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A tenant filed suit against Home Forward Wednesday over a cockroach infestation at one of the housing authority’s properties.
38-year old Patrick Plamondon, who is paralyzed from the chest down and uses a wheelchair, is alleging that Home Forward, the city of Portland’s troubled housing authority, violated state standards of habitability by failing to properly inspect for and address a cockroach infestation on multiple floors of the Humboldt Gardens Apartments in North Portland.
The suit says the violations persisted from the time Plamondon moved into the apartment in August 2025 to at least July 28, 2026. Plamondon tells WW he saw cockroaches in his first week at Humboldt Gardens, while he was still unpacking. And the issue persists to this day, Plamondon says.
The effects of the infestation were exacerbated by Plamondon’s limited mobility, the lawsuit says. “Plaintiff could not escape the cockroaches even within his own home or comfortably use his bed and other areas of his dwelling without fear that cockroaches would crawl on him while he rested or slept,” the complaint states.
Plamondon is only at Humboldt Gardens to begin with because Home Forward let him move out of Bud Clark Commons in Northwest Portland to avoid another cockroach infestation there, he tells WW. He says the housing authority gave him a medical accommodation because his disability made it difficult to avoid the roaches. He also says the management at Humboldt Gardens promised him there were no roaches when he moved him there.
The Humboldt Gardens infestation led to physical harms such as pressure sores from Plamondon having to sleep in his wheelchair, the lawsuit argues, as well as emotional distress and an inability to eat or sleep in his unit. Plamondon says he suffered from the same issues at Bud Clark. He’s been offered no second medical accommodation to move out of Humboldt, he says.
“We can’t comment on the specifics of pending litigation, but we care deeply about creating a safe and welcoming community for our residents,” Home Forward spokesman Rylee Ahnen said in a written statement. “When residents report pest issues, pest control technicians provide an initial treatment and, if necessary, follow up treatments until the issue is resolved.”
Plamondon alleges that he tried numerous times to get Home Forward to fix the issue. But the housing authority’s in-house pest control has only shown up twice in the time he’s been there and hasn’t done enough to stop the roaches either time, he says. He says when he asked to bring in a third-party exterminator, Home Forward shut him down.
Under state law, landlords must keep rental units “safe for normal and reasonably foreseeable uses, clean, sanitary and free from all accumulations of debris, filth, rubbish, garbage, rodents and vermin.” A violation issued to Home Forward by the city’s Permitting and Development Department from May 8 attached in the complaint found “evidence of a significant roach infestation.”
In that violation notice, the city ordered Home Forward to hire a licensed pest control company to get rid of the issue within 30 days. Plamondon says that never happened.
Plamondon is seeking an injunction to force Home Forward to remediate the infestation, as well as economic damages up to nearly $11,000 and noneconomic damages related to the psychological harms up to $345,000. He is seeking a jury trial, but his attorney, Michael Fuller says he expects a settlement.
