PORTLAND, Maine — On Tuesday, people from several communities in Maine will make their voices heard in a number of local elections.
In Portland, voters will decide the future of rent caps with "Question A."
Right now, landlords can increase rent by up to five percent when a new tenant moves in. For those who have not voted absentee, a ballot question on Tuesday will ask whether that restriction should be lifted.
Those in favor say it would give landlords greater protections when someone suddenly moves out, but those who oppose it say it will hurt tenants and drive up rents.
In other words, referendum "Question A" is asking whether that limit should be removed, meaning landlords would be able to charge whatever they want after a tenant leaves voluntarily. Should voters vote "Yes" on the ballot question, the five percent cap would be repealed next month.
"My policy has always been to keep my rents below market for long-term tenants and have them be affordable and keep them stable for the duration of their tenancy," Portland landlord Bobbi Cope said. "Now, when somebody moves out, I can't raise the rent any more than five percent. So, if I've been renting for someone for $1000, that's $50. So, if someone has lived there for 10 years or even five years, I can raise the rent only five percent on a moveout with a new tenancy."
Cope said "Question A" serves both tenants and landlords well.
"It allows us to make a living at being a landlord and it leaves tenants alone with their current rents, when they move out we can reset the rent," Cope said.
Lisa Franklin is a renter in Portland.
"Everybody is living within a certain financial situation, and to just have a situation where the rent could be raised to any amount should bother and worry everyone, regardless of your income. It is going to make it that perhaps we will have a lot of empty buildings that nobody can afford to rent to," Franklin said.
Franklin added she was unhoused in the past, and she is afraid many low-income people would be forced out of their homes if landlords have the ability to increase their rent by more than five percent.
Cope said it is not raising the rent as much as landlords want.
"That's not possible, you can only raise the rent to what the market would bear, or you are going to have a vacant apartment," Cope said.
"This will hurt the quality of our existing housing stock, the law today still allows landlords to go to the rent board to ensure they are receiving a fair return in investment, balancing concerns that landlords can't keep up with maintenance or improvements, or force them to sell the property," Franklin said.
"If you want to help tenants, you will vote 'Yes,' because landlords now are raising the rent every year, when in the past they didn't," Cope said. "'Yes' on 'A' would allow landlords to raise the rent more than five percent when someone moves out."
To learn more about "Question A" on Tuesday's ballot in Portland, click here.