On Wednesday, February 11th, the Portland Rent Board ruled in favor of the Portland Tenants Union, overturning a city of Portland determination that the landlord of 33 State Street lived in the unfinished basement, thereby exempting the building from rent control. The Rent Board, after reviewing extensive evidence that the landlord did not qualify for an exmption, awarded the tenants more than $30,000 dollars in illegally over-charged rent and fined the landlord almost $4,000.
Portland Tenant Union member Lisa Kohrman-Glaser says that the “PTU has now uncovered numerous cases where the city is failing to adequately investigate landlords who have falsely claimed the owner occupancy exemption to rent control. The city simply needs to collect proof of owner occupancy during rental registration to stop this widespread corruption. PTU calls on the city to make enforcement of rent control a top priority for preserving affordable housing in Portland.”
Portland landlords who reside in a building with 4 units or fewer are exempt from the city’s rent control ordinance. City staff require heightened primary residence verification for hosts of owner-occupied Airbnb’s, but did not require the same burden of proof from owners of long-term rentals who wish to be granted the owner-occupied exemption.
In the case of 33 State Street, a 3-unit building downtown, Atanas Dinkov bought the building in 2024, falsely claimed that it was owner occupied, and increased rents by 59.1%, 61.7% and 86.7%. PTU brought a complaint to the city on May 8, 2025, with proof that all three units of the building were rented to tenants and could not be occupied by the landlordl. City staff initially sided with the tenants, ruling that they be paid back the overchaged rent that would amount to thousands of dollars returned to each tenant.
The landlord, Mr. Dinkov, contested the city’s ruling that he did not live in Unit 1, as he had falsely claimed and instead claimed that he resided in a boarded up basement room next to the water heater, which records show lacks plumbing and was last registered as a housing unit more than 40 years ago. City staff accepted Mr. Dinkov’s word, despite evidence that the basement was not suitable for habitation. The city staff never spoke to any of the tenants in the building to simply ask,” Did Mr. Dinkov actually live in the basement?”
The PTU appealed the case to the Rent Board on September 25, 2025 with significant evidence that the city could have easily uncovered had it done an adequate investigation. Affidavits from the tenants, FB posts showing where Mr. Dinkov actually lived, clear contradictions in his submitted evidence. Photographic evidence that the space he claimed as his apartment was not livable. After six month of hearings, testimony from numerous PTU members, and a thorough review of the evidence , the Rent Board ruled unanimously 5 – 0 including a landlord representative, in favor of the tenants.
“We appreciate the thorough review that the Rent Board gave our case. I don’t undersand why the city staff refuses to do basic due diligence to enforce Portland’s laws. If city staff would just do their jobs, we could save the Rent Board a lot of time and save tenants from being taken advantage of by fraudulent landlords,” said Sophia Thomas, PTU member and former tenant of 33 State Street.
“The city of Portland has never been particularly amenable to renters here. Before relocating here, this blogger was a tenant activist in Alexandria, Virginia where I lived for many years. City officials in Alexanddria were much more open to opportunities to improve the lives of tenants than here in Portland,” charges this blogger. “Apparently we tenants are second class citizens here!”