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Beginning Feb. 1, all Multnomah County renters who cannot pay rent must sign a form and give it to their landlords or they risk eviction. Multnomah County sent out an urgent reminder three days before the new requirements begin.
A statewide residential eviction moratorium has been protecting tenants from eviction for nonpayment of rent since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. But there's been some confusion about overlapping policies at the county and state level.
Early this year, the county withdrew its most recent eviction moratorium extension and adopted the state's policy. The state moratorium has new conditions—and the one most important for renters is the declaration of financial hardship.
The type of hardship does not have to be a direct result of the pandemic, county spokesperson Ryan Yambra says, but it must have started by March 2020, when the pandemic emerged. Under this moratorium, renters are protected until summer when they will be expected to pay any back rent by July 1.
"This news has been out there, but now that the deadline is approaching, we're giving that urgent reminder that Feb. 1 is the key date," Yambra says. "This hardship form applies to anyone who's struggling for any reason."
A paper version of the form is available at libraries for pickup and is available in multiple languages online.
Correction: This post initially misstated why the Feb. 1 date is important. It is the date the new policy begins, not the last date a tenant can fill out the form.