Happy New Year! Ken Schriver here, newly elected President of Rental Housing Alliance Oregon. I am both humbled and eager to take on the responsibilities of President, and I look forward to meeting as many of you as I can during my term. As I’ve only been a member of the RHA board for a little over a year, I thought it appropriate to share some of my background with you:
I got my start in Oregon property rentals in 1980, a year after graduating from Tigard High School. In order to reduce our living expenses while attending college, my first wife and I were onsite managers for a 30-unit apartment complex just off Barbur Boulevard in southwest Portland.
After graduating from Reed College in 1985, I moved with my wife and son to Los Angeles to pursue a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at UCLA. It would be 20 years until I found myself back in the role of landlord. In 2005, I met my current wife while we were both working at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. As we were both single homeowners, we decided to sell one house, rent out the other, and establish our home together in a new house.
Today we own a half-dozen rental properties in Oregon including single-family houses, duplexes, and a triplex. I am semi-retired, so I manage and maintain in all our properties, and only our properties. I consider myself an archetypal member of RHA: a small business owner that provides safe, fair, and affordable housing to people in our community. I believe that my status as a landlord and my experience as a successful small-business owner, a division manager within a medium-sized corporation, and a faculty member at a major research university provides me with unique tools to help lead RHA.
A great part of being President of RHA is that I get to work closely with an outstanding Board and Executive Committee who bring decades of experience to our organization. The board held its annual retreat in early November, during which many outstanding ideas were discussed. We are entering turbulent times: the recent elections bolstered the forces at the city, county, and state levels who wish to significantly increase the regulation of landlords. RHA will continue to lobby and present our arguments opposing regulations that are ill-conceived, and we will continue to support legislation and ordinances that are likely to have a positive effect on the issues of housing affordability and access in our communities. Towards that goal, our Past President Ron Garcia will chair our Legislative Committee in 2019 and will continue to coordinate our efforts in this area.
The winds of change comprise more than just new regulations, however. Technology and social media are changing how we advertise, screen tenants, collect rents, and maintain our properties. Our Education Committee and our Membership / Marketing Committee will be exploring how RHA can help landlords navigate this rapidly changing landscape. The latter committee will also be evaluating ways that our Affiliate Members can maximize the value of their membership in RHA.
Finally, I encourage you to attend an RHA dinner meeting – this is your best opportunity to network and to hold informal conversations about current events affecting tenants, landlords, and property managers. I look forward to seeing you there!
Sincerely,
Ken Schriver, RHA Oregon President