Former Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling is facing eviction from his Congress Street apartment. Trelawny 657 LLC, the landlord, is going before the city’s Rent Board over complaints from tenants about unfair rent hikes. The trial is scheduled for Feb. 10 in Portland District Court. According to court records, Strimling was first notified last May that his month-to-month lease would not be continued.
Strimling was served on Aug. 31 with a 90-day written Notice of Termination and Notice to Quit terminating his lease when it expired on Dec. 1. Strimling refused to leave the building after Dec. 1, according to a complaint filed in Maine District Court by the owner of the building, Trelawny 657 LLC.
Strimling and his attorney, Scott Dolan, allege that Rice started eviction proceedings after the union was formed. Under Maine law, a landlord cannot evict a tenant “in retaliation for the tenant’s membership in an organization concerned with landlord-tenant relationships.”
The review of court documents shows that Rice has given notices to quit or evict to 12 people in the past two years. Some were for nonpayment of rent or for lease violations, but Strimling appears to be the only tenant to have a no-cause eviction move forward.
“When this case goes to trial, we expect the judge will find that Mr. Rice is trying to evict Mr. Strimling in unlawful retaliation for his involvement in the Trelawny Tenants Union and for filing complaints to the city. That is, Mr. Rice is trying to break the Trelawny Tenants Union and intimidate its members by attempting to evict former Mayor Ethan Strimling,” Dolan said in a statement. Strimling, who was mayor from 2015 to 2019, backed the rent control ordinance passed by referendum in 2020.
