Oregon House passes rent control bill, sends to governor

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Oregon is set to become the first state in the nation to impose mandatory rent control.

Senate Bill 608 passed the Democrat-controlled House by a vote of 35 to 25 on Tuesday. Landlords would only be allowed to raise rent a limited amount (7 percent, plus the annual change in the consumer price index) once per year under the bill, which previously passed the Senate by a 17-11 vote.

Oregon is suffering from a severe housing crisis as tens of thousands are pouring into a state that’s considered one of the nation’s top moving destinations. Residents say that’s caused skyrocketing rent and they are in danger of losing their homes. They also say a lack of affordable housing prevents them from moving elsewhere.

But critics have said the measure will bring unintended consequences and won’t solve the issue.

The bill now heads to the governor, who has said she would sign it. The measure will take effect immediately.

Central Oregon GOP representatives Cheri Helt and Jack Zika were among those voting no.
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News release from Rep. Jack Zika:

Rent Control Bill Passes, Representative Zika Concerned about Impact on Central Oregon

SALEM, Ore. – Senate Bill 608 passed out of the House chamber today, by a 35-25 vote. Representative Jack Zika released the following statement regarding the passage of the rent control bill:

“I am deeply concerned about the unintended consequences that will come with the rent control bill that passed out of the House chamber today.

“Rent control has harmed the very same people it was intended to help in places where this policy exists and raised the cost of living as well, such as San Francisco.

“It’s no secret that Central Oregon is facing a housing affordability crisis. Study after study shows that rent control will restrict the ability to build more affordable housing in places where the policy has been implemented. Rent control has never been implemented in rural communities.

“This is an unprecedented piece of legislation rammed through the legislative process without careful vetting or notice to industries affected by this bill. Furthermore, this bill decreases the opportunities of home ownership and is a direct attack on property owners.”

SB 608 will limit annual rent increases to 7 percent, plus the annual consumer price index, and will prohibit landlords from terminating month-to-month tenancies without cause after 12 months of occupancy. The landmark legislation now heads to the Governor Kate Brown’s desk for approval and will become law as soon as she signs the legislation.

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News release from Oregon House Democrats:

Landmark Housing Legislation Passes Oregon House

Senate Bill 608 is a first-in-the-nation law to protect renters

SALEM – Landmark, first-in-the-nation legislation to protect renters from rent gouging and no-cause evictions passed the Oregon House of Representatives on Tuesday.Senate Bill 608 creates a fairer system that will provide predictability and stability to renters throughout the state, while not discouraging new construction.

Rep. Mark Meek (D-Oregon City), a Realtor and property manager, carried the legislation on the floor. He told the story of his own experiences as a child dealing with housing instability.

“I have lived both sides of this issue,” Rep. Meek said. “I’ve experienced homelessness and extreme hunger. I remember couch surfing throughout the Los Angeles-area with my mother after being evicted from our apartment. We’d sleep in a motel, when we could afford them, and when we couldn’t, we’d sleep in our car.”

“My story is one example of what displacement looks like. Displacement is devastating. It stifles a child’s ability to be successful. It is no small miracle that I am standing here before this esteemed body today.”

Senate Bill 608 will establish a statewide limit on rent increases, keeping them to no more than 7 percent plus the consumer price index during a 12-month period. It would also ban no-cause evictions following the first 12 months of occupancy.

Senate Bill 608 builds on years of work to address Oregon’s housing crisis, including a law passed in 2017 that prohibits rent increases in the first year of month-to-month tenancy and requires that landlords provide 90-day notice of rent increases.

“I am a landlord and will remain one after this bill becomes law,” Meek added. “Becoming a property manager in Oregon is a great investment and providing fair protection to renters with Senate Bill 608 does not change that.”

The non-partisan Office of Economic Analysis said in a memo last week that the regulations instituted by Senate Bill 608 will not negatively impact new housing supply.

Rep. Tiffiny Mitchell (D-Astoria) spoke Tuesday about the need for protections in rural communities throughout Oregon. In recent years, rents statewide have increased by 14 percent, and in towns like Talent, Oregon, one in three residents is spending more than half of their income on housing.

“As someone who has spent the last year talking to countless rural Oregonian tenants about the stress they face every day from a rental market in crises, I know how critical this legislation is towards helping them find the stability they deserve,” Rep. Mitchell said.

Rep. Tawna Sanchez (D-Portland) stressed how important the legislation is for protecting the most vulnerable and underserved Oregonians.

“In every corner of Oregon, individuals are facing an emergency,” Rep. Sanchez said. “From women fleeing domestic violence, to working families in communities big and small trying to get by, to indigenous people who struggle to find a safe and secure home, this crisis touches all of us.”

Oregon House Democrats continue to work to ensure more Oregonians have access to an affordable, stable place to call home. This legislation is an important and significant step forward, and it is one part of a broad range of solutions needed to address this statewide crisis.

Senate Bill 608 passed the Oregon House of Representatives by a 35-25 margin. This legislation now goes to Gov. Kate Brown.

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News release from Oregon House Republicans:

Passage of SB 608 erodes private property rights and fixes nothing

It is evident supply is necessary to alleviate the affordable housing shortage

SALEM, Ore. – Despite bipartisan opposition, the Democrat-controlled House today passed SB 608, the lamentable first-in-the-nation statewide rent control law. The bill does nothing to alleviate the state’s housing shortage or provide incentives to increase supply.

The bill passed 35 to 25 with three Democrats joining with Republicans.

Passage of this bill also raises a more serious question: If a property owner can’t decide who lives in their apartments and houses, who really owns the property? Certainly, it is no longer the one who pays the property taxes.

Moreover, the bill doesn’t address the real problem, the supply of affordable housing. The super-majority party contends the legislation will rein in rising rents caused by a housing crisis. But over and over, rent control in cities across the country has demonstrated otherwise. The answer to the housing crisis is not rent control, the answer is increasing the available number of houses and apartments. SB 608 neither encourages the building of new housing supply, nor does it provide real incentives to maintain existing rental property.

Investment dollars that would have provided more housing will now go elsewhere. The Democrats’ unwillingness to seriously consider common sense amendments will damage the mom and pop property owners, many of whom have invested their retirement dollars into the rental market. The consequences of this legislation will ripple far beyond the urban areas to Oregon’s small communities, where the housing shortage is just as real as in urban areas. It is also an assault on private property rights, effectively removing property owners’ ability to do what they wish with their own assets.

This bill is just one of many aimed to further regulate Oregonians, while doing little to solve the problems it purports to fix. The virtual elimination of single-family zoning ensconced in HB 2001 and the explicit promise in HB 2020 of a new “economic system” for households, businesses and workers demonstrate the true intentions of Oregon’s ruling party.

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News release from the group Stable Homes for Oregon Families:

Historic renter protections bill passes Oregon legislature

SB 608 passes Oregon House. Headed to Governor for signature

With the vote today, for the first time in history, Oregon renters statewide will have protection against unfair no cause evictions and extreme rent spikes. With this historic vote, Oregon lawmakers have recognized that basic protections for renters are essential as the state and local communities work to increase the supply of housing for people with moderate and low incomes.

With passage of SB 608, families and individuals who rent in every part of Oregon will have more stability and certainty that they will not be forced onto the street by unfair no cause evictions or extreme rent spikes.

“Passage of SB 608 shows that lawmakers recognize that renters in rural and Central Oregon have literally been left out in the cold during the housing crisis. Now fewer children across Oregon will be showing up at school after spending the night in a shelter, a car or a tent. Fewer people will face the silent discrimination and retaliation of no cause evictions. Fewer seniors will skip their medications because they had to make a choice between paying for rent or a prescription,” says Michelle Glass, Director, Rogue Action Center.

Central Oregon has been particularly hard hit by the state’s housing crisis and passage of SB 608 will provide immediate protections against homelessness and displacement. According to the Oregon Department of Education and National Low Income Housing Coalition:

· Deschutes County has 884 students that experienced homelessness last year; Crook County had 92 homeless students and Jefferson, 137.

· In Deschutes County, there are only 15 apartments that are affordable and available for every 100 renters with extremely low incomes; In Crook County, that number is 30 per every 100, and in Jefferson, 29.

· In Deschutes County, one out of three renters pay more than half of their income towards rent, leaving too little left over for other basic necessities like medicine, food, and transportation. For renters with extremely low incomes, the number jumps to 5 out of 6 which pay more than half of their income towards rent.

· To afford an average one-bedroom apartment, someone earning minimum wage in Deschutes County would need to work nearly 60 hours a week to afford that apartment and have money left over for food and other basics.

Passage of SB 608 came after six years of working with legislative leadership, tenant organizations, landlords, advocates and community groups and after the overwhelming majority of committee testimony was in favor of SB 608. Hundreds of people from around the state have worked hard to pass this innovative approach to tenant protections while maintaining a vibrant market to encourage new development.

Here’s what SB 608 does:

Limits no-cause evictions in Oregon. This protects tenants who have been paying their rent on time and following the rules for at least a year from being evicted from their homes through no fault of their own. Limits annual rent increases to be no higher than 7% plus inflation. Too often, landlords use repeated double digit rent increases to force out renters with lower incomes that they don’t want in their buildings. This reasonable limit will prohibit these extreme economic evictions, will stabilize families and communities, and is workable for landlords and developers.

The protections in SB 608 will go into effect immediately upon the Governor’s signature.