It’s got me worked up and I know that I am not alone. It’s sort of disheartening to learn that we property owners are not a protected class. For all of you that have written letters, showed up to testify and signed checks, thank you. For those of you who have volunteered at Rental Housing Alliance Oregon, a huge thank you. And you can see by my mood, that it may not seem like a lot is happening all at once. But sometimes I wonder what options I’d have if I didn’t show up…

Happy Autumn! The fall returns. The leaves turn red and gold. Football is on! Kids are back at school (and parents have free time again). It’s the season to re-stow the patio furniture and weatherize the boat and service the furnace. It’s time to clean the chimney flue and clear the
downspouts. Get the ant traps out as they start to migrate. Put weather stripping on the doors and replace the window air conditioner with the storm windows in the basement…

It all seems normal, but there is a new normal emerging. To know if you are participating in today’s real-world rental market, here are a few test questions:

As I begin to yawn and nod, I suddenly jolt into remembering how hard it was sometimes to get a place rented! I recall how back then, my policy was to keep my rents and terms as favorable as I could for my tenants for fear of having vacancies, because they were not easy to fill. I reflect on how I would actually coddle my tenants (I used to go over and change Thelma’s lightbulbs!) In those days my goal was to keep my tenants for as long as possible and I got to know a lot of them pretty well.

As a non-profit organization, our Board of Directors work thousands of hours per year with no compensation. Our meetings are open to members, and I received this note from a new member who showed up as a guest this month: “Thank you for hosting me last night at the board meeting, I really enjoyed the content of the meeting and the crew. Last week Lynn mentioned during the happy hour that the board is a tight group. After meeting the board last night, I could not agree more.”