Portland woman’s landlord won’t renew her lease, she finds property listed for higher rent, then the Housing Dept flags it over multiple violations
Many would agree that in the United States, people are currently facing a rent crisis, where landlords are demanding such high rents that it has become nearly impossible for tenants to afford to live in homes. Additionally, the prices for buying houses have also skyrocketed, increasing stress among people.
Just four days ago, TikTok user @margaretskiff posted a video in which she talked about how she sued her landlord for charging her extra rent and trying to remove her from the lease to charge more to a new tenant, and she won. She accomplished all of this with help from the Portland Housing Authority.
TikTok user @margaretskiff sued her landlord
As mentioned previously, just four days ago, @margaretskiff uploaded a video in which she discussed how she sued her landlord with the help of Portland Housing Authority. Starting the video, Margaret mentioned that last February, she began questioning whether she wanted to stay in the same apartment or even in Portland, Maine, where she was residing. She texted her landlord to ask if there was a possibility of paying a monthly rent instead of the previous payment system (not mentioned in the video) after her lease ended on April 30, 2025. The landlord bluntly responded that her lease would not be renewed.
Margaret’s landlord’s response confused her, as she believed she was always an ideal tenant. Curious, she checked online and discovered that the property she was living in was listed for rent at a much higher price, as she had expected. Now, Margaret became aware of Portland, Maine’s strict rental laws. When she found out that her landlord had increased the rent above allowable limits, she contacted the Portland Housing Authority to report her landlord’s questionable actions. The authorities then informed Margaret that there were several issues with how her landlord was managing his property. First, he was supposed to give her a 90-day notice for non-renewal of the lease, but he violated this by informing her just over sixty days before the end. Second, he was overcharging her for rent. Margaret was paying $ 2000 a month, but based on market rent rates and allowable increases, her rent should have been $ 1650 a month. Due to this overcharge, the landlord owed her back rent of $ 350 per month for a year, and he was also supposed to pay her an additional $ 2,000 for the non-renewal. When he was informed of these issues, he refused to pay. As a result, the Portland Housing Authority took him to court, and after a year, Margaret won the case and received the money she was owed.
@margaretskiff’s story has gained significant attention on TikTok
As of now, @margaretskiff’s story about how she sued her landlord has over 300,000 likes along with thousands of comments, shares, and saves. Many people expressed their appreciation for the Portland Housing Authority, which took action and delivered justice for Margaret. User @fallin_4_autumn commented, “brb moving to Portland.” User @jesscam860 said, “I’m really impressed your city even took care of this and held them accountable. That’s impressive.”
Others shared their own experiences of going through something similar. User @lizagna1 stated, “I brought my ex-landlord to small claims court over a security deposit and won!! It is so important to know your rights, and the city of Portland is awesome about it!!” User @kittybritches shared, “The Portland Rent Control Board doesn’t mess around, they sued my landlord on my behalf for raising the rent 60% when I moved in and won.”
New Oregon settlement will prevent landlords from hiking prices
On November 23, 2025, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported that, under a $7 million settlement offer, Oregon and eight other states proposed that “the country’s largest landlord would stop using algorithmic software to artificially inflate rent prices.” The report stated that major landlords utilized rent-setting algorithms from RealPage, a Texas-based software firm, which provided them with pricing suggestions derived from sensitive data from competitors. The landlords allegedly coordinated rent hikes using these recommendations, according to the state’s complaint.
If the settlement is approved, Greystar Management Services would be among the most impacted companies. The Oregon Public Broadcasting article noted that Greystar manages nearly 950,000 rental units nationwide, including nearly 19,000 in Portland in 2023, as reported by the Portland Business Journal.
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