Jeremiah Hayden
Posted inNews
Local Homelessness Prevention Could See $21 Million Funding Bump
Housing Committee’s “Slow the Inflow” resolution to avert new homelessness heads to full Council
Housing
Posted inNews
Portland City Council Votes to Adopt AI Rental Price-Fixing Software Ban
The proposal to ban algorithmic rental pricing software underwent several revisions to protect the city from lawsuits. City Council approved the ordinance, despite resistance from a few holdouts.
Updated: November 20: Portland City Council voted Wednesday night to adopt Councilor Angelita Morillo’s proposed AI rental price-fixing ban, with eight councilors in support. In addition to co-sponsors Green, and Koyama Lane, the ordinance was approved by Councilors Dunphy, Avalos, Kanal, Loretta Smith, and Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney. Clark and Ryan voted no, and Councilors […]
Posted inNews
Eviction of Disabled Veteran Halted After Intervention From Neighbors and a City Councilor
A 68-year-old man in Northwest Portland was served an eviction notice for unpaid rent he says he didn’t know he owed.
Updated: 12:50 pm Thursday This story has been updated with input from Home Forward. A veteran with disabilities who faced eviction will stay in his apartment, after intervention from a tenant union and a Portland city councilor. Last Friday, Dan McLean, 68, got an eviction notice at his apartment in The Yards at Union Station—an […]
Posted inNews
City Councilors Advocate for Tenants in Old Town Affordable Housing
Councilors Mitch Green and Candace Avalos say a small budget adjustment could help tenants stay in their homes.
Following public outcry over leasing rates from tenants at Everett Station Lofts, Portland City Councilors Mitch Green and Candace Avalos have suggested a potential solution in the form of a rent subsidy. Everett Station Lofts has a unique agreement with the city that lies outside of the usual state and federal affordable housing programs, allowing […]
Posted inNews
City Council Halts Vote on AI Rental Pricing Software Ban
Portland City Councilor Angelita Morillo says city attorneys are monitoring a lawsuit in California related to the algorithm-driven software
An ordinance that would prohibit AI-driven rental pricing software in Portland was referred back to the Housing and Homelessness Committee as the city waits to see how a lawsuit over a similar ordinance in California plays out.
Posted inNews
Cash-Strapped Tenants Say Landlords Flout Housing Rules at Low-Rent Apartments
As residents push back against property managers, many are questioning whether current oversight and enforcement can meaningfully protect them.
Property management companies are facing scrutiny over living conditions at several affordable housing sites in Portland, as tenant groups have begun to push back. The tenants union at Wimbledon Square and Gardens (WSG) in inner Southeast Portland rallied against their property manager, Prime Residential, on Saturday March 1, calling on Prime to remedy issues related […]
Posted inNews
Priced Out of Affordable Housing: City Sides With Property Owner in Dispute Over Rents
Tenants at Everett Station Lofts say they’re being price gouged on rent-capped units. Historic documents show a strange financial arrangement with the city of Portland.
On a gray December morning last year, a group of neighbors made their way through downtown Portland, headed for the office of the city’s Housing Bureau. Their goal was to deliver a demand letter asking the Bureau to intervene on behalf of the newly created tenant union at the Everett Station Lofts. The letter laid […]
Posted inNews
Tenants Take Cues From Labor Unions in Effort to Remedy Property Management Issues
Portland lacks a formal process for renters to form a tenant union, but residents at one apartment complex say they’ve found leverage by banding together.
Tenants at The Russell, a 68-unit apartment building in Northeast Portland, had a problem: the elevator in their building was out, and Trion Living, the company that owns the building, wasn’t in a hurry to do anything about it. “We just wouldn’t hear from them,” Nick Narsing, a software engineer who has lived in the […]
Posted inNews
Rent Assistance Vouchers Are Helping Dig People Out of Homelessness
Service providers say Regional Long-Term Rent Assistance is among the most successful tools to combat homelessness. The only problem? A 5,560-person waiting list
Regional Long-Term Rent Assistance vouchers are helping dig people out of homelessness. They’re one of the most successful tools to come out of Metro’s Supportive Housing Services tax. Service providers say they go a long way in keeping people housed, including domestic violence survivors, but the need far outpaces the availability of vouchers.
Posted inNews
Advocates Say Portland is Overdue For a Tenant Bill of Rights
After the defeat of an eviction defense measure in 2023, organizers aren’t done pushing for renters’ protections
Over the last 10 months, following the overwhelming defeat of a ballot measure that sought to secure universal eviction representation in Portland in 2023, a group of door knockers from the Portland chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) resumed their canvassing efforts. They weren’t organizing around a campaign. Instead, they were simply trying […]
Posted inNews
Home Forward and City of Portland Unveil 206 New Affordable Apartments in Southeast Portland
The Hazel Ying Lee apartment complex sits at the site of a former strip club on Powell Boulevard. It’s the largest new construction project funded by the Portland Housing Bond.
Note: This story has been updated with additional information about rental rates and bond expenditures. A decade ago, the Safari Showclub operated as a strip bar on Powell Boulevard serving an array of fried foods late at night. Patrons told of handsy dancers, fish tanks full of piranhas, taxidermy big game animal heads as decor, […]
Posted inNews
Portland Preservationists Think the Future of New Housing is in Old Buildings
At a recent City Council meeting, members of Portland’s Historic Landmarks Commission asked elected officials to rethink the “new build” approach to housing production.
Considering the housing crisis plaguing Portland and Oregon at large, figuring out ways to increase housing supply has been a top priority for city and state elected officials across the political spectrum. But so far, most of the initiatives meant to boost housing production have been focused on building new units from scratch. Portland’s advocates […]