By: Jason Miller, ORHA Legislative Director
July 2023
The 2023 Oregon legislative session started with some proposed bills that housing providers found very concerning. Right off the bat our legislative teams were negotiating against a proposal to bring back COVID-era protections and extend the timeline on evictions for non-payment to almost 3 months or more. We managed to remove some of the more extreme elements of the bill resulting in the passage of HB 2001. While not ideal it was much better than what was proposed. Landlords may no longer serve a 72- or 144-hour notice for nonpayment; tenants are now entitled to 10- or 13-day notice for nonpayment and must be served a special form that provides information on rent assistance.
Another change allows the tenant to cure the notice up to the date of trial if the case goes to eviction court. First appearance eviction hearings for nonpayment now are set out between 15-30 days and if the Tenant requests a trial, the trial will be set out 15-30 days. This is all designed to give Tenants the chance to apply for and receive rent assistance.
Landlords must attest a tenant still resides at the residence to get a default judgment when a tenant does not show up to court. This measure took effect upon the Governor’s signature March 29, 2023 and is current law. For more information on HB 2001 go to https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/HB2001.
Shortly after that the Senate Republicans in protest refused quorum in the longest walk out in Oregon history. This put a halt to passing bills until days before the end of session when some Republican Senators returned to the floor.
As expected, HB 2468B & SB 599A, the childcare bills, passed the House and Senate and HB 2468A are awaiting the Governor’s signature while SB 599A has been signed and is now law. These bills require landlords to allow, with conditions, state registered Child Care Homes in rental properties. For more on HB 2468B go to https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/HB2468.
For More on SB 599A go to https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/SB599.
The most talked about bill this session was SB 611, the original version of this bill would have greatly reduced the max rent increase limit and reduced the exemption period for new construction. With a lot of negotiation and several revisions the final bill limits rent increases to no more than once per year and reduces the allowable increase to either 7% plus the CPI for the West Coast, or 10%, whichever is less. The exemption for new construction remains at 15 years. For more information on SB 611 go to https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/SB611.
We had a few other bills pass that effect Oregon Housing Providers; those are:
Thank you to everyone who testified, submitted testimony, and contacted their legislators. Your involvement is key to stopping and negotiating legislation that would hurt our industry.
