Wave of evictions at Native American Youth and Family Center affordable housing

Yahoo

05-03-2025

Jarrette Werk Underscore Native News + Report For America
PORTLAND, Ore., On Christmas Eve, Buzz Berry, a Siletz tribal elder and disabled veteran living at an affordable housing complex owned by the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) in Portland, was served an eviction notice along with a blanket as a gift.
Two months later, after court hearings and prolonged uncertainty, he had to move out of his apartment. As a Siletz citizen utilizing Section 8 housing assistance, Berry said the experience has been destabilizing.
'It's been very, very hard for me, emotionally and mentally, to where I've almost had a breakdown from it,' Berry, 66, told Underscore Native News on Feb. 10 while riding his electric bicycle on the way to deliver a letter to NAYA, before his moveout date of Feb. 26. '[NAYA] is not understanding what they're doing to us.'
According to court records, Berry's case is one of at least 35 eviction notices filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court over the past year for three affordable housing complexes in Northeast Portland's Cully Neighborhood co-owned by Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) and Community Development Partners (CDP).
Thirty-three of those eviction notices were filed over a 10-month period beginning in April of last year, which equates to one-fifth of the 165 combined units receiving notices in less than a year, although in two separate cases the same tenant received multiple eviction notices. The majority came in a pronounced wave starting in October 2024 into this year.
A growing number of tenants are decrying — including at a recent public protest — what they say is a pattern of unjust eviction notices, mismanagement and neglect by property managers, according to documents reviewed by Underscore and interviews with more than a dozen current and former tenants, all of whom are Indigenous.
The properties are all managed by FPI Management, which manages 165,000 units in 23 states nationwide.
The evictions and tenant complaints, in certain ways, reflect concerns found throughout the broader affordable housing industry in an age of soaring housing costs and rising evictions across Oregon and nationwide.
But they also illuminate specific challenges associated with providing culturally affirming housing for urban low-income Indigenous populations in cities like Portland, where Native residents represent a significantly disproportionate percentage of the homeless population.
In interviews, tenants and former tenants of the properties describe a pattern of suddenly receiving exorbitant rent bills from FPI Management after not being charged and not knowing how much they owed for months. Tenants also say repeated complaints about subpar living conditions — including plumbing issues, mold, bed bugs and more — have gone unaddressed.
Tenants currently facing evictions and nonpayment notices, as well as former tenants with similar experiences, represent a range of demographics, including mothers with small children fleeing domestic violence, young adults who are first-time renters and elders.
All the tenants interviewed identify as Indigenous, although not every tenant of the NAYA-owned complexes is Indigenous. The units are designed to meet the needs of low-income BIPOC communities; at Mamook Tokatee, enrolled Siletz citizens are given preference through a partnership with the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.
The properties are designed with Indigenous residents in mind, including Native art throughout the complexes celebrating Indigenous cultures to create a more welcoming and culturally affirming environment. At Mamook Tokatee, a NAYA resident services coordinator assists with additional services, and at Nesika Illahee, Native American Rehabilitation Association of the Northwest (NARA NW) provides drug and alcohol support services, behavioral health services and medical resources to tenants.
On Feb. 10, a small crowd gathered outside the Hayu Tilixam apartment complex — which saw 10 evictions between October and December 2024 — to make protest signs and sing handdrum songs before walking over two-and-a-half miles to the NAYA campus to hand-deliver a letter demanding that evictions at Mamook Tokatee be dismissed.
'Tell NAYA to stop the evictions,' one woman yelled at passing cars, while holding a sign that read, 'Stop the evictions. Keep Natives housed.'
The letter from the Mamook Tokatee Tenants Association asked NAYA to dismiss all of the evictions filed in 2024 'immediately, and that you withdraw all moveout agreements.'
'NAYA is supposed to help us stay housed, not evict us,' the letter continued.
It's unclear how many of Mamook's six closed eviction cases — which left five still open as of Feb. 26 — or the closed cases at the other two complexes resulted in the tenant's removal. Berry, one of the six closed cases, had to move out by Feb. 26, and Underscore spoke with other tenants who lost their homes.
Mamook Tokatee, along with the other NAYA complexes, was established in direct response to the community's need for housing. The goal was to provide stable, culturally respectful affordable housing for low-income Indigenous and other BIPOC residents, but tenants say mismanagement is perpetuating the same issues that the units are supposed to be countering.
Oscar Arana (Chichimeca), chief executive officer of NAYA, said on Feb. 17 that his team was reviewing the concerns outlined in the tenants' association letter and would work to 'make sure that they are addressed and resolved.''We are doing everything we can to make sure that our residents are feeling supported,' Arana said, although he did not outline specific actions. 'What NAYA is here to do is to make sure that we create affordable housing and safe opportunities for the community.'
Arana acknowledged that 'not everything is perfect' at NAYA's housing complexes and said some of the issues are related to broader problems across the affordable housing sector.
'A lot of it has to do with just the challenges that come with operating in such a heavily regulated and, in some ways, very underfunded sector,' he said.
Arana added that funding challenges are exacerbated by widespread trends of workforce turnover in the industry, among both property management companies and nonprofits working in the realm of affordable housing.
'It's an industry that is really faced with workforce challenges. We are familiar with those as well,' Arana said. 'We're challenged with retention rates. We're challenged with recruitment. We're challenged with being able to pay people livable wages.'
'When you see that, both on the property management side and then also on the nonprofit side, again, because of the way that funding is structured, it's a disservice to the tenants,' he continued. 'They're the ones that are experiencing this impact, having folks come in and out and not being able to have that consistency. So that's a really big challenge.'
While NAYA is co-owner of the complexes, Arana said his organization is not responsible for collecting rent or day-to-day management. Those duties fall on FPI Management. Arana said NAYA meets regularly with its community partners and FPI management, which has managed the properties since 2023.
'We do our best, within our role, to be able to hold the property management companies accountable and to work with them and to work with residents,' Arana said.
An FPI Management representative declined multiple requests for comment and referred all questions to Arana.
Michelle Quick, a volunteer with Don't Evict PDX, attended the Feb. 10 walk to NAYA to offer community support, educational resources on organizing and help tenants understand their rights in eviction court. Don't Evict PDX is a collective of volunteer tenants working to 'prevent, delay, and reduce the harm of evictions' and 'build tenant power.'
'The letter that's being delivered is not only asking to intervene in these evictions, but also about the conditions of the building,' Quick said. 'There are some discrepancies between the stated goals of the building and the actual reality of living there day-to-day.'
More than 70 percent of Indigenous people in the U.S. live in urban areas. Portland has the ninth largest urban Indigenous population in the country, with an estimated 58,135 Native Americans representing more than 380 tribal nations.
Adequate housing for low-income residents of these communities has long been an issue. According to the latest U.S. Census data, Indigenous people account for 1.9% of the overall population in Oregon yet are overwhelmingly represented in homeless populations. The 2024 point-in-time (PIT) count shows that Indigenous people in Oregon experienced homelessness at a rate 5.84 times higher than their proportion of the population.
NAYA, a large Portland-based service provider for Native populations, first moved into housing nearly two decades ago when it identified the need for better, culturally specific low-income housing for Indigenous residents.
In 2008, NAYA took over the Sawash portfolio, a 44-unit property, from another housing organization formerly known as Low-Income Housing for Native Americans in Portland Oregon (LIHNAPO), which closed its operations the same year due to lack of funding.
From 2010-2012, NAYA developed its inaugural affordable housing project, Kah San Chako Haws, a nine-unit module housing development in the Lents neighborhood. Kah San Chako Haws, which means 'East House' in Chinook, was the first-ever multistory, multifamily modular housing project in Portland, and one of the first in the country.
NAYA served as a co-developer for the second project, Generations, a 40-unit affordable housing development that opened its doors in 2012 in the same Lents neighborhood, offering intergenerational townhome-style housing options in a cooperative community designed to support families of foster children by 'promoting permanency, community, and caring relationships, while offering a safe and meaningful purpose in the daily lives of older adults.'
NAYA co-developed three more projects with partners including Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, NARA NW and CDP between 2017 and 2022, all located in the Cully Neighborhood.
Nesika Illahee, a 59-unit recovery-oriented community, was developed in partnership with Siletz and CDP between 2016 and 2020. Nesika Illahee means 'Our Place' in Chinook. Resident services like housing assistance, mental health services and resources for drug and alcohol recovery are provided for tenants by NARA NW.
The property's owners and FPI Management have filed 14 evictions against tenants of Nesika Illahee since 2023, including 11 since April of last year. One eviction, in 2021, was levied under the previous property manager, Viridian Management.
Mamook Tokatee opened in 2022 as a four-story apartment building offering 56 units with a mix of studios and one- to three-bedroom units with tribal and artist preference. Twenty of the 56 units at Mamook Tokatee are specifically for citizens of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, which contributed funding for the project.
In the last three months alone, 11 evictions have been filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court — including eight in a five-day span in December — against tenants, including Berry, at Mamook Tokatee.
The third Cully project, Hayu Tilixam, which means 'Many Nations' in Chinook, opened the same year. Hayu Tilixam, a 50-unit project, was designed for low-income, Native American and BIPOC families to provide permanent supportive housing with on-site case management and wraparound services to nine of the 50 households.
The 10 evictions filed at Hayu Tilixam since October of last year represent — similar to the other two complexes — 20 percent of all the units.
Together, Nesika Illahee, Mamook Tokatee and Hayu Tilixam properties provide 165 affordable housing units, with Native and BIPOC preference. NAYA, which co-owns all three properties, also opened a shelter last year for Native families experiencing homelessness called khwat yaka haws.
According to Arana, NAYA is a national leader in Native-specific affordable housing. Still, he acknowledges room for improvement.
'We're learning and we're applying, and we're shifting, and we're trying to make improvements,' Arana said.
'The three affordable housing developments that occurred in the Cully Neighborhood, they were very close to each other, so as one was getting done, the next one was already underway,' Arana added. 'So it wasn't enough time to start applying that knowledge. We could have really benefited from having a little bit more time to operate, learn some lessons and definitely apply them at the next project.'
While tenants have expressed displeasure with NAYA, they direct most of their ire and specific complaints at FPI Management.
Interviews with more than a dozen current and former Indigenous tenants of NAYA's affordable housing — most of whom have received eviction or nonpayment notices — paint a picture of mismanagement, constant overturn of property management staff, rent instability and other issues.
Tenants also describe long-standing maintenance issues, including claims of mold, bed bugs, unchanged smoke alarm batteries, elders living on the fourth floor and more, with widespread criticism of management's inefficiency and lack of timely repairs.
Arana pointed to challenges such as issues related to behavioral health among tenants and tenants who are unaccustomed to maintaining property.
'Some of these units are designed for homeless families, so a lot of the residents may not necessarily have the experience or the skills of knowing how to maintain or upkeep an apartment, so cleanliness might be an issue, right?' Arana said.
'This is not unique to Native properties,' he added. 'This is a challenge that every single affordable housing provider is facing right now, issues of not cleanly units, issues of hoarding, issues of bed bugs. Anybody who is doing affordable housing development, anybody who's doing permanent supportive housing, is running into these issues. What we're trying to do is, as they come up, figure out how to address them and solve them.'
A young mother living at one of the properties wrote in a Facebook post that she feels 'lucky' she hasn't received an eviction notice yet, because she has been trying for months to work with FPI to figure out her portion of the rent after a $1,200 domestic violence subsidy is applied.
'I am still waiting to figure out the accurate portion of my rent due,' she wrote. 'Every time a manager was working with me, we'd almost get the accurate number and then they'd leave FPI.'
Near constant overturn of property management staff is a recurring issue raised by tenants.
'I live here and we cannot seem to keep anyone willing to hold the job as manager of this building,' another tenant wrote on Facebook. 'I wonder why?'
'It is impossible for those of us who are disabled to get accommodations when on-site managers are rotated out of the building every few months,' states the letter from Mamook Tokatee Tenants Association that was delivered to NAYA.
The letter also pointed to accusations that managers have mishandled tenants' housing subsidy paperwork, causing the 'tenants to lose housing subsidies,' in addition to management seeking to 'evict tenants over the amounts that would have been subsidized if management had not mishandled the paperwork.'
Richard Scott, 61, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians descendant, has been living at Mamook Tokatee since July 2022. He says he had to fight back at repeated issues with incorrect nonpayment notices and an unjust eviction notice from FPI Management. He believes these mistakes are a direct result of the company's 'incompetence.''It's an abusive pattern that needs to stop,' Scott said. 'And, quite frankly, my hope is that by doing what I'm doing, it will get [FPI Management] removed as management.'
Scott said a number of payments 'disappeared' when the switchover from Viridian to FPI management occurred. A person employed at NAYA during the time and who had knowledge of the incidents said FPI 'lost' or 'misplaced' rent payments. The person added that tenants likely have legitimate claims of neglect by FPI Management.
'That is part of what led to some of the problems and that's why some of the people have ended up getting evicted,' Scott said. 'They were probably unjustly evicted.'
'[FPI Management] was trying to evict me when I, in fact, have been paying my rent and paying it in a timely fashion,' he added.
Scott fought two separate notices from FPI management stating he was behind on rent. One notice from FPI reviewed by Underscore stated that Scott had a $1,532.06 outstanding debt. But Scott, who has meticulously kept records, provided FPI with rental receipts showing that he was up to date.
'I figured, alright, now this should be the last that I hear of it,' Scott said. 'Well, last month comes with an eviction notice for failure of payment. And I'm like, alright, this is ridiculous.'
The eviction notice and an outstanding debt of $680 were later corrected, Scott said, adding that he was informed he was instead owed $380 from the management company for overpayment.
'So they gave me an eviction notice for paying my rent,' Scott said.
According to numerous interviews with tenants and the letter that was delivered to NAYA, Scott isn't alone in experiencing these types of issues.
'It is unacceptable to evict us for nonpayment of rent if you do not even know how much we owe,' the Mamook Tokatee Tenants Association letter states.
'It has become necessary for us to unite together into a tenant association, because NAYA has failed to appoint an adequate manager of Mamook Tokatee, and now NAYA is trying to evict 9 of us because of their own manager's fault,' the letter continues.
According to TJ Noddings, co-founder of Renters Action Network, issues within the affordable housing sector are common throughout the country, with claims of mismanagement and neglect being a recurring pattern.
Noddings co-founded Renters Action Network, a grassroots organization made up of renters, activists and organizations dedicated to advocating for the rights and needs of renters across Portland. Together they work to address and 'fight systemic injustices in housing.'
'I think neglect is happening everywhere in the rental market,' Noddings told Underscore. 'There's just a lot being absolutely ignored, looked over.'
According to Noddings, eviction rates are skyrocketing across Multnomah County, with rates in 2024 30% higher than in 2023 — which was 30% higher than in 2022.
From January to December 2024, there were 28,073 eviction cases filed in Oregon, according to data from Evicted in Oregon, a Portland State University (PSU) group that researches evictions. Multnomah County accounted for 11,761 of those eviction cases.
Underscore Native News requested information and documentation regarding rental agreements and eviction details at NAYA properties, among other information. FPI and NAYA denied the requests, citing confidentiality.
According to a 2024 PSU report on evictions in Oregon, nonpayment of rent is the most common cause for evictions nationwide and statewide.
The report revealed that 76% of evictions in Oregon between 2021 and 2023 were due to nonpayment. In subsidized housing, that figure was 60%, while nearly 40% were for other causes. All 21 eviction notices at Mamook and Hayu were for nonpayment; at Nesika, five were for other violations, including conduct.
An analysis of the PSU report by the Eviction Research Network and University of California Berkeley found that Oregon has among the highest eviction rates in the U.S. and that eviction case counts broke all-time state records in 2024.
The report also found that CDP was in the top 10 for subsidized housing evictors in Oregon. CDP's eviction rates, like those of other subsidized housing providers, have risen since the pandemic.
'It's a really difficult time in affordable housing,' said Holly Benelli, senior asset manager with CDP. 'After COVID, a lot of properties have struggled with operations in general for a lot of different reasons. I mean, the level of acuity and need that we're seeing within the populations that we could historically serve in affordable housing properties has really shifted, and continues to shift quickly.'
Benelli said CDP and NAYA work to address issues as they arise and will continue to do so.
'We recognize there have been some really challenging outcomes or devastating outcomes for some of the folks,' Benelli said.
While nonpayment is the most common reason for eviction, tenants at NAYA properties say they have been trying to pay their rent, but run into issues with FPI management.
Arana said the property management company, not NAYA, is 'responsible for overseeing the books connected to the buildings.' He added that the properties are audited and that NAYA and other ownership partners like CDP are looking at the finances closely.
While Berry said he has secured a new place to stay, he is worried about others who might not be as lucky. He hopes no one else has to deal with what he has.
'We have other people that are going to be living in these buildings, they're going to be treated the same way, so we want to make sure that stops right here, now,' Berry said. 'Nobody should have to go through what we've had to go through.'
One first-time renter, after being evicted, said they don't know what to do now.
'I come here from all the way in South Dakota, so this is my only home. Where am I going to go?' they asked during an interview with Underscore. 'I have to go all the way back to South Dakota, and I have to figure out my housing complications from there.'
'We're here for community. We're here for the people,' they asked. 'The community is here, and we're asking for help, but where's our help?'
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This story is co-published by Underscore.news and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest. Funding is provided in part by Meyer Memorial Trust.