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Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek encountered a skeptical audience of apartment landlords and developers on Friday.

Kotek, who is sponsoring a bill that would lift the state’s pre-emption on rent control, said she wants to work together with landlords to craft a policy that works. She was the keynote speaker at HFO Investment Real Estate‘s annual roundtable luncheon held at the World Forestry Center at Washington Park.

鈥淲e are all in this together, and vilifying any side of this debate is not helpful,鈥� she said. 鈥淚’m very open to pushback, and I’m sure my colleagues are as well.鈥�

Pushback she got. Landlords demanded to know how rent control and tenant protections would help solve the housing affordability crisis, which they blame on inadequate housing construction.

鈥淭his is a societal problem, not just an apartment problem,鈥� said Tom Clarey of Tandem Property Management, owner of several apartment properties in the western area of metro-Portland. 鈥淲e have land-use issues. We have cost issues. We are an easy target.鈥�

Rent control is 鈥渓ow-hanging fruit鈥� for legislators, Clarey sad. He also threatened to finance a campaign against Kotek, a Portland Democrat who has served in the Legislature since 2007 and was easily re-elected in November.

鈥淵ou don’t know how much money I’m going to donate to get you not elected,鈥� Clarey said.

His remarks drew cheers from the audience.

Kotek said she wants to encourage construction to address the housing crisis in Portland and other Oregon cities. But, she said, a tough budget deficit makes it difficult for the state government to put much money toward those goals.

鈥淚f Measure 97 had passed in November, I would have more capability right now to prioritize incentives and new dollars for construction,鈥� she said. 鈥淎t this point, the pie is not big enough. But you’re absolutely right, if we want to do this, we have to push ourselves to figure out how to do it right.鈥�

Kotek’s mention of Measure 97, which would have taxed large corporations but was rejected by voters, drew groans from the audience.

Kotek and other Democrats have proposed a package of bills to limit rent increases and provide some protections to tenants facing no-cause evictions. One bill would impose a 5 percent cap on rent increases for a year. Another would ban no-cause evictions, while a separate bill would require 90 days’ notice before a no-cause eviction could be carried out.

Apartment owners have largely done well in recent years. Rising rents and low vacancy rates have buoyed the multifamily industry. That has in turn attracted investors 鈥� sales volume in the Portland market in the fourth quarter of 2016 was nearly $1.5 billion, far outpacing recent trends, according to data gathered by ABR Winkler Investment Real Estate.

Yet pushback from renters and tenants’ rights groups has gathered steam and attracted the attention of legislators such as Kotek. Last week, tenant advocates were aghast at a 100 percent rent increase at Normandy Terrace, a Northeast Portland apartment complex.

Kotek said constituents who have contacted her said they were served eviction notices after complaining of nuisances such as mold.

鈥淚 don’t believe people are lying to me when they tell me these stories,鈥� she said.

No-cause evictions in particular are 鈥渞ipe for abuse,鈥� Kotek said.

After the meeting, Kotek said she’s willing to talk with business interests on housing issues.

鈥淚’m committed to hearing all sides of this story,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he landlord groups have been harder to sit down with, so this was an opportunity to hear from the landlords.鈥�

If legislators succeed in lifting the state pre-emption on rent controls, the city of Portland will be tasked with carrying out its own policy.

Housing Director Kurt Creager said he is already thinking of how to structure a rent stabilization board in Portland.

鈥淲e’re prepared to act when we’re asked to by either the Legislature or the City Council,鈥� he said.