The city of Eugene is continuing to consider actions it can take to protect renters from displacement and pricing-out.
Phase II renter protection would include updates to the Eugene Rental Housing Code. Namely, a limit on security deposits charged by landlords to two times the monthly rent, the processing of rental applications in the order they are received, and monetary displacement prevention assistance for no cause evictions. A renter could also receive DPA if they experience a rent increase greater than 5% a year that causes a tenant to move out.
In mid-2022 the Eugene City Council passed Phase I renter protections in a 6-2 vote. These protections included a variety of support services, new documentation requirements, and educational information designed to help relieve some difficulties for Eugene renters.
Tia Politi, a rental owner and President of the Rental Owners Association of Lane County, believes that Phase II will lead to higher rents and fewer rental options, especially the single family and duplex options.
“While it is presented as a way to stabilize housing, in fact, it’s going to have the opposite effect,” Politi said.
Politi said this has been demonstrated in Portland, where they have implemented regulations similar to Phase II and have seen higher rents and fewer rental options. She said many opponents to Phase II say increased regulations around renting will lead to mom-and-pop landlords divesting from Eugene, thus leading to fewer rental options.
During a public hearing on the matter, Eugene landlords said the landlords that stay in Eugene after Phase II is implemented would have to raise rent in order to compensate for new losses.
Furthermore, Politi said she believes that the new DPA would be unfair towards rental owners.
“If landlords are renting say college properties, and they’ve got a renter who’s causing trouble, they may not want to renew the lease. The rental owner now has to pay the tenant thousands of dollars to move forward. The other option is to damage their rental history by serving them a notice and evicting them based on that.” Politi said. “They’re trying to protect people, but they’re doing it at the expense of one group.“
Kevin Cronin is the board president of the Eugene and Springfield Tenant Association. In 2011, while a student at the University of Oregon, Cronin was no-cause evicted from his residence. As a result, he ended up homeless. In 2016, after being no-cause evicted once again, Cronin began petitioning the Eugene City Council for rental protections.
“I’ve been beating the drum on this issue since my days as a student, really working to make sure that we have more consumer protections for renters,” Cronin said.
Cronin said one of the most difficult aspects surrounding being evicted is finding a place to live again.
“When a renter has to move on short notice, Eugene’s rental market has, according to Multifamily Northwest, a less than a 2% vacancy rate, which means it’s real tight,” Cronin said. “Someone basically has to move out in order for you to be able to move in or find a place.”
High security deposits can often act as a substantial barrier to potential renters, he said. And while would-be tenants may make enough to afford the residence, they often lack the several months rent on hand required as a security deposit.
Those on a fixed income, like seniors on social security, can be particularly vulnerable to rent hikes, Cronin said.
Mearl Grabill is a senior who has been living at the Eugene Hotel, a retirement community in the heart of downtown Eugene, for the past year. Around the same time as he moved in, the retirement community was sold to DiNapoli Capital Partners, an investment firm based in California. This year, he said DiNapoli increased the tenant’s rent at the Eugene Hotel by 14.6%.
“Depending on the size of the apartment, that’s anywhere from $220 to $350 a month,” Grabill said. “This is difficult to manage, especially when you have a fixed income, as many seniors do.”
Grabill said his friend, who is 96 and had lived at the retirement community for the past 13 years, had to move out because of the rent hike.
“She is my friend, and she can’t afford to live here anymore,” he said.
Phase I rental protections included a $10 cap on rental application fees, but was ruled as being incompatible with state law in February of 2023 by a county judge and suspended.
Politi said she supported most of Phase I, the exception being the aforementioned $10 cap on application fees. She said she believes that the Eugene and Springfield Tenant Association have done admirable work in the goal of educating renters as to their rights and calls the group “a step in the right direction.”
However, Politi said she disagrees on the issue of security deposits, that security deposits give rental owners the ability to rent to tenants who don’t have credit or rental history, without placing undue risk of damage on their rental units.
Grabill said that he and Cronin are trying to spread awareness amongst seniors about affordable housing. “If we can get both young people and old people working on the same goal. I think that we’ll be much stronger for it.” he said.
The Eugene City Council held a public hearing on the Phase II protections on March 13. However it is still unclear whether they will vote to pass the protections and the expected subsequent Phase III protections.
Grabill and Cronin said they hope to eventually get the state legislature to adopt similar rental protections.
