PORTLAND, Ore. – A week after declaring a housing state of emergency, the Portland City Council voted unanimously to pass renter protections for no-cause evictions and rent increases.
The new ordinance increases the amount of notice a property owner must give to residents when serving a no-cause eviction or increasing the rent more than 5 percent. The notice period has been increased from 30 to 90 days. One Councilmember proposed an amendment to further extend the notice period to 120 days, but the city's attorneys expressed concern that 120 days could be considered rent control, which is banned under state law.
Deborah Imse, Executive Director of Multifamily Northwest (MFNW), representing the apartment housing industry, testified that Portland’s housing problem comes from "years of under building" during the recession and says the answer is to give developers incentives to build more units.
Source: The Portland Mercury, Multifamily NW