally, I feel everybody should pay a little something toward our services and utilities, if they have it, However, Alyssa said she expects everyone will eventually be forced to pay market value for not only the water, sewage, and garbage removal, we will eventually have to pay the market value for the rent. Alyssa explained the current market value of each space is around $950.
In conclusion, I don’t know when if ever I will be forced to pay for water, sewage, and garbage, if asked I intend to refuse to pay anything. Unless of course, the owners negotiate a reasonable amount, that like the rent will not be increased beyond the 10% allowed per year.
Please call me if you have any questions. I hope by reporting these circumstances in a timely manner I have met my obligation and would not be penalized.
Finally, with regard to expenses, I have also enclosed a receipt for a new water heater (at $250) I had to purchase last month.
Your time is appreciated.
Sincerely,
Don Wolfe
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(September 4, 2024 to Portland Pines sent to Monte Christo Communities Inc.)
Hello,
I am a resident at Portland Pines and would like to report an incident of discrimination, so you may take appropriate action.
First of all, last Thursday, August 30th, a person or persons began throwing stones at my fence and RV, all day long. I decided to ignore it, hoping these children would soon grow tired of this game and go away. But I was mistaken.
This morning, September 4th, at about 9:00 a.m., someone began banging on something with a hammer. It sounded like someone was banging on my back gate, so I little while later, I went outside to check it out. When I walked bye the fence along Unit 22, without saying anything, someone threw a shovel of gravel at the fence at waist level where I was standing. apparently, trying to scare me.
I instinctively yelled what are you doing and a man yelled back, he wasn’t doing anything, even though he had clearly threw a shovel of stones at me, trying to scare me.
I said, “That’s pretty sick, throwing stones at a blind man.” He claimed he didn’t know I was blind, except I don’t think this was true. Otherwise, he should have feared someone might shoot him for what he did, and blind people usually don’t own guns.
Things quickly escalated and we began arguing, and he challenged me to come outside and we would settle this, saying, ” You never come out!”
The reason I never come out is that several years ago someone began throwing stones at my feet when I walked down to check my mail. I don’t it was, but it came from the lot which is kitty corner from me, where Alan, the former manager and his wife Debbie lived.
I’m disappointed that Rose didn’t call me this morning to find out what was going on. Instead she decided to call my care giver, So far, I have been unable to get my care giver to call me back and give me Rosa’s telephone number, so I’m writing to you to report this matter.
Your time is appreciated. I trust you will take appropriate action.
Thank you,
Don
Wolfe