It started when Jonah Spring saw smoke and a spark coming out of an electrical outlet in his bedroom. It was days before Christmas 2024 and he reported the incident to his landlord. A week later, an electrician showed up, fixed the plug and told him the burnt outlet was likely due to bad, outdatedwiring.
But when the $287 bill came due, the landlord, Aetna Properties, passed it along to Spring. He refused to pay it, saying the incident was not his fault and he had only plugged an alarm clock into the outlet. After an escalating series of interactions about whose responsibility the bill was, Spring’s rent was raised by $100 a month.
He felt that was a retaliatory move by the landlord, and last week, a jury agreed with him, finding Aetna Properties in violation of an Oregon law that protects renters from retaliation from their property managers and landlords. And thanks to an Oregon law that doubles the jury award, what started as a dispute over a $287 bill has become a $32,000 payday for Spring and his fiancée.
That figure could go even higher, as Spring’s attorneys are entitled to ask a judge to order the company to pay Spring’s legal fees, which currently stand at $225,000.
An ongoing fight
Attorneys for Aetna Properties say they plan to appeal the verdict. The rent increase, they said, had nothing to do with the squabble over the electrician’s bill. Other apartments in the area were renting for more, they said, and this was the first time the couple had experienced a rent increase in 18 months.
The jury disagreed, taking only an hour or so to reach its decision.
Spring and his fiancée, Lindsey Sternett, were pleased with the verdict, but say they don’t expect the landlord will pay. In the meantime, they’re hoping to leave their rental behind (they’ve already moved out of the apartment at the center of the battle) and buy a house, but money is still tight.
“Neither Lindsey nor myself are ever counting on getting that money,” Spring told The Oregonian. “But yes, every little bit would help to reach that goal.”
Damon Petticord, an attorney for the management company, told the paper “A minor disagreement over a $287 charge for repair of damage to an electrical outlet played no role in the decision” to raise the rent price.
But another attorney, in an email to Spring’s attorneys, wrote that Spring “probably has a lower IQ” and he planned to use Spring’s words to “absolutely destroy” him on the stand. That attorney, John Berman, told The Oregonian that he stood by the emails.
“He got billed $287 and his rent raised by $100 — that’s it,” Berman said. “What I was saying is that anybody who would make a big deal out of a $287 bill is low IQ.”
The electrician, by the way, still hasn’t been paid for the work.
Chris Morris is a US based veteran journalist with more than 35 years of experience at many of the biggest digital news outlets. In addition to his activities as a writer, reporter and editor, Chris is also a frequent moderator and speaker at major conferences, including CES and South by Southwest.
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