91视频

Portland’s City Council is due to consider on Wednesday whether to allocate $400,000 toward creating a citywide rental registration system while also extending protections for renters.

The registration system, once active, could give policymakers unprecedented data on rents, evictions, vacancies and more. It also could lay the groundwork for future housing regulations.

Spending for the registration system is tucked into legislation commissioners will consider that would also make permanent the city’s year-old renter relocation ordinance and eliminate an exemption for landlords who rent only one unit.

City officials said they need better data to tackle the ongoing housing crisis and to gauge whether new policies such as the relocation ordinance are working.

鈥淭here just is not a lot of data on the rental-level market,鈥� said Michael Cox, spokesman for Mayor Ted Wheeler.

Policymakers have much more data on the single-family housing market, where every home sale and county appraisal is recorded and made publicly available. Data for rentals is often limited to surveys of various qualities.

鈥淲e have been asking for this rental registration for a very long time,鈥� said Jamey Duhamel, policy director for Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, who has championed protections for renters. 鈥淲e’re happy to see it is in development.鈥�

It is not clear what data the registry would collect. That’s to be decided later, and groups such as the city’s Rental Services Commission are likely to weigh in.

鈥淥ur office certainly hopes it collects data that includes the rent, that includes copies of the leases, information that allows us to dig a little deeper in the rental market,鈥� Duhamel said.

Skeptics of the City Council’s push for housing regulations said it looks like more of the same policies that are likely to restrict housing supply.

鈥淭o me, it sounds like the first steps of the city administration looking to implement rent control,鈥� said Gerard Mildner, a Portland State University professor of real estate finance.

Duhamel said rent control isn’t possible until the Oregon Legislature removes a statewide ban. Mildner expressed skepticism that a rental registry would benefit the city.

鈥淕iven their inability to fix potholes, given their inability to keep the streets clean, given their inability to manage the homeless problem, what gives them the confidence they can manage a database of rents?鈥� he said.

Mildner even raised the prospect of Metro stepping in, saying the city has essentially reduced the availability of land for housing through its inclusionary housing regulations.

鈥淢y feeling at this point is Metro needs to put a stop to this nonsense,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his policy on the part of the city is really choking off the housing we desperately need.鈥�

The measure to be considered Wednesday would also eliminate an exemption to the relocation ordinance for single-unit landlords. The ordinance requires payment to tenants when they’re forced to move because of a rent increase of 10 percent or more, or are evicted without cause.

Duhamel said the exemption had left an estimated 24,000 tenants without protection from sudden rent increases or eviction.

鈥淚t is in fact the single-unit owner who rents to probably the most vulnerable tenants in the city,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e feel it is an absolute imperative that we remove that exemption.鈥�

Being subject to the relocation ordinance could cause some landlords to give up renting their properties, said Greg Frick, partner at HFO Investment Real Estate.

鈥淚t’s going to drive some people out of the rental business, which causes scarcity, which drives rents up,鈥� he said.

John DiLorenzo, a lobbyist for a group that represents landlords, said regulating single-unit landlords would hurt average people saving for their retirements.

鈥淭hat’s a lot to impose on a person who made the investment to augment their pension security,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is not the province of the well-to-do. It’s the province of the person who wants to get ahead. We have an amazing number of postal clerks who have rentals, and the common person who has rentals.鈥�

The City Council is due to consider the relocation ordinance changes at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.