PORTLAND, Maine — Portland voters will get to weigh in on a referendum question next Tuesday which aims to make changes to the city’s rent control ordinance.
“Question A: An Act to Amend Rent Control and Tenant Protections” is a citizen-initiated, approved referendum put on the ballot by the Rental Housing Alliance of Southern Maine. The organization was formerly known as the Southern Maine Landlord Association.
The proposal seeks to eliminate the current 5 percent cap on how much a landlord could increase rent when a tenant leaves a unit voluntarily and a new lease agreement is drawn up.
A “yes” vote on Question A would roll back the current rent control ordinance and allow landlords in the city to reset rent with no limit any time an apartment becomes voluntarily vacant.
A “no” vote would keep the current tenant protections in place, which again limit those turnover increases to just 5 percent.
The question would have no impact on the other aspects of the current rent control ordinance, which limit landlords to rent increases of 70 percent of the annual change in the Consumer Price Index.
