Portland holds workshop after tenant audit alleges widespread rent‑control noncompliance

Portland city leaders and tenant advocates met in a June workshop to review how the city enforces its rent‑control ordinance after tenant groups presented audits they said show widespread noncompliance and slow or inconsistent enforcement.

The workshop, convened by Mayor Mark Dion on June 25, brought tenant unions, the Rental Housing Alliance of Southern Maine, staff from the City’s Permitting and Inspections Department (Housing Safety Office), and the city’s corporation counsel to the same table to discuss audits, enforcement tools, data systems and potential next steps.

Tenant auditors: claims and demands

Bradley Davis, representing the Portland Tenants Union, told the council the union audited online rental listings and municipal registration records and found a high rate of apparent noncompliance. The union examined a sample of 240 advertised units and, Davis said, ‘‘145 of the 240 units that we reviewed were noncompliant in some way with the rent stabilization ordinance,’’ including 52 units the auditors could not find registered at all.

Davis said the union’s audit and review of the rent board’s 2024 annual report show recurring errors in registration data (including hundreds of reported increases over the ordinance limit) and a lack of verification at registration. He criticized a largely reactive, complaint‑driven approach to enforcement, limited collection of leases and other documentation at the time of registration, and an enforcement practice that, he said, often closes cases without fines after a landlord corrects a violation. ‘‘You can break the law as much as you want,’’ Davis said, ‘‘and as long as you give the money back once you get caught, there’s no penalty whatsoever.’’

The Trelawney Tenants Union echoed those concerns. Abigail Jacob said her group traced what it called a pattern of repeated violations by a single landlord and estimated at least $330,000 in overcharges linked to roughly 230 instances across multiple buildings. Jacob said tenants have been reimbursed only after long delays and that the rent board’s recommendations for stronger enforcement have not been implemented.

Landlords’ perspective

Bridal Vitaleas, president of the Rental Housing Alliance of…