Suit claims landlord didn't see lawyer's clause freezing his rent in perpetuity
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A lawsuit filed against an Oregon lawyer claims he drafted a clause in his lease that freezes his rent at $1,550 a month in perpetuity.
Landlord Angela Bell says in the suit that the lawyer, Kevin Preston of Clackamas, had drafted the lease after refusing to sign one created by her property manager, the Oregonian reports. The suit seeks to terminate the agreement.
Bell says she signed the lease without realizing it contained this clause: “Lessee shall have the right to extend this lease on an annual basis, upon the same terms and conditions as this agreement.”
Preston had previously helped Bell and her late husband form a limited liability corporation, but Bell wasn’t his client when Preston moved to the property in 2015, according to the suit, filed earlier this month.
Preston gave this statement to the Oregonian: “I don’t comment on pending litigation, but will say that we very much disagree with the characterization of the facts set forth in the complaint,” he wrote.
