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Commissioner Chloe Eudaly‘s office is crafting a policy that would give tenants, and then the city of Portland, first right of refusal on the sale of any rental units.

The intent is to give low-income renters the chance to own a home. Details remain to be fleshed out by an informal committee of advisers, and written into code language by city attorneys.

The policy proposal may advance to hearings in two to three months, said Jamey Duhamel, Eudaly’s policy director.

鈥淚t really made sense to us,鈥� Duhamel said. 鈥淲e recognize that achieving homeownership for low-income tenants is even more difficult than it’s ever been historically.鈥�

Under the policy, any seller of a rental property would need to give the city 90 days’ notice of intent to sell. Tenants would have 60 days make an offer. If the tenant or tenants decline, the city would have 30 days to weigh acquiring the property.

As currently envisioned, the policy would apply to all types of housing, from single-family homes to large apartment complexes.

City officials are under pressure to meet a goal of translating $258.4 million approved by voters in last November’s housing bond into 1,300 affordable housing units.

鈥淲e wanted to be able to give that bond as much bang for the buck as possible,鈥� Duhamel said.

After the 90-day period ends, tenants and the city would have 72 additional hours to match any offer made on the open market.

Duhamel said the policy would give the city more time to consider purchasing affordable housing. As it is now, the city often learns of available properties only after a buyer is in place, she said.

鈥淭he city was learning about potential opportunities way too late in the game,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ometimes the deals had already been made.鈥�

Multifamily brokers were aghast at news of the under-discussion policy, which was first reported by the Portland Mercury.

鈥淚t’s another thing that will end up doing more harm than good, but it’s kind of true to form,鈥� said Greg Frick, a partner at HFO Investment Real Estate.

Eudaly, who was elected in 2016 after a campaign in which she pledged to protect tenants and bolster affordable housing, has earned the ire of developers, brokers and others in Portland’s for-profit housing sector. Eudaly championed the city’s relocation policy, which requires landlords to pay tenants when issuing a no-cause eviction.

Frick said there’s a misperception that institutional investors are to blame for Portland’s housing crisis.

鈥淭hey’re not driving rents,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat’s driving rents is demand for rentals, not demand for investments.鈥�

The policy is inspired by a similar ordinance in Washington, D.C., Duhamel said. It was first advanced by Living Cully, a coalition of Northeast Portland community groups, and taken up by Eudaly’s advisory committee.

It’s likely to meet fierce opposition.

鈥淥ur attitude is it’s another one of her proposals that’s not founded in any real knowledge of the market,鈥� said John McIsaac, spokesman for Multifamily Northwest, a trade group for landlords. 鈥淚t’s a dream. It doesn’t make any sense. It might sound cool or romantic, but it’s not practical.鈥�

Tom Brenneke, president of Guardian Real Estate Services, said a right of first refusal provision on any property makes it less attractive to potential buyers.

鈥淔rankly, even talk of this kind of thing impacts markets,鈥� he said.

Adding controls on the housing market is not the answer, Brenneke said.

鈥�(Eudaly’s) borrowing pages out of the San Francisco playbook, and none of it works,鈥� he said.