A Portland landlord is suing the city for what he calls aggressive and arbitrary interpretation of its rent control ordinance,

The Press Heald reports the city ordered Geoffrey Rice to repay tenants $150,000 for illegally raising the rents on dozens of units in a downtown apartment building. A tenant’s union had filed a complaint with the city in April asking that tenants be refunded, that Rice be penalized and that the rent board conduct an audit of all of Rice’s leases. The city notified the tenants union in April that it had initiated that audit.

Rice claims the rent control ordinance is unclear and the city overstepped in ordering the payback.

Rice has been issued more than 27 violations and has paid back thousands of dollars to tenants since rent control was enacted in 2021, although he’s never been fined.