Rent Control Coming?

Repealing Oregon's ban on rent control and restrictions on a landlord's ability to evict tenants

April 05, 2017

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On March 30, House Bill 2004A passed the Oregon House Committee on Human Services and Housing. The bill's provisions include the repeal of Oregon's ban on rent control and restrictions on a landlord's ability to evict tenants, namely in the case of no-cause evictions.

If this bill passes, cities and counties will be allowed to adopt rental stabilization programs. The bill also includes provisions for providing a fair rate of return to landlords. It also exempts new residential developments for five years in order to not discourage new housing development.

The provisions of the bill with regard to no-cause evictions penalizes landlords who violate the provisions, which is somewhat similar to the recently passed Portland law. The bill also provides protections and exemptions to landlords under various circumstances.

Current Oregon state law prohibits rent control, but various attempts to change this have been taking place due to the housing shortage and some unscrupulous situations. The affordable housing crisis is a complicated issue that all levels of society and government must address, but finding the solutions to which all parties agree has been difficult. It would be nice if we could get into open and constructive discussion without opponents and proponents demonizing each other, and come up with workable solutions.

The text of the bill is available at: https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2017R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB2004