Landlord Agrees to Dismiss Eviction Against a Portland Tenant Who Has Helped Lead a Rent Strike

The Portland rent strike got some good news when the eviction case against a tenants union leader was dismissed as part of a settlement.

More than half the families at Holgate Manor are refugees and immigrants who were previously protected from rent hikes by an evangelical minister. (Walker Stockly)
By Rachel Monahan

A Southeast Portland landlord has agreed to dismiss the eviction case against a tenant helping to lead a rent strike.

The landlord brought a case for eviction earlier this month, based on failure to pay rent. The agreement, filed Oct. 12, allows the case to be refiled if further mediation efforts fall apart.

"They know their claims are baseless union busting tactics and overt retaliation," says Sara Brassfield, the Holgate Manor tenant. "That, and I have a good defense. Once [lawyer] Michael Fuller got involved, they backed down."

The landlord's spokeswoman did not have a response after repeated requests for comment.

Eleven tenants at a Southeast Portland apartment complex started a rent strike in August. A smaller group of tenants continues the strike.

"This victory was made possible by Sara's unflinching courage, the collective support of her neighbors, and the solidarity of the community who put pressure on Princeton and [owner Fred] Kleinbub in response to their retaliatory action," says Portland Tenants United organizer Anthony Bencivengo, who has helped organize tenants at the complex. "When we fight, we win, and we will continue to fight."

Meanwhile, the San Diego chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America took the fight over the future of Holgate Manor to an art museum.

Fred Kleinbub, who's an owner of the company that bought Holgate earlier this year, is on the board of the Timken Museum of Art, so they protested him there yesterday, according to a statement released by the chapter.

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