Washougal residents shocked by rent increases

Saree Adams has dealt with several serious medical conditions, including a brain aneurysm, during the course of her life, but she doesn't have any cardiovascular issues that could have caused some significant problems on Thursday, Aug. 18, when she found a piece of paper taped to her front door that informed her that her monthly rent total was going to increase by almost $400. "They're lucky I don't have a serious heart condition," she told the Post-Record, "because I probably would've just dropped dead right there at the door." Adams is the de facto leader of a group of Rockwood Terrace Apartment tenants who are pushing back against the increase, which many of them simply can't afford on their fixed incomes. Adams said that the Washougal complex is designated as Section 42 low-income housing, a section of the Internal Revenue Service tax code that allows property owners to claim an annual tax credit when they set aside a certain number of units in an apartment building for low-income renters. The nearly 40% rent hike is legal in Washington, which has no rent control. "We have a major problem," Adams said during a Washougal City Council meeting on Monday, Oct. 10. "Our landlord just dropped a $400 hike on all of us. We've got elderly, we've got disabled, we've got people who have cancer. One of my best friends in the complex has multiple sclerosis. A lot of people (have young children). I'd say 95% (of the residents) cannot pay this increase. There's just no way. So as of Dec. 1, if none of us will be able to make rent, we will all be on the streets in Washougal." Rockwood Terrace resident Kathie Marchel echoed similar sentiments during the meeting. "When I first went to rent (at) the Rockwood Terrace Apartments, my rent was $800. The following year, it went up to $988, which I thought, 'You know, that seems fair,'" she said. "But now it's going up to $1,400. I'm on Social Security, and I'm disabled, so I can't go to work. I don't know what I'm going to do, honestly. I am a Christian and I'm praying that God would give me peace and a direction, but I can't afford $1,400 a month." Adams said that every one of the tenants in the complex's 62 units received the same lease renewal offer stating that their rent will increase to $1,365 per month in December. She currently pays $976 per month for her two-bedroom unit and brings in about $615 per month from Social Security benefits. "I cried (when I saw the lease renewal notice)," she told the Post-Record. "I cried all night long, because the minute I saw the numbers, I knew there's just no way. There's absolutely no way I can make that amount of rent. It just isn't going to happen. I don't get that much from Social Security. My husband, who does not live with me, is still helping to pay for things for me. ... We are Section 42 low-income tax credit housing. I don't care what you put at the end of 'low income,' the words 'low income' are in (the title) any way you look at it." The complex is eligible for tax abatement through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program through the end of 2029, according to Margaret Graham, the communications manager for the Washington State Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC). "The program gives a federal tax credit on the investor's income taxes for 10 years from when the project is built, in this case 1999," Graham told the Post-Record. "But the rent and income limits have to stay in place for at least 30 years, thus the agreement through 2029." A two-bedroom apartment at Rockwood Terrace can cost up to $1,446 for people earning 60% of Clark County's household area median income (AMI), according to HUD metrics. In 2021, according to the Vancouver Housing Authority, Clark County's household AMI was $75,253. "The rent and income limits change over time, and are driven by the county's AMI," Graham said. The increase in AMI over time means some Clark County residents are making more money than before, but doesn't necessarily mean Adams or other low-income people are earning additional income. "(The Rockwood Terrace tenants) weren't lazy," said Adams, who was hit by a semi-truck in 1996, and suffered a traumatic brain injury that prevents her from holding a job. "We didn't sit on our butts. We paid (our dues). We pay taxes. I'm not asking for anything but keeping my rent at a reasonable rate in a low-income apartment complex. The greed needs to stop. There is no need for it. "When I was a kid, my father told me to never give more than 30% of my income for rent. If we had kept the country that way, that would have been great. But that's just not the way it's going anymore, and unfortunately, there are those of us who just can't afford it." Tenants: No answers from owner Many Washington residents have faced rent increases since the state's eviction ban ended last year. Rents have risen almost 14% in Clark County since 2019, according to data compiled by the Washington Post. Currently, there is no proposed state legislation that would create any form of rent control. During a visit to Vancouver earlier this month, Gov. Jay Inslee said rent control "hasn't been seriously considered in the state of Washington." Adams and the rest of the Rockwood Terrace Apartment tenants feel relatively powerless about their situation. Adams said that her request to talk to the owner was rejected. "Our landlord said, 'OK, well, let me get a hold of our corporate manager, and then she'll get a hold of the owner, and we'll see what's going to happen,'" Adams said. "I came back in, probably a week later, and told me that her boss said, 'No, he's not going to talk to us about it. That's just the way it's going to be.'" According to Clark County records, Rockwood Terrace Apartments sold on Oct. 7, 2020, for $6.5 million to Post Rockwood LP, which has a mailing address belonging to the Post Investment Group, a private Los Angeles-based holding company founded by Jason Post that deals in a wide variety of business interests, including real estate, health and wellness and consumer products. Neither Post nor Rockwood Terrace Manager Christina Baltazar responded to the Post-Record's requests for comment. "(Baltazar) just said the cost of living is going up," Adams said. "That's our answer for everything. That's not a good answer, because if the cost of living is going up, how come wages aren't going through the roof, too? Every time one gets raised, the other should be doubled, because you can't live in this country without making enough to pay rent." Adams hasn't decided exactly what she's going to do come December. She doesn't want to sign the new lease only to face immediate eviction, but she also doesn't want to abandon a fight that she believes is worth fighting. But she's somewhat reluctantly started to examine alternative living arrangements. In her mind, she doesn't have much of a choice. "My truck is being repaired right now, so I'm hoping that sometime before we hit a really hard winter, it's done," she said. "I'll go up to the mountains, I guess -- take my tent and see if I can live off the land. I will take my dogs and live like Grizzly Adams and do the best I can. I'm not the greatest camper in the world, but I'm not the worst, either. And with all this new solar technology we've got, maybe it won't be all that bad."

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