On June 26, 2021 the Oregon State Legislature adjourned “sine die”.
Adjournment sine die (from the Latin “without day”) means “without assigning a day for a further meeting or hearing”. To adjourn an assembly sine die is to adjourn it for an indefinite period.
With 3 significant bills passing that have impacted all Residential Housing Providers throughout the state, some Landlords might wish they’d opt to adjourn “in perpetuum” – (that’s Latin for “enough is enough”! )
Let’s take a look at the bills that passed that most affected Housing Providers, then I can also share their positive aspects. So first, here are the quick abc’s of what we need to know beginning July 1, 2021:
- SB 282 has extended the pay-back period for tenants who owe past rent from the Eviction Moratorium (dating from 4/1/2020 -6/30/2021) until 2/28/2022, and it b). creates a tenants’ right to have as many permanent guests as is allowable under local, state and federal occupancy standards without restrictions (except that a landlord may screen them for standard yet non-financial criteria and require them to sign a Temporary Occupancy form).
- SB 278 grants a.) to tenants facing eviction for non-payment of rent from 7/1/2021 through 2/28/2022 a 60 day grace period when they show they have applied for Rental Assistance, while b). requiring the landlord to provide a specific disclosure that informs the tenant of this right, and c). it creates an independent fund to pay the landlord for the loss revenue if the tenant does not obtain assistance and allows the eviction process to proceed. In addition, this bill also d). removed the 80% cap from the Landlord Compensation Fund, authorizing all recipients 100% of the rent relief granted to them.
- SB 291 requires that all landlords a.) have written Screening Guidelines and it b.) limits the ability to deny applications for criminal background without first providing an Individual Assessment, taking into consideration the (A) The nature and severity of the incidents that would lead to a denial; (B) The number and type of incidents; (C) The time that has elapsed since the date the incidents occurred; and (D) The age of the individual at the time the incidents occurred.
To unpack these new rules, it is important to understand three priorities lawmakers had when they convened this session on January 21, 2021, on the heels of 2 extraordinary emergency sessions in 2020:
- Eviction moratoriums were mandated nationwide while at the same time thousands of Oregonians became instantly homeless from the ravages of unprecedented wildfires.
- The state had no pre-existing system or infrastructure in place to manage and disperse the unprecedented sums of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid it was receiving.
- The Social Justice movement erupting from the death of George Floyd demanded a need to address institutional, systemic prejudices, including those found in the housing market.
SB 282 was written because over $500 million dollars had already been committed to pay back-rent owed to landlords. This volume of aid funding has never been distributed and caused logistic, technical and personnel backlogs. The state wanted to give tenants enough time to apply for the aid and get the money paid to the landlords. The state remained committed to NOT extending the moratorium again, so they extended only the forgiveness period for 8 months. They used this opportunity to also add provisions in the law to address wildfire victims by requiring landlords to allow tenants the right to house “temporary occupants” during this same 8 month period.
The WINS for the Landlords in this bill were preventing the law from adding presumptive retaliation language and harsh penalties for violations, and for also allowing landlords the right to screen all temporary occupants for criteria other than financial status. The sentiment in the bill was derived from the fact that the $200 million Landlord Compensation Fund had been previously negotiated to aid Housing Providers for lost rents due to the pandemic and much more federal money was on its way.
SB 278 was a last minute end-of-session “gut and stuff” bill arising from the fear that on July 1 there would be a mass eviction event resulting from the Moratorium’s end. There were 13 re-writes of this bill in less than 1 week and it passed both houses with only days to spare before sine die. Landlords were resistant to this measure, but stayed active in the long hours of proceedings and testimony.
The WINS for Landlords in this bill were that they negotiated for both the creation of a special fund to repay landlords for the 60 day pause for any tenant that could not get assistance, and that this fund would be independently managed rather than using the same logjammed agencies handling the other assistance dollars. Also important is that as a measure of good faith from Housing Providers were able to re-negotiate the Landlord Compensation Fund to pay 100% of the qualified reimbursement instead of the 80% that was originally slated to be paid, without any further application process involved.
SB 291 was initiated by Governor Brown through her Director of Equity and Racial Justice and was carried to the Senate Committee on Housing and Development by Sen. Deb Patterson of Salem. Because of the political tone of this bill there was very little negotiation to be had. RHAO opposed the measure on its perception to allow criminals a protected status. In so doing, we also made clear that our opposition for the merits of this law did not reflect any racial or systemic bias, and those sentiments were received and validated by the Governor’s office.
The WINS for Landlords came from the parties in the work group sessions that argued for its passage, stating that most people with criminal convictions that may not be denied for that basis, also come with other types of obstacles including bad credit and/ or financial hardship – which remain as criteria useful in screening applications. It was therefore claimed that the number of cases where Independent Reviews would reverse the Landlords’ denials would remain low. Ultimately, however, with its passage we will all now wait to experience this bill’s affect on housing.
In closing, it’s easy for us to get discouraged when law changes occur that we may not agree with, or when we perceive them as unfair. However, I just want to say thank you to all the individuals and organizations throughout the state who have worked together this year to help craft these bills, and to the legislators who work tirelessly trying to do the right thing. And a special kudos goes to Cindy Robert, the lobbyist for Rental Housing Alliance Oregon for her dedicated efforts. At the end of the session, and at the end of the day, we all want to make our state a great place to live. Sine die.