PORTLAND, Ore. — In the pouring rain Monday morning, members of Portland Tenants United heard plenty of support for their cause in the form of horns on the Morrison Bridge head in Southeast Portland.
“When I say tenant, you say power, tenant – power, tenant – power,” supporters shouted through a megaphone.
They spread the word about Grid Property Management’s Chestnut Court Apartments on SE Stark. Tenants say the company recently drew up a new lease contract that leaves out specific language they’d really like to see.
“We’re agreeing to our tenancy for six months and there’s nothing in there that would perpetuate the lease beyond that. So basically we’re signing something that says we’ll live there for six months, but there’s no language in the lease that says it will automatically convert to month to month, or that we will be offered another lease,” tenant Amanda Potter said.
“We’re a little shaken, we’re a little concerned, because these are our homes,” says fellow tenant, Malcolm Strand.
The tenants formed a union, and the company agreed to meet with them. During the meeting, supporters were just outside Grid’s office.
Tenants say though the company may not budge on a fixed term lease, they are somewhat encouraged by the conversation.
“They were willing to give us some additional time to review the lease and they agreed to look at some of the clauses or terms inside the lease that we took issue with,” Potter says.
“I’m still reluctant, you know, feeling safe signing a lease not knowing what’s going to happen, you know at the end of six or seven months,” Strand says.
KATU News reached out to the company both via phone and in person. A representative accepted KATU reporter Jackie Labrecque’s business card, and told her we “may get back to you.”