The landlords of a house on Sawyer Street in Portland have agreed to pay two tenants more than $16,000 to settle a case in which the city’s rent board found that the landlords retaliated against the tenants for pointing out an illegal rent hike, according to documents filed with the city.

Bradley Davis and his girlfriend, Madi, who had rented an apartment in the house on Sawyer Street, complained to their landlord that a proposed 7% rent increase violated the city’s rent control ordinance. Their landlord then withdrew the renewal offer, in what the couple called a clear case of retaliation. Madi previously asked not to use her full name for fear that being identified could jeopardize future housing searches.

Tenant Bradley Davis, in the kitchen of the Sawyer Street apartment in May, said he is happy with the settlement and “to move on in a way that everybody is able to agree with.” Davis said he has nothing negative to say about his landlords, who he believes were “also let down by the city.” Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

In an agreement shared with the city and filed with the rent board, the landlords have agreed to pay $16,500 in returned rent and penalties, but they admit no fault. The landlords are named in the agreement as Elizabeth Kane and Cephas Hoffman, both of California, and Jane Irving and Patrick Irving, who live in Casco.

The agreement includes $4,200 in overpaid rent. It also includes $15,500 in penalties, $3,200 of which was subtracted to cover the tenants’ last two months in the unit. The tenants have to vacate the property by September, according to the agreement.

Davis, reached by phone Wednesday night, said he is happy with the settlement and “to move on in a way that everybody is able to agree with.”

He is, however, frustrated with the city’s approach to his complaint, and said that it felt at times that city officials did not fully understand the city’s ordinance themselves.

Although the tenants received a hefty payout, their landlord avoided paying a city fine by settling out of court. The city had assessed penalties of $8,700 plus $200 per day from June 3 until the dispute was resolved, Amy McNally, Portland’s associate corporation counsel, wrote in a memo to the rent board.

In the agreement, the tenants recommend to the city that the payments “should be in lieu of, and not in addition to, the assessment of the (city’s) fines and penalties.”

To date, the city has not imposed any fines on landlords for violating the ordinance. Jessica Grondin, spokesperson for the city, said in an email that the city helped return more than $50,000 to tenants outside of the court system since January.

Davis said he has nothing negative to say about his landlords, who he believes were “also let down by the city.” He hopes the agreement will encourage other tenants to advocate for their rights and help push the city to be more proactive in enforcing the ordinance.

“I think that there are a lot more violations in the city than the city would like to admit or imagine,” he said. “And I think that more tenants are going to be coming forward with violations before the city actually steps up and takes accountability.”

Kane did not return a voicemail left Thursday morning asking about the settlement.

Portland voters approved the rent control ordinance in 2020, and it has been amended a few times in the years since. Rent increases are capped annually at 70% of the rate of inflation in the Boston area. This year, the maximum increase is 2%, and the city’s Housing Safety Office is slated to provide 2025’s allowable increase by Sept. 1.

Grondin said that she did not have additional details on the settlement beyond what is in the memo.

The agreement also contains a confidentiality clause, barring the tenants from disparaging the lessors or identifying them by name to the media.