SEATTLE (AP) – A Seattle policy intended to reduce evictions after the end of the city’s eviction moratorium has been struck down by the Washington State Court of Appeals.

The Seattle Times reports an ordinance the City Council passed in May 2020 said tenants who fell behind on rent and faced eviction could, for six months following the end of the moratorium, assert a defense in court if they self-certified that they suffered financial hardship and couldn’t pay their rent.

City leaders pointed to the rule as one key to the city’s emergence from a nearly two-year ban on almost all evictions. As they allowed the eviction moratorium to expire Feb. 28, Mayor Bruce Harrell and Seattle City Council members cited a suite of city tenant protections including the six-month rule as ways of helping vulnerable tenants stay housed as evictions resumed.

In a written decision issued March 21, the Court of Appeals upheld other city protections, but said the six-month eviction defense “deprives the landlords of their property interest without due process by not affording them the opportunity to test the veracity of a tenant’s self-certification of financial hardship.”

The lawsuit filed by the Rental Housing Association of Washington also challenged the city’s ban on evictions during winter months and a law allowing tenants to repay pandemic debt in installments. A King County Superior Court judge last year upheld all but one small portion of the laws. The Court of Appeals affirmed that lower court ruling but added the decision against the six-month rule.

The Rental Housing Association, which represents landlords, stated: “We are grateful for the Court’s decision, which stops the cycle of debt for housing providers and residents trapped in Seattle’s ongoing COVID-19 eviction ban.”

The city attorney’s office did not immediately say whether it plans to seek a review of the case from the state’s highest court.

The Rental Housing Association stated it would “continue to examine our issues with Seattle’s winter eviction ban.”

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By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — With winter coming and federal funds drying up, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Tuesday she’ll call a special session of the Legislature Dec. 13 to approve state funding for rental assistance and extend eviction protections issued because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is clear that a state solution is needed to address the urgent and immediate needs of Oregon renters,” Brown said.

Brown is proposing that protections be extended for everyone who has applied for rental assistance, that landlords be paid in full for the rent they are owed, that up to $90 million in additional rental assistance be provided to low-income tenants through the winter and an additional $100 million be provided to transition from pandemic-related emergency rental assistance to long-term, locally delivered eviction prevention services.

Brown said she is working with federal officials at the U.S. Treasury and the White House to secure additional federal emergency rental assistance funding for Oregon.

Oregon is not alone in feeling pressure as the federal government is forecasting that upwards of $30 billion — or about two-thirds of money allocated for rental assistance — will be disbursed or allocated by the end of the year.

Texas has stopped accepting new applicants because it has allocated all its funds, while New York has spent or committed nearly all of its money. California has also indicated it will soon exhaust its funds.

Margaret Salazar, the executive director of Oregon Housing and Community Services, said recently that Oregon “just did not get enough resources to meet the needs” of the state to respond to the immediate crisis.

As of a few days ago, a significant chunk of the funds — $159 million — hadn’t yet reached renters. The state received nearly 51,000 complete applications for rental assistance but so far, just 43 percent of those who have applied have received funding.

Senate Majority Leader Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, and House Majority Leader Barbara Smith Warner, D-Portland, said Oregon is committed to protecting individuals and families at risk of eviction.

“We can take action in a special session to ensure this doesn’t happen and that we keep our promise to Oregonians. No one should lose their housing because of administrative delays,” they said in a statement.

Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson, who on Tuesday was named House Republican leader, said a special session isn’t needed and that the Legislature’s Emergency Board can allocate funds “to support those already in line to receive rent assistance.”

“Our unemployment level, jobless claims, and job openings have returned to pre-pandemic years. A special session is unnecessary,” the Republican from Prineville said.

Oregon Housing and Community Services received $289 million in federal rental assistance funds to help renters impacted by COVID-19, the governor’s office said. As of last week, almost $150 million was paid to over 22,000 households. The state housing finance agency and its partners have received more than 25,000 additional applications. Brown said Oregon’s federal funds for rental assistance will be nearly all spent by Wednesday.

Senate President Peter Courtney noted that with the session only two weeks away, lawmakers will face challenges to ensure that it’s productive.

“Special sessions are the most difficult of all sessions. Everything must be carefully planned. We have a lot of work to do,” the Democrat from Salem said.

Associated Press writer Sara Cline also contributed to this report.

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By SARA CLINE
The Associated Press/Report for America

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced Monday she is extending the statewide residential mortgage foreclosure moratorium, for those experiencing financial hardship during the ongoing pandemic, until Dec. 31.

The moratorium, which allows homeowners to put their mortgage in forbearance, was set to expire Sept. 30. Based on the measure’s language, this is the last extension that Brown is authorized to issue.

“As we continue to see record-high numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations driven by the delta surge, I am committed to ensuring that Oregonians have a warm, dry, safe place to live during this pandemic,” Brown said. “Extending the temporary residential foreclosure moratorium another three months will prevent removal of Oregonians from their homes by foreclosure, which would result in serious health, safety, welfare, and financial consequences, and which would undermine key efforts to prevent spread of COVID-19.”

During the pandemic, the state’s ongoing housing crisis has only been exacerbated.

In late July, more than 49,000 Oregon homeowners said they were not caught up on their mortgage payments, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Household Pulse Survey.

During this year’s legislative session, Oregon lawmakers pushed the housing crisis to the forefront.

Oregon was one of several states that enacted a moratorium last year halting eviction proceedings for residents who have experienced financial hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the measure expired in June.

As experts warned about a mass wave of evictions in the state, $200 million was set aside in federal emergency assistance to help tenants and landlords with current and outstanding rent. Based on data from Oregon Housing and Community Services, around 15,000 households have completed applications for rent assistance.

While the state had millions of dollars available to pay past-due rent, high demand created a backlog that officials said would not be cleared before the end of the state eviction moratorium. As a result, in June lawmakers passed a “Safe Harbor” amendment on Senate Bill 278 to pause evictions in the state.

Under the amendment, which received bipartisan support, tenants who are unable to pay July or August rent will not be evicted for 60 days if they provide proof to their landlord that they have applied for rental assistance. The bill was signed by Brown, a Democrat, in June.

Commissioners in Multnomah County — Oregon’s most populous county and home to Portland — voted in July to extend the “Safe Harbor” amendment through the end of September. Officials in the county said the demand for rental assistance in the area is twice as high as all other Oregon counties combined.
In addition, earlier this year Oregon lawmakers voted to extend the grace period for past-due rent during the moratorium, allowing tenants to have until Feb. 28, 2022, to pay back rent.

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By SARA CLINE
The Associated Press/Report for America

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Commissioners in Oregon’s most populous county voted Thursday to extend a pause on evictions, for tenants who have applied for rental assistance, until the end of September.

Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury said the demand for rental assistance in the county that includes Portland is estimated “to be twice as high as all other Oregon counties combined.” Officials say an additional month will give service providers more time to process and distribute funds to struggling tenants.

“This temporary extension of protections offers a necessary safeguard against the risk of evictions that would disproportionately affect low-income households and communities of color as they await rent relief,” Kafoury said.

Oregon is one of several states that enacted a moratorium last year halting eviction proceedings. However, the measure expired at the end of June. While Oregon had $200 million in federal emergency assistance to help tenants and landlords with current and outstanding rent, a record-breaking number of rent assistance requests created a backlog.

In June, lawmakers passed a “Safe Harbor” amendment to provide a safety net for tenants still waiting for their applications to be processed. Under the amendment, which received bipartisan support, tenants who are unable to pay their July or August rent cannot be evicted for 60 days if they provide proof to their landlord that they have applied for rental assistance through Oregon Housing and Community Services.

Multnomah County is home to more than 10,000 of the approximately 15,000 Oregon households that have applied for state-funded rent assistance. With statewide Safe Harbor protections lasting only through August, the county’s Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to extend the eviction pause for its residents for an additional 30 days.

“We have reorganized and expanded our systems in preparation for the challenge,” Kafoury said. “Still, the unprecedented scale of need, and the resources to meet it, far exceed those of other counties across the state, and the extra time will be vital to getting people the help they need.”

Multnomah County has created two new rent assistance teams to augment its distribution efforts: one processing requests coming through the Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program, and another entirely dedicated to eviction prevention. The county also has a pool of staff standing by if the capacity of the application processing team is stretched.

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By SARA CLINE
Associated Press/Report for America

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — With the state and federal eviction moratorium set to expire at the end of June, Oregon lawmakers are hastily working on an amendment to keep financially struggling tenants housed and avoid mass evictions next month.

The proposed “Safe Harbor” amendment on Senate Bill 278 would “pause” rental evictions for 60 days for tenants unable to pay their July or August rent, if they provide proof to their landlord that they’ve applied for rental assistance through Oregon Housing and Community Services.

“We have had this unequal recession and unequal recovery, and there is still a subset of folks that need a little extra time and help,” Rep. Julie Fahey, a Eugene Democrat, said during a committee meeting on Monday. “And we have resources, in a magnitude that we have never seen before, to help those folks.”

Oregon has had an eviction moratorium in place since April 2020. In addition, last month Oregon lawmakers voted to extend the grace period for past due rent during the moratorium, allowing tenants to have until Feb. 28, 2022 to pay back rent.

But a year into the pandemic people are still facing financial hardships.

In May, 53 percent of Oregon renters who responded to a survey — or more than 27,000 renters — said that it was “very likely” or “somewhat likely” that they would be evicted from their home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Household Pulse Survey.

Last week Gov. Kate Brown announced she was extending the state’s mortgage foreclosure moratorium until the end of September. But she said she did not have the authority to extend the eviction moratorium.

“That means, by law, Oregon’s eviction moratorium will expire on June 30,” Brown said.

However with many tenants still struggling lawmakers are discussing the “safe harbor” amendment, which would not extend the eviction moratorium but would keep people who have applied for rental assistance from getting evicted on July 1.

“It’s certainly a step down from a true moratorium, in terms of how protective it is, because a tenant has to apply for rent assistance,” Fahey said. “But in my mind it will encourage more folks to apply for rent assistance – and it will keep people housed.”

The state currently has $200 million, in federal aid, in the state’s rental assistance fund to help both tenants and landlords. Another round of funding is expected to be available this fall.

So far, officials from the Oregon Housing and Community Services said more than 16,600 households have started or completed the application to get rental assistance.

While there is a great need for rental assistance, state officials say the problem is they can’t get it out fast enough.

“The Legislature’s great work on the (eviction moratorium) was designed based on the reasonable assumption that federal rent assistance dollars would be in distribution in communities across the state by now, but that hasn’t happened,” said Sybil Hebb, the director of legislative advocacy at the Oregon Law Center. “We know now that rent assistance dollars cannot be processed quickly enough to prevent evictions after the expiration of the moratorium.”

Along with unprecedented levels of applications for rental assistance statewide, officials say there was a lack of direction from the federal government — which only published guidance on how to use the federal funds on May 7.

“It wasn’t a dereliction of the state,” said House Majority Leader Barbara Smith Warner, a Portland Democrat.

The proposed amendment has been criticized by landlord associations.

“We have all suffered under the pandemic,” Charles DeSeranno, a property owner and vice president of the Salem Rental Housing Association, said in written testimony. “And though we were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, as of late per the governor, it would appear that was not the case as this bill just kicks the can down the road once again for a select group of citizen’s of this state.”

Landlords argued that they have already made “enough compromises” when it comes to rent during the pandemic — in the form of the moratorium and grace period to pay back rent.

“Oregon is almost all the way back open and there are more jobs than ever for people to obtain. On top of that, those that have been on unemployment have been receiving additional monies each week to help them get back or stay on their feet,” Michelle Bunting, the president of a property management company in Bend, said in written testimony.

In addition, House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, a Canby Republican, expressed that she felt it was an extension of the state’s eviction moratorium.

“I find this to be a complete and total overreach,” Drazan said.

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By SARA CLINE
Associated Press/Report for America

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — As Oregon nears its vaccination target to reopen the economy, Gov. Kate Brown announced Friday she is extending the state’s mortgage foreclosure moratorium through September.

However, the governor was unable to extend the state’s eviction moratorium — which began in April 2020, as tenants financially struggled during the pandemic. That is set to expire at the end of June.

“This means that renters must pay their July rent or their landlords can evict them for nonpayment,” Brown said.

Last month, Brown signed a bill that reinstated Oregon’s moratorium on foreclosures, which allow homeowners to put their mortgage in forbearance at least through June 30. The law also gave Brown the authority to extend the end date, which she announced she was doing on Friday.

“This is vital protection that the legislature has provided to Oregon’s home owners as we continue to rebound from the economic impacts of the pandemic,” Brown said.

However, the governor was unable to extend state’s rent moratorium. Brown urged those who will struggle to pay rent in July apply for rental assistance.

Currently the governor is working with lawmakers to pass a bill that would give tenants who apply for rental assistance “safe harbor from eviction.”

Last month, Oregon lawmakers voted to extend the grace period for past due rent during the moratorium, allowing tenants to have until Feb. 28, 2022, to pay back rent.

“Housing is a basic human need, which is why I have worked with the Legislature and our congressional delegation to devote state and federal resources to ensure that all Oregonians have a warm, dry safe place to live throughout the pandemic,” Brown said.

As the eviction moratorium is set to expire, other COVID-19 safety measures and mandates are being lifted.

Last month, Brown set statewide and county vaccination targets with the hope of reopening the state’s economy by the end of June.

In order for the state to lift mask, physical distancing and capacity restrictions, 70 percent of Oregon adults receiving at least their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine before reopening the economy. As of Friday, 67 percent of people who are 18 or older in the state had been vaccinated. Brown said 93,000 more adults must receive at least a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to reach her target.

The vaccination target for individual counties is 65 percent of adults in the area. Once a county reaches the goal, they move into the “lower risk” category which allows a county to significantly reduce its COVID-19 restrictions — 50 percent capacity for indoor dining, theaters, gyms and other indoor entertainment spaces. Currently, 21 of Oregon’s 36 counties are listed in the “lower risk” level.

For more than a year Oregon has faced some of the nation’s strictest safety measures — county risk levels, mask requirements inside and outside, limited gatherings and restaurants closed for indoor dining.

But over the past month, coronavirus case numbers and hospitalizations in the state have been improving as people continue to get vaccinated. Health officials said on Friday that during the past week, 1,725 new COVID-19 cases had been reported, the lowest weekly total since September.

“In summary, the landscape of the virus has shifted dramatically, creating what we described last week as two pandemics,” Dean Sidelinger, the state’s epidemiologist, said. “As our breakthrough data shows – the virus is overwhelmingly impacting those who are not fully vaccinated – while those vaccinated are safe from the virus.”

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By SARA CLINE
Associated Press/Report for America

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed a measure into law Wednesday that gives tenants facing financial struggles during the coronavirus pandemic more time to pay their past-due rent.

People now have until Feb. 28, 2022, to pay back rent, instead of facing a July deadline.

“Everyone deserves a warm, safe, dry place to call home — and during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been particularly critical that Oregonians be able to stay in their homes,” Brown said.

Senate Bill 282 also protects renters from the long-term effects of not making payments on time by barring reporting to consumer credit agencies and removing back rents from consideration when submitting future rental applications. The law also bars landlords from denying applicants based on pandemic-era evictions and allows such evictions to be kept secret.

The new law also relaxes occupancy limits, with lawmakers saying some residents have needed to stay with friends and family because of financial or health issues during the pandemic. However, it does not extend Oregon’s eviction moratorium past June 30 or forgive back rent.

The pandemic has exacerbated the state’s housing crisis.

In March, more than 17 percent of Oregon renters — or nearly 158,000 — said they were not caught up on their rent payments, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Household Pulse Survey.

Of Oregon renters who answered the survey, 11 percent said they had no confidence they would be able to pay the next month’s rent.

“Senate Bill 282 gives the Oregonians hardest hit by economic impacts during the pandemic more time to recover and, thanks to a historic amount of rent assistance in Oregon, we have the resources to help those families get back on stable financial footing,” Brown said.

Lawmakers also passed legislation Wednesday to reinstate a moratorium on foreclosures. The measure, which now heads to the governor, would allow homeowners to pause or reduce their mortgage payments at least through June 30. The previous state moratorium expired at the end of 2020, but many homeowners continued to struggle to catch up on mortgage payments.

The bill could be extended until the end of the year if Brown lengthens her emergency declaration over COVID-19.

State lawmakers have pushed the housing crisis to the forefront during the legislative session.

In March, lawmakers presented 17 housing-focused bills, which included $535 million for increasing affordable housing, addressing homelessness and supporting homeownership.

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Oregon landlords filed a federal lawsuit late Monday seeking to strike down state and local eviction moratoriums, charging that the restrictions violate their constitutional rights.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Portland in the immediate aftermath of the Legislature’s approval of an extension of the statewide eviction moratorium.

Some landlords have not received rent payments since March, and large landlords have seen their revenues reduced. The latest state bill extends the ban on evictions until June 30, 2021.

John DiLorenzo, a Davis Wright Tremaine attorney who filed the lawsuit, said state leaders should deliver aid for landlords.

“What we really prefer is the alternative relief, and that is a proposal by the state as to how they’re going to compensate housing providers for serving as social service providers,” he said.

The property owners may be willing to consider dropping the lawsuit if lawmakers can loosen the purse strings for landlords, DiLorenzo said.

“We’ll look at it,” he said. “We’ll look at anything they’re willing to do.”

The lawsuit seeks to prohibit Gov. Kate Brown from enforcing the moratorium, and strike down the eviction ban as unconstitutional. It names Brown, Multnomah County and the city of Portland as defendants.

Brown, in a press conference on Tuesday, said stable housing is crucial during the COVID-19 crisis.

“No one should be turned out of their home or rental during a pandemic,” she said.

Eviction is a core issue for tenants’ rights activists, who have scored a string of political victories in recent years.

“We know the COVID-19 pandemic is only worsened by evictions at this time, and the stories we are hearing from tenants make it clear the financial struggles and harassment they are facing are not going to resolve themselves,” Kim McCarty, executive director of Community Alliance of Tenants, stated via email. “Right now, eviction is a public-health issue. This is another frivolous lawsuit from special interests that undermines the public good.”

Landlords are feeling more pain now than during the spring, said Greg Frick, a partner at HFO Investment Real Estate in Portland. He is not a party to the lawsuit.

“It’s getting progressively worse,” he said. “It depends on the project. Some property owners are 25-30 percent in arrears. We have others who are doing better.”

The lawsuit comes from individual landlords and is backed by the industry group More Housing Now.

One plaintiff, Moe Farhoud, owns about 1,200 rental units in Oregon, including in Portland and Multnomah County. His tenants owe more than $1 million in back rent, the lawsuit alleges.

Brown issued the first statewide eviction moratorium on March 22. A June bill extended and streamlined eviction moratoriums statewide after Multnomah County and Portland enacted their own bans.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Multnomah County commissioners have voted to extend the county’s residential eviction ban until July 2, providing assurance that tenants won’t lose their homes even if Oregon doesn’t extend its statewide eviction moratorium past the end of the year.

The commissioners voted unanimously on Thursday to extend the ban until July 2, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported Friday.

State lawmakers are set to meet in a one-day special session next week to consider extending the statewide moratorium and provide aid to landlords whose tenants are behind on rent. Commissioners in Multnomah County — which includes Portland — said they acted urgently because it remains unclear whether the statewide measure will pass next week.

“In this last board meeting of the year, we couldn’t afford to take any chances, and so Multnomah County renters can feel rest assured that at the very least, no matter the state does or doesn’t do, they will be protected from eviction in the new year,” Chairwoman Deborah Kafoury said.

The extension retains a six-month grace period for paying back rent, beginning July 2.

Oregon’s largest county issued its eviction moratorium in March, at the pandemic’s outset, and extended it in September. The moratorium would have expired on Jan. 8 had the commissioners not acted.

As many as 150,000 Oregonians could be behind on rental payments by January, according to a report from the National Council of State Housing Finance Agencies.

The number of renters behind on payments has risen sharply during the pandemic and may now constitute 1 in 4 tenants statewide, according to industry data. Economists and housing advocates have warned of a wave of evictions if the moratoriums lapse.

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By SARA CLINE
Associated Press/Report for America

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Gov. Kate Brown is calling Oregon lawmakers back to the Capitol for a one-day special session, asking them to approve hundreds of millions of dollars to aid people and communities struggling with the pandemic and the effect of this summer’s devastating wildfires.

Some of the bills expected to be discussed at the Dec. 21 session include renter and landlord relief, a restaurant bill that will allow to-go cocktails, school liability protections and an additional allocation to the state’s Emergency Fund.

“Oregon families are struggling with unemployment, housing, food insecurity, and paying their bills — and those most impacted are the same people who are often left behind, including rural, Black, Indigenous, Latino/Latina/Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Tribal communities,” the Democrat said in a statement.

Since the start of the pandemic in Oregon, more than 96,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed and more than 1,200 people have died. Shutdowns and restrictions imposed because of COVID-19 have also caused widespread job losses and business closures.

In addition, deadly wildfires in late summer also burned about 1,500 square miles across the state and destroyed more than 2,000 residences.

These devastating events have financially impacted Oregonians across the state.

In a statement Tuesday, Brown said the Legislature would consider $800 million in relief funding.

One of the main proposals that lawmakers have been discussing this month is a $200 million package for landlord and tenant relief — providing $50 million for rental assistance to tenants for the months ahead and $150 million to small landlords for previously unpaid rent.

Advocates for housing also implored lawmakers to extend an eviction moratorium, saying up to 40,000 households faced eviction.

“We hope that lawmakers are planning to take action to extend the eviction moratorium and create a landlord compensation fund to ensure that COVID doesn’t bring a lifelong economic setback for Oregon working families,” Alison McIntosh of the Oregon Housing Alliance, sad in a statement.

Senate President Peter Courtney said the eviction issue has dominated discussions among lawmakers and is what drove the immediate need for a special session.

“That is the thing we were talking about way back in November — the concern that all of a sudden we are going to fall off a cliff at the end of December and everybody is going to be kicked out of their places,” said Courtney, a Democrat from Salem.

Whether or not the current proposal will pass, or if it will change, is still up for debate.

“You will see some concerns. We may or may not see amendments,” Courtney said. “I am convinced that we will pass something.”

Another topic, that has long been discussed, that restaurant and bar owners hope will reach the House and Senate floor is to-go cocktails.

Restaurateurs and bar owners say cocktails-to-go would provide the additional revenue stream to stay afloat.
More than 30 states have moved to allow to-go cocktails, but despite support from Oregon lawmakers, the issue never made it on the agenda in Salem.

However, Courtney said he foresees the proposal moving forward.

One topic noticeably missing from the special session is relief for people with unemployment benefits that are expiring soon.

Courtney said the reason proposals for further unemployment benefits not being included was because it simply “did not come up”, the focus was on evictions and because the session is a single day during a deadly and pandemic.

“I think the greatest fear was that we had to decide how much work you can do in a one-day special session given the dangerous situation we have found ourselves,” Courtney said.

For weeks lawmakers and residents have been urging the governor to call for a special session, but some people thought that would occur virtually rather than in Salem.

The governor, Courtney and House Speaker Tina Kotek had all signaled support for the state’s first “catastrophic” legislative session, making it possible for the session to be remote.

While Kotek, D-Portland, said she would have “preferred to conduct business remotely” she believes the Legislature “must meet as soon as possible and as safely as possible to get critical support to Oregonians in need.”

Like previous special sessions this year, lawmakers will adopt special rules in an attempt to accelerate the process. They will also be required to follow COVID-19 related safety protocols, such as wearing a mask.

“This will be our third special session,” Courtney said, who is Oregon’s longest-serving legislator with 36 years as a lawmaker. “I never thought I would see that.”

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