Meyers Law, LLC

08/19/2021

SB 278 and 282 Summary for Landlords - June 2021
Executive Summary: Extends grace period for repayment of residential rent accrued during emergency period of April 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, until February 28, 2022. Prohibits residential landlord from reporting nonpayment of rent accrued during emergency period to credit bureaus. Prohibits residential landlord from screening prospective tenants based on nonpayment of rent accrued during grace period. Allows certain defendants to set aside and seal judgments of evictions based on claims arising during grace period. Limits certain restrictions on residential tenant's guests. SB 282 sunsets on March 1, 2022.
SB 278 and 282 replacing and amending HB 4401
We begin by reviewing our terms. “Emergency period” is the period during which tenants do not have to pay rent. The EP began on April 1, 2020 and ends on June 30, 2021. The “nonpayment balance” is the amount of unpaid rent, charges, or fees accrued during the EP. “Grace period” is the period during which tenants must eventually pay the nonpayment balance. The GP now ends on February 28, 2022. (SB 282 drops entirely the requirement of the “notice of eviction protection” and the “declaration of financial hardship,” for the sake of terminating a tenancy, but SB 278 still requires the declaration if a landlord applies for rental assistance.)
What happens on July 1, 2021, with respect to rent? SB 278 § 2
(sunsets on February 28, 2022)
1. Tenants must pay July's rent or be at risk for a 10-day
nonpayment notice, subject to certain notice
requirements:
a. Additional language is required on the notice and any
FED summons and complaint: “Eviction for
nonpayment
of rent, charges and fees that accrued on and after
April 1, 2020, and before June 30, 2021, is not allowed
before February 28, 2022. Information regarding
tenant
resources is available at www.211info.org.”
b. A revised notice of eviction protection must be
enclosed with the 10-day notice, as well as attaching
that notice of eviction protection to any FED summons
or complaint. (While the declaration of financial
hardship has been eliminated for the sake of the
notice, it is still required for the landlord to apply for
rent assistance.)
2. If a tenant has provided documentation to the landlord
from a rent assistance provider verifying the submission of
an application for rental assistance, the landlord may not
give a nonpayment notice and may not file or continue an
FED. A tenant may supply this documentation (in any
written form) up to and including first appearance in an
FED. In that case, the court will postpone first appearance
for 60 days (90 days in Multnomah County).
a. If 60 days now pass (90 days in Multnomah County)
after the tenant gave such documentation, the
landlord may give a nonpayment notice without
having to include the notice of eviction protection
(because the tenant already knows). If a court has
postponed first appearance because the tenant
supplied documentation at first appearance, the court
will now set the matter for trial.
b. A court will dismiss an eviction complaint if it finds
that:
i. a landlord did not include a notice of eviction
protection with the nonpayment notice
ii. the landlord failed to reasonably participate in a
rental assistance program
iii. the landlord receives the rent specified on the
nonpayment notice (of course)
iv. a tenant supplied the required documentation
before the landlord filed the complaint
3. A nonpayment-balance reminder notice must change the
“can’t evict for that balance until” language to “can’t evict
for that balance until” February 28, 2022.
4. Landlords can now serve any termination notice without
cause under ORS 90.427. (HB 4401 allowed only no-cause
terminations with a landlord-qualifying reason under ORS
90.427(5).) However, for the sake of the first-year of
occupancy rule, if the first year would have expired between
April 1, 2020, and August 31, 2021, the first year ends on
August 31. This is the only substantive restraint on
terminating for no cause under ORS 90.427. Thus, in order
to terminate under ORS 90.427(3) or (4), the effective date
of the notice must fall no later than August 31, 2021, most
landlords will have to resort to a 90-day notice.
5. Landlords can apply to the Housing and Community
Services Department for 100 percent (not merely 80
percent) of tenants’ nonpayment balances. Landlords still
need tenants to sign a declaration in order for landlord to
apply. Tenants who have incomes at or below 80 percent of
AMI can apply to the Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance
Program and payments go directly to landlords in almost all
cases. This sunsets on March 1, 2023.
What is extended until March 1, 2022, with respect to rent?
1. The GP: Tenants have until March 1, 2022, to pay their
nonpayment balance. If they do not pay by then, they are at
risk for a nonpayment notice, being sued for EP rent, and
being referred to collections or reporting to a credit agency
for unpaid EP rent.
2. Enhanced statutory damages of three times rent if a
landlord retaliates (ORS 90.385). If a tenant has a
nonpayment balance, a landlord cannot consider a tenant
to be in default of rent under ORS 90.385 or ORS 90.390
(discrimination).
3. The changed order of payments under ORS 90.220(9) (first
dollar landlord receives goes to current month’s rent).
4. If a landlord accepts partial rent for either a tenant or a
guest (see below, “Non-Tenant Guests”), the landlord does
not waive their right to terminate under ORS 90.412(2)
(accepting rent with knowledge of violation) or ORS
90.417(4) (requirement of separate agreement for accepting
partial rent).
5. Revised notice of eviction protection must be enclosed with
the 10-day notice, as well as the FED summons and
complaint.
6. Ability of landlord to take EP accrued rent out of deposit,
but only after the tenancy terminates.
7. Finally, the statute of limitation of ORS 12.125, with respect
to claims by a landlord based on a tenant’s nonpayment or
nonpayment balance, is tolled until March 1, 2022.
What happens on March 1, 2022?
The tenant protection provisions of SB 278 and 282 are repealed, except for certain sections below. Nonpayment notices revert to 72 hours. A landlord may send nonpayment notice on March 1, 2022, if the tenant does not pay the nonpayment balance by February 28, 2022.
Tenant Reporting and Screening Amending ORS 90.303 (§ 8 )
A landlord may not report to any consumer credit reporting agency a tenant’s nonpayment balance.
Landlords considering a prospective tenant may not consider an FED general judgment entered against that prospective tenant for any claims that arose during the EP and the GP. Nor may landlords consider an applicant’s unpaid rent during the EP and the GP.
These amendments sunset on January 2, 2028. You heard that right—2028.
Eviction Judgment Expungement Statute (ORS 105.163) Amended (§ 9)
ORS 105.163 generally allows a tenant to have an eviction judgment set aside after five years and have the record sealed. SB 282 echoes that language of amended ORS 90.303: If the judgment was based on any claims for possession during the EP or GP, the tenant can have the judgment expunged.
These amendments sunset on January 2, 2028.
Non-Tenant Guests (§ 14)
During COVID-19, landlords terminated tenancies for guests overstaying a limit on the number of days tenants had agreed to in the rental agreement. SB 282 reduces that likelihood by generally opening up occupancy, subject to certain limits. A landlord can still write into the rental agreement a max occupancy, but there are limits to enforcing that max: (1) If there is a federal, state, or local max occupancy, the rental agreement cannot go below that max for tenants or guests. (2) Setting (1) to one side, a rental agreement cannot set a maximum-duration limit for a guest.
However, if the guest stays longer than 15 days in any 12-month period, a landlord may require the guest to satisfy the landlord’s screening criteria for tenants, except for financial criteria (because guests do not pay rent). A landlord may also require the tenant and guests to make a temporary occupancy agreement under ORS 90.275. But a landlord cannot require the end date of that agreement to be earlier than February 28, 2022.
A tenant is not entirely off the hook, however. A landlord may assess a fee or terminate the tenancy if guest misbehaves or violates the temporary occupancy agreement. This is consistent with termination for nonpayment now being available for landlords post-July 1. A guest may also pay “rent,” without making the guest a tenant.
These amendments sunset on March 1, 2022.
_____
Pete Meyers | Lawyer
Meyers Law, LLC
1000 SW Broadway, Suite 2300 | Portland, OR 97205 | 971.275.2994| Fax 503.961.8589
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This article presents general information about various aspects of Oregon landlord-tenant law, is not intended as legal advice, and you should not consider it as legal advice. You should not act upon this information without seeking professional legal counsel. Please keep in mind that merely contacting Meyers Law, LLC, will not establish an attorney-client relationship. Meyers Law, LLC, cannot represent you until the firm knows that there would not be a conflict of interest and the firm determines that it is otherwise able to accept the engagement. Accordingly, please do not send Meyers Law, LLC, any information or documents until a formal attorney-client relationship has been established through an interview with a lawyer and you get authorization in the form of a fee agreement from Meyers Law, LLC. Any information or documents you send before your receipt of a fee agreement cannot be treated as confidences, secrets, or protected information of any nature.

211info connects people with health and social service organizations. At our heart is our core Community Information Center, supported by Resource Database team. We’ve expanded to include enhanced information & referral and assistance programs that target specific services.

08/18/2021

4.3.2020 UPDATE COVID-19: Summary of Recent Changes to Laws and Court Procedures

The law is changing every week. This summary will be out of date soon. I check the laws daily and will update as often as I can. My focus is on residential tenancies; where commercial tenancies are meant, I have indicated such. This is about a 5-10 minute read. If you have a specific situation, please email me to schedule some time to talk.

Executive Summary

At the federal level, a landlord can’t give a termination notice during a 120-day moratorium if the dwelling unit has a federally backed mortgage loan or a federally backed multifamily mortgage loan.

Most notably, at the state level, is the governor’s Executive Order 20-13 of April 1, which prohibits a landlord from taking any action to terminate a tenancy for nonpayment or for no cause until the 90-day moratorium is lifted (about July 1). For-cause terminations are not affected.

What you can do right now

• To terminate a tenancy, look for cause:
o If you have a written rental agreement, see if the
tenant is violating any of the terms or violating ORS
90.325.
o If you don’t have a written rental agreement, you
can only look to ORS 90.325 (and get a written
rental agreement next time!).
o Consider a 24-hour notice for outrageous behavior
or any of the other for-cause statutes.
• For nonpayment, ask the tenant to make payments to
the extent that they are financially able to do so.
o Defer payment of rent but use a rent deferment
agreement (I have a form) so that you do not waive
your right to terminate. DO NOT simply avoid trying
to collect the rent—tenants are still liable for rent.
o Consider, instead of a termination notice, sending
the tenant a bill for the rent and tell them that, if
they don’t pay, you will turn the matter over to
collections and/or report to credit agencies.
• Apply for deferral of your mortgage payments.
• If you do want to litigate a notice, consult with me on
the best way to do that—you will have to make
constitutional arguments.

Federal – controls the front end

CARES Act – May not issue a notice to vacate to a covered dwelling unit during the 120-day period. And even then, the notice must be at least 30 days. May not file a complaint for nonpayment either. If you don’t have a federally backed mortgage loan or a federally backed multifamily mortgage loan, this section of the Act does not apply. (But again, see Executive Order 20-13.) However, the Act does not include an enforcement mechanism. That is, no indication of penalties, no tenant defenses, and so on.

The good news here is that federal agencies have enacted suspensions or deferrals on mortgage payments. Two-thirds of all mortgages in the United States are federally backed, so you may qualify. See www.fanniemae.com, www.freddiemac.com, and www.fhfa.gov for details

State – Executive branch – controls the front and back end

Governor’s Executive Order 20-13 (https://www.oregon.gov/gov/admin/Pages/eo_20-13.aspx) prohibits landlords of residential properties, for reason of nonpayment, to terminate a rental agreement or take any action (including serving a notice or filing a complaint). Tenants must notify the landlord as soon as reasonably possible that they won’t pay rent and must make partial rent payments insofar as they are financially able. Order does not apply to for-cause terminations not related to nonpayment.

Commercial properties are likewise covered, but commercial tenants must, within 30 days of rent being due, supply landlord with documentation that the nonpayment is caused, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, with loss of income due to governmental restrictions imposed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Executive Order 20-11 (https://www.oregon.gov/gov/Documents/executive_orders/eo_20-11.pdf) prevents sheriffs from enforcing writs for nonpayment or no-cause under ORS 90.427. That leaves only for-cause. In effect until about 6.22. So—you can give a for-cause notice for a reason other than nonpayment, but this is the only way to terminate currently.

State – Judicial branch – Chief Justice Order No. 20-006 (https://www.osbar.org/_docs/resources/CJO20-006-Amended_Order-Imposing-Level-3-Restrictions-on-Court-Operations.pdf) – controls the middle

First Appearances and all other hearings in evictions only after June 1. May make motion for a First Appearance or hearing earlier if you can do it remotely or with enough social distance, but probably denied. I can see a motion succeeding for allowing a First Appearance or a hearing on a for-cause notice or an extraordinary nonpayment (nonpayment occurring before COVID-19). Thus, even if you could give a notice under EO 20-13, you can’t enforce it in court until June 1.

State – Legislative branch. No legislation pending.

Multnomah County – controls the front end

On April 16, the county passed Ordinance No. 1284 (https://multco.us/ordinance-no-1284). It aligns with EO 20-13, except that it leaves out no-cause terminations and gives tenants a six-month grace period to repay deferred rent. That period begins on the first calendar (?) day after EO 20-13 expires or the county’s moratorium is lifted, whichever is later. Question here is whether a Multnomah County landlord can use this ordinance with respect to no-cause terminations despite Executive Order 20-13 prohibiting same, now that this ordinance is more favorable to a landlord.

Clackamas County

“A temporary moratorium on residential and commercial evictions for nonpayment of rent based on tenant’s inability to pay rent due to loss of income attributed to COVID-19.” That’s all!

Washington County

They have not published anything.

City of Portland

If a tenant can demonstrate a substantial loss of income due to COVID-19, the tenant can defer rent payments. Portland is tracking with the Multnomah County ordinance.

City of Gresham

Prohibits residential landlords from evicting tenants for any reason connected to its own emergency declaration or for no-cause terminations. Landlords who violate risk losing their Gresham rental license.

City of Hillsboro

Temporary moratorium (https://www.hillsboro-oregon.gov/Home/Components/News/News/10513/3550) that prevents residential and commercial tenants from being evicted because of nonpayment of rent, late charges, utility charges, or any other service charges or fees due to wage loss or loss of business income resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar tenant requirements as under Multnomah County ordinance.

State Preemption of County Ordinances

Should a landlord follow the broad EO 20-13 or the narrower Multnomah County ordinance? Hard to say. In Thunderbird Mobile Club, LLC v. City of Wilsonville, 234 Or. App. 457 (2010) (https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=18296676374209478514&hl=en&as_sdt=6,38&as_vis=1), the most recent case on point, Judge Sercombe opined that “[a] local ordinance is not incompatible with state law simply because it imposes greater requirements than does the state, nor because the ordinance and state law deal with different aspects of the same subject.” How does one apply this when reading the broader, more-onerous-to-landlords EO? I don’t think it matters; by the time you’ve sent your 72-hour notice, the legislature may have enacted law that brings it in line with the Multnomah County ordinance.

Legality of EO 20-13

Don’t even get me started. It reads like a law school issue-spotting exam.

651*651 Paul A. Lee argued the cause for appellant — cross-respondent. With him on the briefs were Michael E. Kohlhoff and City of Wilsonville.

08/18/2021

Legislature Bans Tenancy Terminations for Nonpayment and No Cause Until October

As a result of Governor Brown signing into law HB 4213 (effective June 30, 2020), Oregon landlords—both residential and commercial—will continue to be unable to terminate tenancies for nonpayment and—for residential only—for no cause (with one exception) until October 1. An emergency period has been instituted that runs from April 1 to September 30, 2020. During that period, landlords may not terminate for nonpayment, whether of the current month’s rent, previous months’ rent, or virtually any other charge a landlord may charge under a rental agreement or law. Also, during that period, landlords may not begin or continue an eviction action based on a nonpayment notice delivered after April 1, assess a late fee or penalty based on the nonpayment balance, or report the balance to a consumer credit reporting agency (residential only). Landlords must avoid interfering with a tenant’s possession until the emergency period expires. The statute repeals itself on March 31, 2021.
HB 4213 does not apply to for-cause terminations notices, tenant-side termination notices (except for those notices terminating fixed-term tenancies), hybrid-cause terminations under ORS 90.427(7), or any notice delivered before April 1, 2020.

The Nonpayment Rule

So, we will have a quiet summer during which landlords may notify tenants that they still owe rent, but the notice must state that they cannot be evicted before September 30. Come October 1, however, a few things happen: Tenants must now pay October rent or they may be terminated; a grace period begins whereby tenants have until March 31, 2021, to repay all rent and other charges accrued during the emergency period; landlords may charge current fees other than late fees (though see Inconsistencies below); and a landlord may send an unusual notice stating the above, to wit:

a) the date that the emergency period ended (September 30);
b) that if rents and other payments that now come due are
not paid on time, the landlord may terminate the tenancy;
c) that the nonpayment balance that accrued during the
emergency period is still due and must be paid;
d) that the tenant will not owe a late charge for the
nonpayment balance;
e) that the tenant is entitled to a six-month grace period to
repay the nonpayment balance and that that period ends
on March 31, 2021;
f) that the tenant has an election to make: Within a specified
date that is at least 14 days after “delivery” (undefined in
Chapter 90 and HB 4213) of this notice, tenant either (i) pays
the nonpayment balance or (ii) notifies the landlord that
tenant intends to pay that balance at the end of the six-
month grace period (landlord may offer a payment plan, but
must state that such plan is voluntary);
g) if the tenant fails to give landlord notice that tenant intends
to use the grace period, that tenant will owe a penalty to
the landlord of fifty percent of one month’s rent (statute is
silent on how this penalty is characterized (as
nonpayment?), how it is collected, or whether it creates a
cause of action); and
h) that rents and other charges or fees that now come due
must be paid as usual or the landlord may terminate the
tenancy under ORS 90.392, 90.394, or 90.630 (a rare
instance here of surplusage—see (b) above).

Now the tenant must respond with their own notice within the 14-day period. Residential tenants need only give actual notice, or notice by electronic means, and not written notice. Commercial tenants must give notice under ORS 91.110 (personal service, posted conspicuously, or left at landlord’s residence). Given the penalty above at (7), if the tenant does not give notice that they intend to use the grace period, the landlord may presumably terminate on the nonpayment balance (the statute is silent).
If the landlord does not abide by HB 4213, the tenant may obtain injunctive relief to recover possession of the dwelling unit and may recover up to three times one month’s rent, as well as actual damages.

Inconsistencies of The Nonpayment Rule

The statute is internally inconsistent at certain points. “During and after the emergency period,” a landlord may not file or continue an eviction action based upon a nonpayment notice delivered on or after April 1. § 3(2) (emphasis added). Yet Section 3(7) states that a landlord may deliver our above unusual notice that states that the landlord may terminate for nonpayment of rent that comes due after the emergency period ends (September 30). Presuming that a landlord gives a nonpayment notice for October rent, how does it square for a landlord to terminate a tenancy—based on this notice—if a landlord is prohibited from enforcing that termination through an eviction proceeding? Moreover, read together with Section 3(4), which states that a landlord may notify a tenant, during the emergency period, that the landlord may not evict for nonpayment before September 30, we can fairly infer that a landlord may evict for nonpayment of October’s (and following months’) rent.
We find another inconsistency at Section 3 (2)(d). During and after the emergency period a landlord may not assess a late fee, yet at Section 3 (7)(b), our unusual notice may state that if rents and “other payments” that come due after the period ends are not paid on time, the landlord may terminate the tenancy. Payments, as any good landlord knows, include late fees. Compare ORS 90.140(1)(d) with ORS 90.302(2)(a).

The No-Cause Rule

A landlord can terminate a tenancy for no cause during the emergency period in one situation only: If the landlord has accepted an offer to purchase the dwelling unit from a person who intends in good faith to occupy the dwelling unit as a primary residence and the landlord has given written evidence of the offer. In other words, ORS 90.427(5)(d) (90 days’ notice) and (8)(a)(C) (30 days’ notice if landlord and tenant share the property) survive HB 4213, improving upon the absolute ban on no-cause terminations of Executive Order 20-13. Thus, but for this one exception, between now and October, landlords may neither give a no-cause termination notice nor file an action for possession based on such a notice (regardless of date notice delivered).
Landlords know that they can normally terminate a tenancy for no cause with only 30 days’ notice in the first year of occupancy. But what to do if the first year of occupancy would have elapsed during the emergency period? Section 3 (5)(b) extends the first year of occupancy to 30 days beyond the end of the emergency period if the first year would have elapsed during the emergency period.

Legislative Sops to Landlords

HB 4213 eliminates, from the usual statutory order of applying a payment received from a tenant under ORS 90.220(9), outstanding rent from prior rental periods. That is, the first dollar a landlord receives from a tenant now does not go toward paying outstanding rent from previous rental periods. Astute landlords will recognize this as taking away a means to cure partial rent payments. However, the legislature has given back by suspending the waiver rules of ORS 90.412—they do not apply to a landlord who accepts partial rent (this applies until the statute self-repeals and not only during the emergency period).
The statute of limitation is tolled for actions arising under a rental agreement or Chapter 90 until March 31, 2021, for actions based on a tenant’s nonpayment or nonpayment balance (but not expressly for actions based on a no-cause notice).
The statute does not expressly prohibit an action for rent.
Finally, the legislature seems to have tried to head off claims by landlords of violation of Section 21 of the Oregon Constitution by stating, in Section 1, that HB 4213 “do[es] not undermine a contractual bargain” based on the “legitimate public purpose of responding to the declaration of a state of emergency . . . .” § 1 (2), (3). It will take a stout-hearted landlord to test this.

08/18/2021

Further Changes in Landlord-Tenant Law in Oregon, Multnomah County, and Portland

Because of the economic and public health effects of the coronavirus, landlord-tenant laws keep changing. In addition to HB 4213 and the Centers for Disease Control’s Agency Order, Governor Brown, Multnomah County, and Portland all recently new rules in September for residential landlords and tenants. This article is mainly about the variances from HB 4213.
Governor Brown’s Executive Order 20-56, issued on September 28, 2020, did two main things: It effectively extended the emergency period of HB 4213 to December 31 and it restored one no-cause termination that HB 4213 had prohibited.
Oregon residential tenants who are not in Multnomah County cannot be terminated for failure to pay current rent until January 2021. Recall that HB 4213 permitted terminations for failure to pay October rent.
EO 20-56 restores one no-cause termination that HB 4213 temporarily eliminated. As you may recall, HB 4213 prohibited no-cause terminations with one exception: if the landlord’s qualifying reason was that they had accepted an offer the purchase the tenant’s dwelling unit. See ORS 90.427(5)(d). EO 20-56 preserves that exception and adds one: if the landlord or an immediate family member intends to occupy the dwelling unit. See ORS 90.427(5)(c).
EO 20-56 does not have a grace period. That means that change the the HB 4213 end date of the grace period (still October 1 to March 31, 2021) and the dates to which that grace period applies (still April 1 to September 30) still apply. but does extend the first-year-of-occupancy rule of ORS 90.427 to December 31. Thus, a landlord could terminate, on January 1, for October through December’s rent because those rents are not included in the grace period. EO 20-56 also extends the first-year-of-occupancy rule of ORS 90.427 to December 31. Finally, if a landlord gives a tenant a “grace period” notice under HB 4213, or any other notice that the tenant continues to owe rent, that notice must state that the tenant cannot be evicted for nonpayment before December 31, 2020.
Multnomah County tweaks HB 4213 further. Ordinance No. 1287, adopted by the commission on September 24, created its own emergency period of October 1, 2020, to January 8, 2021. It also created its own grace period of January 9, 2021, to July 7, 2021. This means that tenants have until July 7 to repay any rent that has accrued since April 1, 2020, provided that tenants pay current rent during the grace period. See Ordinance No. 1287, § 3 B.3.
If a landlord gives a tenant a “grace period” notice under HB 4213, that notice cannot be given earlier than January 8, 2021, and the notice should reflect the July 7 grace period. (And, we presume, the changes in that notice arising from EO 20-56.)
A key issue under Ordinance No. 1287 is whether a landlord can send a nonpayment of rent notice for January 2021’s rent. The short answer is no. Under the ordinance, “nonpayment” is nonpayment of a payment that “becomes due” during the emergency period. Id. § 3 B.2. Under most rental agreements, rent becomes due on the first of the month. The emergency period does not end until January 8. By then, January’s rent has moved from the category of “becom[ing] due” to the category of “nonpayment balance.” Thus, termination for not paying January’s rent is off the table.
However, my read is that a tenant can be terminated for not paying January’s rent at all. A landlord is prohibited from giving a notice of termination based on a nonpayment balance, id. § 3 C.1, but only provided that tenants pay rent for the “current rental period.” Id. § 3 B.3 That means tenants must pay January rent sometime in January. If they do not, a landlord can terminate based on the nonpayment balance because then nonpayment balance will not be subject to the protection of the grace period. But by the time we get to January, all this analysis may be moot because word is that the governor intends to call the legislature into another special session mid-November.
Regarding no-cause terminations in Multnomah County, the only exception is if the landlord’s qualifying reason was that they had accepted an offer the purchase the tenant’s dwelling unit. No. 1287 did not incorporate EO 20-56’s exception if a landlord or an immediate family member intends to occupy the dwelling unit.
Neither EO 20-56 nor Ordinance No. 1287 affect commercial tenancies. Those are still governed by HB 4213 only.
Meanwhile, the CDC order lurks until the end of 2020. Because EO 20-56 and Ordinance No. 1287 already prevent landlords from terminating for nonpayment through the end of the year, landlords need worry if they give a no-cause notice. If a tenant gives the landlord a “covered person” declaration, the landlord cannot terminate for no cause.
While the CDC order, the executive order, and the ordinance are all mixing it up, Portland sits quietly in a corner retooling rent increases and affordable housing evictions. Under Portland Ordinance No. 192122, as amended, any rent increase triggers the relocation assistance scheme of PCC 30.01.085 unless (1) the landlord gave the notice before September 16, 2020, rescinds the notice, and refunds any increased rent within 30 days, or (2) the landlord gave the notice after September 16, represents in good faith that the landlord did not know about the ordinance, and then rescinds the notice within 30 days. This ordinance is in effect until March 31, 2021.