Rancho P.V. : Apartments Delay Rent Hike

The management of a 216-unit seaside apartment complex has told city officials it will not raise rents until each tenant has a chance to meet with the ownership.

Porto Verde Corp., owner of the Porte Verde Apartments on Beachview Drive, agreed not to raise the rents after its attorney, Roger Howard, met with Mayor John McTaggart and Councilman Robert Ryan. The meeting was prompted by tenant complaints to the council about rent increases. Tenants will also be given a 90-day notice of any increase.

Fifty-two tenants were told in late September that their rents would increase by as much as $325 per month.

“They won’t be required to pay the rent differential until we meet with them,” Howard said, adding that while tenants can expect their rents to go up, the increase will take into account each tenant’s circumstances.

“I think that the tenants are pleased at this point,” said tenant lawyer Marc Staenberg.

Ryan said that “landlords are getting the message that people are not a commodity. Although we’re a very conservative community, there’s a heart out there too.”