Tenants and Landlords Battling in Oregon

Doug Brown reports that "the divide between tenant advocates and the landlord lobby is greater than ever" in Oregon as the state prepares to debate proposed policies on no-cause evictions and control in the coming year.

When the legislative session opens three weeks from now in Salem, it will be just the second time in more than three decades the state legislature will meet to discuss changes to landlord-tenant law that were not first proposed by the Landlord-Tenant Coalition. 

In fact, so far two key bills have been proposed for considering by the Oregon State Legislature with relevance to rental housing: "Speaker Kotek proposed a bill on Monday that would repeal the statewide ban on local jurisdictions implementing rent control policies," and "Gov. Brown proposed a bill that would ban landlords from terminating month-to-month leases without due cause."

The political battles that have followed between organizations like the Oregon Rental Housing Association and the Community Alliance of Tenants have resulted in the end of the state's Landlord-Tenant Coalition. Landlord groups have also established the Equitable Housing Political Action Committee. "The PAC, formerly known as Multifamily NW PAC, raised nearly $300,000 last year (about $270,000 more than its previous high mark in 2014) during the breakup of the Landlord-Tenant Coalition," reports Brown.

A previous article by Shelby R. King sets the stage for the current debate over no-cause evictions from its origins in 2015.