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Medford apartment rent hikes prompt protest Virginia Camberos, regional director of Unite Oregon, rallies demonstrators Wednesday outside of the Mariposa Townhomes in southeast Medford. [Mail Tribune / Jamie Lusch] Wednesday Feb 28, 2018 at 6:00 PM Mar 1, 2018 at 7:43 AM Damian Mann Mail Tribune @reporterdm Steep rent hikes scheduled for March 1 at the Mariposa Townhomes in east Medford sparked 11th-hour protests Wednesday. "This high of a rent hike — it's just not right," resident Janelle Earnshaw said. About 30 residents and supporters showed up Wednesday afternoon to voice their opposition to rent hikes of up to 40 percent. Some residents reported their rents were going from $645 to $915 a month. <  Carvin-Pitluck and other residents, many of them elderly, aren’t sure what they’re going to do as they're priced out of the 101-unit complex on State Street in southeast Medford. CPM Real Estate Services Inc., which manages the property for its owner, sent a letter to the residents Nov. 27 stating, “Today, you will receive official notice that your rents will increase substantially beginning March 1, 2018.” The property was sold to Deluca Revocable Trust on Sept. 18 for $6.45 million, according to Jackson County property records. Ronald Deluca, owner of the apartments, has stated that when he bought the complex, he faced significant costs in deferred maintenance and needed upgrades. Jesse Sharpe, statewide organizer for Community Alliance of Tenants, said his organization plans to send a letter to Deluca demanding he back off the large rent increases. "Are we going to stand and let this happen or are we going to fight back?" Sharpe asked those picketing in front of the apartment complex. Rebecca Merriman, a 49-year-old caregiver, said her rent will climb from $635 to $855 a month, and said she expects it to hit $900 in the near future. "A $220 hike is a lot," Merriman said. "I'll have to move by June." Another resident, 78-year-old Jane Dalzell, said she can't afford the rent hike that will cost her an extra $275 a month. "I'm packing to move," she said. "I'm really upset because this is a nice community here. We're like one big family." Dalzell said she will probably have to move from Medford because it's too difficult to find an apartment she can afford. Virginia Camberos, regional director with Unite Oregon, said rents are being jacked up throughout the area, hitting the elderly and poor particularly hard. "Within our community, it affects our lower-income families and people of color," she said. "They can already barely afford their rents." Matt Stranahan, manager of the Mariposa Apartments for CPM, said the rent increases are tied to the larger housing issue. "I think the situation is tough," Stranahan said, "but also unfortunately it is a manifestation of the housing crunch we currently have." Stranahan said the rents are often forced up because owners of apartment buildings sell them at inflated prices. The new owner has to recoup the investment through higher rents. To help minimize the pressure on some of the renters who can't afford the hikes, Stranahan said, he is working with 10 renters to find them another unit in the county. So far, he said, he's helped find apartments for seven people, either in the Mariposa complex or a complex elsewhere. "We've worked hard to prevent evictions or to move anybody out of their home," he said. He said he's working with ACCESS Inc., the Jackson County Housing Authority and St. Vincent de Paul to assist residents. Stranahan said it's unfair that the owner of the complex has been referred to as a "slum lord." "That's really misguided," he said. "We've made significant improvements to this property." — Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected]. Follow him on www.twitter.com/reporterdm.