Facing eviction? Know your rights, says Oregon Law Center’s Eviction Defense Project

PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program reopened last week and began accepting applications and state officials say there are enough funds to last an estimated three weeks. With the portal reopening even for a short period of time, it’s important that any tenant with rent debt or facing rent instability apply as soon as possible at OregonRentalAssistance.org.

Additionally, the Eviction Defense Project of the Oregon Law Center says during this time of changing tenant protections, it’s important for renters to know their rights, take action if they get an eviction notice, and call them immediately if their case gets taken to court. 

“During the time of the Covid, tenant protections have evolved to try to mitigate the economic impacts of the pandemic. It can be hard to keep up with the changes. We want everyone to know that in Oregon, no one should be evicted for non-payment of rent when there are new safe harbor extensions and rent assistance available,” says Becky Straus, Managing Attorney at the Oregon Law Center’s Eviction Defense Project. “Unfortunately, we are seeing many people in court who shouldn’t be there because they didn’t know about the protections or how to get help.” 

Here is the Eviction Defense Project’s guide on what to do to stop eviction: 

• If you have proof of assistance application, show your landlord. If you have previously applied for rent assistance through a state, local, federal, or privately-funded program and showed the proof of application to your landlord, under SB 891 passed in December, you are protected from nonpayment-of-rent eviction for as long as your rent assistance application is pending. Prior to December that protection lasted only 60 days. 
• Apply for assistance if you haven’t already, and show your landlord. If you owe back rent or current rent, apply right away if you haven’t already and send your landlord proof of application. You will be protected from nonpayment of rent eviction for as long as the application is pending. 
• How to handle back rent owed from the first wave of the pandemic: Grace period ends this month but, if you apply for rent assistance, you are protected. Before the Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program launched, lawmakers gave tenants a grace period to pay back rent accrued during the first wave of the pandemic. The grace period for that back rent (anything accrued from April, 2020 to June 2021) ends on February 28, 2022. But if you apply for rent assistance, you cannot be evicted while your application is being processed.

What to do if you get an eviction notice: 

• Your landlord is required by law to give you an eviction notice that gives you 10 days to respond. If you have received an eviction notice for any reason and aren’t sure what to do, get advice from your local legal aid office. https://oregonlawhelp.org//resource/oregon-legal-aid-offices. 

• If you have already received a court summons for a future date, it’s not too late. Take action now. The Eviction Defense Project has attorneys who may be able to give you advice or represent you in court for free. Call 888-585-9638 or go to OregonLawCenter.org  with your court case number and hearing date at the ready. Do not wait to call. Eviction Court moves quickly. 
• If you get a letter from the Eviction Defense Project, open it. The EDP team is also working proactively to make sure people know they have access to representation by sending letters to everyone who has had an eviction filed against them in court. If you receive such a letter, respond right away because eviction court moves quickly. 

The Eviction Defense Project was launched last fall and has rapidly staffed up, thanks to funding from the State of Oregon, Multnomah County, the City of Portland and private foundations to reduce unfair and illegal evictions and help ensure tenants aren’t left on their own in court. More than 40% of Oregonians rent their homes, and stopping illegal or unfair evictions is an essential component in addressing Oregon’s housing crisis. Unfortunately, many people who are taken to eviction court don’t have legal representation to help defend against such evictions.

Since early 2021, the Eviction Defense Project has assisted hundreds of households to remain in their homes. The Project is operating statewide and also has local attorneys stationed in counties throughout the state. Services are free to qualifying low-income tenants, and are available in English and Spanish. There is access to expert interpreters for other languages, and help is available to people no matter their citizenship status. 

“As the new covid variant continues to sweep across our state, people are losing income because of illness or businesses that can’t operate. Some people are still struggling to catch up from the economic hit of the past couple of years. We are lucky in Oregon that short-term help is available for people who are still dealing with the economic upheaval of the pandemic and we just need to make sure they know the help is available at every step of the way,” says Straus.