A Portland area attorney has managed to secure a sweet deal on a four-bedroom house in Clackamas -- rent set at $1,550 a month in perpetuity, a lawsuit claims.

The market rate for similar homes in the "excellent" neighborhood is more than 50 percent higher, surpassing $2,300 per month, according to the suit filed by the landlord against lawyer Kevin Preston.

The 2,300-square-foot house also has 2.5 bathrooms, a triple-car garage and a yard. It's a half-mile from Clackamas High School, on a quiet residential street of manicured lawns.

The discrepancy between Preston's rent and the going rate has only widened in the three years since Preston moved in, the suit says.

Section 29 on the third page of the single-spaced lease says "lessee shall have the right to extend this lease on an annual basis, upon the same terms and conditions as this agreement."

Landlord Angela M. Bell bought the home as an investment, said Breckenridge Cartwright, the attorney representing her in the lawsuit. She knew Preston because he had represented her and her late husband years earlier in forming a limited liability corporation, the suit says. Preston stopped representing the family corporation before he moved into the house in 2015, the suit says.

Bell didn't realize the lease contained the highly unusual clause freezing the rent until after signing it, Cartwright said.

Preston now believes he can live in the home at $1,550 a month for decades to come if he so chooses, Cartwright said.

"Why would you move if you have rent control forever?" Cartwright said.

Preston responded to a request for comment with a written statement.

"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.

Preston said his attorneys plan to "vigorously defend" him in the lawsuit and that forthcoming court papers will "speak for themselves." He didn't respond to a follow-up question, asking if he indeed believes the rental contract states that he can live at the home for as long as he wants at that price.

Preston has been licensed as a lawyer in Oregon since 2000. According to a page featuring him on his law firm's website, he has practiced law in a variety of areas, including real estate, commercial finance transactions and business sales.

Cartwright said his client asked Preston to sign a lease created by her property manager, but Preston declined.

"He instead drafted this lease, and then rushed her through the signing of it," Cartwright said.

The suit also says Preston wrote other favorable terms into his lease, including that he didn't have to put down any money for a security deposit.

The suit says Bell could try to sell the property, but Preston appears to be claiming that the lease agreement would remain in effect under a new owner. Cartwright said Bell probably would have trouble finding a buyer willing to accept that.

Bell is asking a judge to terminate the rental agreement. The suit was filed earlier this month in Clackamas County Circuit Court.

-- Aimee Green