Lawmakers Seek Provision That Would Prevent Eviction Come June 30 If Tenant Is Awaiting Aid

Oregon’s moratorium on residential evictions is set to expire June 30. But there might be a saving grace for some tenants: The Oregon Legislature is discussing an amendment to Senate Bill 278 that would prevent evictions for nonpayment of rent for 60 days after the deadline, if the tenant shows proof they’ve applied for and are awaiting rent assistance.

The amendment is spearheaded by Rep. Julie Fahey, the chair of the House Committee on Housing.

The amendment seeks to change the language of Senate Bill 278, which extended the eviction moratorium to June 30, to allow for renters to stay put for an additional 60 days so long as they provide proof that they’ve applied for rental assistance.

House Speaker Tina Kotek’s office tells WW she supports the workaround. “Speaker Kotek knows a lot of renters are still hurting despite the growing recovery,” says spokesman Danny Moran. “It would be tragic if, in these final months of the pandemic, renters lost their homes because money didn’t reach their landlords in time.”

“Speaker Kotek frankly thinks that an extension of the current eviction moratorium is clearer,” he adds, “but she recognizes there is not a political path at this point in the session.”

If the amendment is approved, it would allow renters an additional 60 days to receive rent assistance, which would be distributed directly from the state to their landlords.

A public hearing for the amendment took place on June 14.

In that meeting, Sybil Hebb of the Oregon Law Center said that the significant lag in doling out rental assistance funds creates a dangerous situation for thousands of Oregon families come June 30, when the eviction moratorium expires.

“The legislature’s great work on these issues was based on the reasonable assumption that federal dollars would be in distribution in communities across the state by now. That hasn’t happened,” Hebb said. “We know now that rental assistance dollars cannot be processed quickly enough to prevent evictions after the expiration of the moratorium. With just 2.5 weeks to go, we are deeply concerned that thousands of Oregonians are at risk of losing their housing.”

Hebb says the vast amount of rent assistance money that suddenly became available to counties was put on county and community agencies and nonprofits to dole out—which Hebb says for decades have been underfunded and understaffed.

Rep. Fahey said in that meeting that the amendment is “certainly a step down from a true moratorium in terms of how protective it is, because folks will have to apply for rent assistance, but in my mind it will encourage more folks to apply for rent assistance.”

Moran explained to WW how the amendment would be approved.

“The bill is now in the House [Committee on Rules] and only needs the majority of committee members to approve an amendment before it goes to the House floor for a vote from the full body. Assuming the bill is amended, voted out of the committee and approved by the full House, it would then have to go back to the Senate for a concurrence vote. Following a concurrence vote, the bill would head to the Governor’s desk.”

On June 15, about two dozen protesters blocked traffic along Southwest 1st Avenue, demanding the moratorium be extended.