The Portland Tenants Union says a recent audit of online rental listings shows not only widespread rent control fraud, but also the city’s failure to enforce its own rules. 

A team of union volunteers surveyed 271 rental listings that appeared on the real estate website Zillow throughout the month of March and compared those listings to the city’s rental requirements.

According to the union, an analysis of the listings found that 130 of the 271 listings they audited — just shy of 50% — were out of compliance with city rental regulations, alleging overcharged rent, registration issues and false claims of owner-occupancy among other violations.

A similar audit last year found that 60% of the units were noncompliant, so the results of this year’s analysis were unsurprising, said Lila Kohrman-Glaser, union chair.

While the city has significantly increased its rental inspections in the last year, “the results of our Zillow audit show that they’re still not doing enough,” she said.

‘UNACCEPTABLE NEGLIGENCE’

Portland’s rent control ordinance, implemented in 2021, generally limits annual rent increases based on inflation. In 2026, that limit is 2.2%.

There are some exceptions. For example, a landlord can petition for a bump up to 10% after extensive renovations, and owner-occupied buildings with up to four units are exempt.

According to the report, almost 28% of the units were charging more than what the city allows — some increases were as high as 62%.

If all those apartments were rented for the advertised amount, that would mean Portland tenants were overcharged more than $22,000 in March alone, Kohrman-Glaser said.

“It is unacceptable negligence that the city is letting this level of corruption and theft go unaddressed,” she said.

A Portland spokesperson declined to comment on the audit because the union did not share it with city staff for review.

City officials last year pushed back against the union’s methodology, claiming that many of the results in the 2025 audit were inaccurate and that several of the violators it flagged were either exempt from rent control, in compliance, or already had an active enforcement case against them.

In February, the tenants union advised the city of its plans to replicate the March audit, asking for feedback on “areas where our process for auditing does not align with your office’s practices/understanding,” in order to avoid some of the previous years’ disparity.

INCREASED INSPECTIONS

The city has been working to increase enforcement of rent control, and this year added a second inspector to its ranks.

Inspections have increased steadily over the last few years, rising from 3,911 units in 2024 to 7,657 in 2025.

In the first quarter of 2026, inspectors covered 5,447 units, and Quattropani expects to surpass 2025’s numbers by the end of the second-quarter.

Of the 502 properties that were inspected in the first three months of 2026, 12 were initiated by a complaint, eight of which were found to be valid, according to city data. The remaining inspections were proactive enforcement.

Kohrman-Glaser said she’s glad to see the city stepping up its inspections, but she’s not optimistic it will be enough.

“I feel certain that PTU will need to continue to push for systemic change in order for the city to protect tenants from landlord corruption in Portland,” she said.

Following the audit, the union drafted a “tenants agenda,” or a list of changes it hopes to see to accomplish three main goals: lower rent, guaranteed safe and stable housing, and an end to landlord corruption.

The union plans to present its findings and agenda to the City Council at an as-of-yet unscheduled workshop.