Longtime tenants at a North Portland apartment complex have filed a lawsuit against their new landlord, saying they're being evicted as punishment for demanding legally-mandated repairs.

"For the last year residents have repeatedly and amicably asked for repairs to no avail," a press release from the Oregon Community Alliance of Tenants said. "Children and adult residents have missed work and school as they succumb to illnesses caused by the multiple health and safety violations in the apartments."

Nineteen households are listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The building, previously called Titan Manor now named The Melrose Apartments, was sold to a group of California- and Beaverton-based real estate partnerships in 2016.

The complex is home to many families with school-aged children who want to keep their tight-knit community together. They banded together when new owners issued no-cause evictions last year and were able to successfully stop some evictions at that time.

Apartments emptied after evictions underwent repairs and then were rented at higher rates, while poor conditions in occupied apartments were ignored, the lawsuit says.

In October 2017, tenants were told their rent was going up. After the tenants asked that the increase be delayed until their apartments were in better condition, they were told to get out, the lawsuit says.

Affected families include some who have lived there five, 10 and even 20 years, paying rent on time every month while enduring conditions including leaky doors and windows, mold, broken fire detectors, loose or dangerous electrical outlets and torn carpeting that poses trip hazards.

The landlords' position is that ousting the families is the quickest and easiest way to make the repairs the city says are needed.

The previous owners didn't keep up with maintenance, so the apartments are in horrible condition, Dan Lavey, a spokesman for the owners, said. City inspectors, as a result, papered the place with notices to take action, he said.

The complex was hit with 490 violations, according to Community Alliance of Tenants.

"The owners don't dispute that the condition of the residences. The whole complex was in severe disrepair," Lavey said. "The question is how to best make the improvements and under what timeframe you do that."

Lavey said owners will give the tenants on average $4,000 in required in rental assistance, plus an additional $200 for moving expenses. Application fees have also been waived for families that want to move into a renovated unit — but that means a rent hike.

Most of the renters who sued were paying $825 a month until October, when the rent rose to $900, the lawsuit says. The highest rent being charged to tenants suing to fight their evictions is currently $953, it says.

"As units are renovated, the rents are being adjusted to reflect the fact that units are newly improved and frankly to help finance the cost of the improvements," Lavey said. "The owners recognize that for the folks who live there this is their home and this is their neighborhood. If we can keep them in this neighborhood, in this complex we want to do that — but we want to do that in apartments that are cleaner, safer, healthier, nicer and warmer than they were before."