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Rent‑increase application for 33 Deering found incomplete after board questions about documentation
Summary
The Portland Rent Board on Feb. 26 found the rent‑increase application for 33 Deering incomplete after members identified missing documentation and inconsistencies and voted to request supplemental materials from the applicant.
The Portland Rent Board on Feb. 26 conducted a completeness review of a rent‑increase application for 33 Deering and voted to find the filing incomplete, directing the applicant to supply additional documentation.
Why it matters: The board must confirm that applications include complete evidence of expenses and properly allocate costs when ownership or occupancy changed between the base year and the current year. Members flagged multiple items that must be clarified before the board will schedule a public hearing.
During the session, board members raised specific documentation needs. Board member Matt Lacks moved to find the application incomplete; the motion carried unanimously. The chair said he would send the board’s notes to the applicant, Dr. Schatz.
Board questions and requested materials included receipts and verification for property taxes, licensing and registration fees, insurance policy details (noting large jumps in premiums), and utility bills. Members asked for clearer labeling that ties each receipt to a specific line on the application. Matt Walker requested that capital expenses, insurance claims and any short‑term‑rental charges be clearly separated from costs attributable to long‑term rental operations.
The board also discussed a change in occupancy: one unit is owner‑occupied now but was a rental in the base year. Walker pointed the board to the form’s instruction on how to adjust gross rental income when a unit’s occupancy status changes and said the applicant should follow that procedure. The chair summarized the requirement: the application must reconcile the base year (2019) and the current year accounting, especially when rentable units differ between years.
The applicant, Dr. Schatz, told the board he works with an accountant and would provide tax bills, insurance policy documents and other backup materials: “I just delegate all that stuff to those guys, my bookkeeper and my accountant… I’ll go back and find the actual tax bill and give you that.” Board members suggested that applicants sometimes bring their accountant to meetings to answer technical bookkeeping questions; the chair offered that as an option but did not require it.
Outcome: The board voted to find the application incomplete and requested that the applicant submit the identified supporting documents. The chair said he would email a list of the items discussed and encouraged the applicant to review the recorded meeting if helpful.
Ending: The board did not schedule a hearing for 33 Deering and will review a supplemental filing once the applicant supplies the requested receipts, tax bills, insurance policy details, utility records, rent ledgers and clarifications on capital vs. maintenance expenses.
