An Oregon bill intended to provide protections for renters has been stripped of several provisions and has lost the support of some advocates.

House Bill 2004 was referred to the Senate Rules Committee on June 8 amid efforts by Senate Democrats to round up votes for the bill.

It’s not clear when, or if, the bill will come to the Senate floor for a vote. It passed the House on April 4.

“The bill is alive,” said Rick Osborn, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick, D-Portland.

Burdick “has been working hard with the groups going back and forth, hoping to find a solution to get passage,” Osborn said.

As originally written, the bill would have lifted a state ban on local rent-control rules. That provision was stripped in committee after it did not find wide support in the Senate.

What remains is a provision limiting rent increases to one in any 12-month period, and another rule protecting month-to-month tenants from eviction if they complain of repairs needed to correct code violations or uninhabitable conditions.

The bill may still change.

“It’s very fluid,” Osborn said.

John DiLorenzo, a lobbyist who represents landlords’ interests, said the legislation remains in the Rules Committee for a reason: Democrats have not been able to come to an agreement on the legislation, with senators including Rod Monroe, D-Portland, and Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, involved in intensive negotiations.

DiLorenzo predicted the bill may not pass, or may pass in watered-down form.

“It will either be nothing, or a shadow of its former self,” he said. “I do think if it’s a shadow of its former self, it will address the most egregious practices that were identified in the newspapers. I think most landlords would tell you it’s a best practice not to raise rents more than once a year. It’s a best practice if you’re clearing out a building for remodel, you do something for the tenants.”

Changes to the bill have been blasted by some advocates for tenants. Portland Tenants United announced last week it was pulling support for the bill.

The group did not respond to requests for comment, but in a post on Medium, the group wrote the remaining bill is a “morass of confusing, painful and reckless amendments that effectively eliminate or weaken all major provisions, and create huge loopholes for predatory landlords to easily maneuver around the scraps that remain.”

PTU members protested at the Capitol on Tuesday, chanting “Restore 2004,” according to a video the group posted on Facebook.

Other advocates for tenants are pushing ahead.

“While we are not pleased that the amended bill leaves intact the statewide ban on rent stabilization, HB 2004-B will immediately protect families at risk for no-cause evictions and should be passed as soon as possible,” Pamela Phan, policy and organizing manager at the Community Alliance of Tenants, stated in an email. “Time is running out for Oregonians who rent their homes.”

Renters in Portland and other Oregon cities have found themselves at the mercy of a tight rental market that often leaves them with nowhere to go if evicted, advocates say.

Landlords have argued no-cause evictions give them a tool to evict dangerous or troublesome tenants without going through a lengthy court process.

The post Tenant-protection bill stumbles in Oregon Senate appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

A bill that would limit landlords’ ability to evict tenants without cause was passed by the Oregon House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The bill backed by Democrats passed by a 31 to 27 vote. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.

House Bill 2004 is part of a movement in Oregon to give renters greater certainty that they won’t face eviction or sudden, dramatic increases in rent. Landlords have fought the changes, saying they’re unnecessary and will cause problems in the market.

State Rep. Karin Power, D-Milwaukie, said she repeatedly heard from renters about their fears and anxieties when campaigning door-to-door.

“If it’s a place that you’ve made your home … the fact that that is so tenuous under our current landlord-tenant law is why I came on in support of this bill,” she said. “People need a little bit more assurance when they’re budgeting for rent at their current apartment that that’s not going to suddenly change.”

The law would require 90 days’ notice for no-cause evictions, as long as tenants have been in place for six months. It also lifts the state’s pre-emption banning local rent control.

The state bill comes about two months after the Portland City Council passed a renter-friendly emergency ordinance. The rules, pushed by Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, require landlords to pay their tenants’ relocation costs when issuing a no-cause eviction. The relocation fees range from $2,900 to $4,500 depending on the size of apartment being vacated.

The local ordinance also requires landlords to give 90 days’ notice for a rent increase of 5 percent or more, and pay relocation costs if renters are forced to move by a rent increase of 10 percent or more.

That has raised the ire of multifamily owners and brokers, who until this year had no restrictions on setting whatever rent the market will bear. (The local ordinance faces an ongoing lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court).

Gary Winkler, a multifamily investment broker in Portland, said rent control hurts landlords who have kept their rents low.

“There are a number of people out there who have been reasonable with the rents, and they’re getting punished the most,” he said.

One local landlord has units renting for $500, Winkler said. Now, under Portland’s new rules, he effectively can’t raise the rent more than 9.9 percent annually, making the property less attractive to investors.

“If they want to sell, they can’t sell as easily, because it’s going to take them years to get (rents) up to where they should be,” Winkler said.

Under the state bill, landlords would still be able to issue no-cause evictions during the first six months of a renter’s tenancy. Thereafter, landlords would be required to use the for-cause eviction process. Landlord advocates have said it’s difficult to prove cause to evict tenants.

The legislation includes some exceptions that would allow property owners to evict tenants: if the landlord wants to move in or move a family member in, if the landlord wants to sell the property for use as a primary residence, if the property has become uninhabitable and must be renovated, or if the property is removed from residential use. In those instances, the landlord would be required to give 90 days’ notice and pay relocation assistance equivalent to one month’s rent.

Tenant advocates said the bill provides tenants some protection against sudden dislocation. Evicted residents often end up couch-surfing, living out of their cars or experiencing homelessness, said Alison McIntosh, deputy director for policy and communications at Neighborhood Partnerships, a Portland-based nonprofit.

“Right now, tenants have very little protection against no-cause evictions,” she said. “The House said we clearly need to act.”

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