edbank Village residents, neighbors and state legislators Tuesday urged the South Portland City Council to quickly enact an emergency moratorium on evictions to prevent Redbank tenants from losing their homes in the face of drastic rent hikes.

JRK Property Holdings of Los Angeles, which purchased the 500-unit Redbank Village Apartments off Westbrook Street in November, has notified the mostly low- and moderate-income tenants that their monthly rents will increase anywhere from $200 to $600 depending on how soon they renew leases.

A six-month emergency moratorium, advocates said, would bar any landlord in the city from evicting tenants due to lack of payment on rent that increased after April 1.

The City Council on Tuesday scheduled a workshop for next month to consider rent stabilization, but advocates at the meeting said that’s not soon enough. Rent stabilization is needed, they said, but immediate action is necessary.

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South Portland City Council urged to enact emergency eviction moratorium