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Portland woman who received eviction notice gets help from nonprofit, will move in late July

She will be able to stay in her current apartment until the end of July and her rent will be covered by a Portland nonprofit.

PORTLAND, Ore. — An 84-year-old Portland woman who received a 24-hour eviction notice on Thursday will not have to leave her apartment on Friday after all.

Lynne Richardson has lived at the Thomasville Apartments in Southeast Portland for about five years. In May, she moved into a different unit at the same complex to help a sick friend.

Her friend died last week. Because Richardson’s name was not on the lease, she was an unauthorized occupant.

Richardson found a 24-hour vacate notice at her home on Thursday. She said Legacy Property Management, which owns the apartment building, offered her two options: move or sign a one-year lease at around $1,200 a month. That's up from the nearly $800 rent that her late roommate was paying.

The $400 increase was too much for Richardson.

KGW reached out to Legacy Property Management, and owner Abraham Walsh said the company intended to offer Richardson a month-to-month rental option, but it was somehow lost in translation.

“Nobody wants to kick an elderly woman out on the street, that's not what this is about,” Walsh said Thursday night.

RELATED: Owner evicts Portland woman, 84, from apartment: 'I don't know what I'm going to do'

After KGW aired Richardson’s story, Portland rental-protection nonprofit Multifamily NW wanted to help.

According to Chris Edmonds with Hubbell Communications, who represents Multifamily NW, Richardson has found an apartment that will be a good fit but she cannot move in until the end of July.

Thomasville Apartments will take a rental agreement allowing Richardson to stay in her current unit until July 31. Her rent will be covered by Multifamily NW.

The nonprofit will also cover her August and September rent at her new apartment, Edmonds said.

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