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The manager of Clarendon Terrace, a North Portland apartment complex that was slapped with 60 building code violations back in October, says he plans on fixing every violation noted by city inspectors—and that neither he nor the property owners were aware of the violations in the first place.
"I contacted the owner and talked to an attorney as well," says Kyle Fuller, the property manager. "[The owner] never received the mail from [the city] informing them of these violations. The violations sitting—it makes the case look worse, but it's really not. It's just a matter of not having the information in front of us. We are currently working with the head inspector on getting an extension from [the city]."
WW wrote about Clarendon Terrace last week, noting it as an example of a troubling trend in a hot rental market: landlords hiking rents before doing basic upkeep. (One Clarendon Terrace tenant received notice this summer of a 38 percent rent increase to $725 a month.)
Ed Marihart, housing inspection supervisor at the city's Bureau of Development Services, says the city sent a notice Oct. 22 to Pacific Coast Capital Investors, the California-based company that owns the property.
The bureau sends notices by regular mail, and nothing, thus far, has been returned to sender. "We assume that they got it," Marihart says, "because it wasn't returned by the Postal Service."
Marihart also says extensions are not granted "just because they didn't get a letter. The manager or owner have to show other extenuating circumstances or good faith progress made on fixing the violations."
An inspector is scheduled to visit the property later this week in order to determine whether or not Clarendon Terrace qualifies for a 30-day extension. An inspector has requested to look at 10 other units on the property—which is allowed under the city's Enhanced Rental Inspection Program, a program running only in parts of North and East Portland.
A Clarendon Terrace tenant filed an initial complaint with the city in June 2015, alleging rodent problems, no heat, and a unit in general disrepair, but the complaint was closed in July when the tenant failed to follow up with the bureau.
Fuller says the code violations are most likely a result of the previous owners, who, he says, ran the place into the ground. (Pacific Coast Capital Investors bought the property in September 2014, according to the county assessor.)
"We can only do as a team what the tenants request," Fuller says. "If the tenants aren't reaching out and just expect us to do something, it's unrealistic. I'm planning on going through each of the units with the maintenance team and fixing everything. This is not what the owners or I are about."
Willamette Week