Skip to main content
Lu’kas Porter has a roof over his head, but he can’t get out of the rain. That’s because squatters keep flooding the apartment above him on Southeast Clinton Street, as WW reported last week (“Indoor Rain,” Feb. 22). Porter has little recourse: The owner of the condo above his place has ghosted, the homeowners association says it’s powerless, and the fire bureau told him to stop calling. But what makes Porter’s plight resonate is his fear that, on his salary as the birthday party manager at KingPins bowling alley, he can’t afford anything better. That got our readers talking:
jetsetter, via Reddit: “This article cites an extreme case, but I suspect people all over (not just Portland) are suffering from lack of real competition in providing housing. “I see it in the vacant homes with sky-high rates, and in rented homes at still-high rates that have seen little to no maintenance. “Hopefully, the pendulum swings away from this; it is a rough time out there.”
Michael Andersen, via Twitter: “When someone tells you a new home shouldn’t be allowed to exist unless it features X, your question to them should be whether it’d be better than this home.”
OregonJive, via wweek.com: “I nominate this ‘Most Portland Story’ for 2023. It is still early, so there may be another story that out-PDXes this one, but this one has the whole ‘I live surrounded by filth, vagrancy, disorder and crime, and no agency or entity really cares but, you know, why move? The rent is reasonable, you know? And as a part-time birthday coordinator at the local bowling alley, why aim higher? Keep Portland Weird!’”
Scott Kerman, via Twitter: “Blanchet House supports housing solutions that are dignified because unsafe, unhealthy, unsanitary and barely habitable housing is insecure housing and leads to more homelessness. This story is extreme but sadly not unique.”
MarySue Healy, via wweek.com: “Dude just needs to have good documentation, contact an attorney and threaten to sue the owner and HOA. If he’s in the right and there’s a case, an attorney will take it on contingency and he might get a nice settlement amount or win bigger in court. There’s plenty of attorneys out there who take on cases exactly like this on contingency. And tenants, by law and by lease, have certain rights that appear to be in severe violation here.
“That said, he also has choices. There are many other jobs in the service industry that pay much more than a ‘party manager at KingPins bowling alley,’ and he does have a choice to move.
“That said, he could move and still sue for the costs, time, emotional distress.
“Whining about it to WWeek, who is grasping to make this into some kind of exposé about an age-old tale of cheap rent and subpar living conditions, doesn’t really solve this gentleman’s problem.”
throwaway92715, via Reddit: “HOA sounds just like renting but with more lawyers.”
smolbutdedly, via wweek.com: “I’m really tired of people having no compassion. ‘Just move’ isn’t that easy for everyone. Most places want a deposit of two months rent. Most people are living paycheck to paycheck. Unless you can pay the deposit, mind your business. Whether it be an eviction, an illness, or some other hardship, you don’t know what is going on in someone’s life.”
CORRECTION
Due to an editor’s error, we incorrectly identified Lu’kas Porter’s neighborhood as Montavilla. It’s Powellhurst-Gilbert. WW regrets the error.
Letters to the editor must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to: PO Box 10770, Portland OR, 97296 Email: mzusman@wweek.com