Board returns Massachusetts Avenue rent-increase application as incomplete; landlord told to document refund and operating-cost items

The Portland Rent Board on June 25 returned an application for a rent increase at 142 Massachusetts Ave to the applicant for additional documentation, after staff and board members identified missing evidence related to a licensing notice of violation and the applicant’s operating-expense claims.

Owner Tim Trujillo told the board he and his partner purchased the property in late 2024 and completed some renovations. The board and staff discussed a licensing notice of violation that alleged the landlord had charged unlawful rent; the applicant stated he would issue credit to the affected tenant and that a new lease at a corrected rent had been signed and delivered the morning of June 25. The board asked the applicant to provide documentary proof of that tenant credit and the signed lease.

Why it matters: The board said it could process the application but needs reliable documentation of past overcharges (credit records) and of operating expenses (invoices or vendor statements) to verify the owner’s cost claims and to compute any banked rent or refunds. Because the applicant acquired the property in December 2024 and most expenses on the application were incurred in 2025, the board discussed whether to treat the filing as a 2024 application or to let the applicant resubmit a 2025 application once a full year of records is available.

What the board did: By unanimous vote the board returned the application as incomplete. The board’s staff will send an itemized checklist to the applicant. The applicant was advised to: provide evidence of the credit back to tenants for the notice-of-violation overcharge; submit itemized operating-expense totals and vendor invoices for the current application year; provide insurance and tax invoices and management-service statements; and, where payments were by Venmo or checks for a single contractor, obtain a single vendor invoice or other vendor statement to show the total paid. The board noted staff can calculate any available «banked» increases and advised the applicant to meet with staff about timing for a possible resubmission.

Ending: The applicant said he would confer with his property manager and the title company and return with additional documentation; staff will record the incomplete filing and will assist with timing and next steps to schedule a public hearing once the application is complete.