News Sep 9, 2015 at 4:20 pm

Portland Renters Are in a State of Emergency

Comments

1
I got my no cause eviction at the beginning of the month! Hooray.

Well, to be honest, the new homeowner, who yes, moved her from California, hasn't actually bothered to give us written notice, just a phone call... So that's just bloody lovely.

I'm tempted to not mention anything and then come down on her at the end of October, but ultimately that's no solution and just means kicking the can a little further down an already untenable road...
2
I am a mother of two littles under the age of 5 and we recieved our eviction in june. We have been without residence for almost a month.Myself and my husband both have jobs we simply cant afford anything due to the rent hikes. When is enough enough?
3
These landlords are becoming so greedy they don't realize wages are not changing and they are putting people into homelessness.
4
Also just to add employers should be doing more to pay wages that actually allow workers to afford these obscene rents otherwise they will struggle to fill their low wage paying jobs.
5
16% raise in rent over the past year here in undesirable east portland.
6
This article made me want to know more. WHY is there a statewide ban on rent control in both Oregon and Washington, for example. I found this by Paul Krugman: http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/07/opinion/reckonings-a-rent-affair.html

Paul says rent control ultimately results in less and lower quality housing - a la San Francisco. That makes sense, but seems like a long-term result. I wonder if the idea of "short-term" couldn't reconcile Paul's understanding and the immediate desire in Portland to do something to address the lack of "affordable" housing, until more apartments can actually built and prices stabilize.

I also wonder about the part of the law that bans requiring a certain number of affordable units per building. The idea limits the impact on any single developer, and any investment, to a predictable level. Ie, 5% or 10% of your units will be subject to shifts in rent control policies (I assume the CHANGE is what investors dread, not necessarily the policy at any one time). That seems manageable for investors, and might also help with economic integration across the city. Imagine if apartments in the Pearl were cheap enough that low-income renters could ALSO take advantage of the walkability and public transport available there.
7
Agree that we need to re-assess inclusive housing policies. LMitten, there are several buildings in the Pearl that have a portion of their units reserved for lower-income individuals and families, and in fact, an entire building that borders Jameson Square. Lovejoy Station next to the Broadway Bridge is all income restricted as well, I believe. As is the Sitka up near Bridgeport Brewing.
8
"These landlords are becoming so greedy they don't realize wages are not changing and they are putting people into homelessness."

Correction- they realize quite well that they are putting people on the street. They just don't care. Also, most "landlords" are giant rental companies run by a CEO who lives far, far away- in a nice, gated community where they'll never have to cross paths with somebody they left homeless in a different state.
9
The heartless owners of this onetime elder community where I live just now raised the rent nearly two hundred dollars on me and the grandmas around me. I was pushed over the bridge in the first place by the obscenely greedy scene that has been the fact in Portland for a full twenty years, in actuality. Old ladies who have lived here for 15-40 years are being pushed out. I am too. They do not keep the units up, the area is a slum. But Vancouver greedy owners have figured it out and now are removing the "elderplace" categorizations of their properties so as to max out on everyone. I do resource searches nationwide, and I can tell you that there is NO safety net for the ones now going homeless. None. We handle many hundreds of desperate requests every month for rent, utilities, deposits and arrears, and mainly we report "no luck" no matter where we look in the nation and no matter when we are researching it. These are the facts of housing in the US.
10
The best solution is to get the hell out of Portland
11
I haven't been evicted, but priced out definitely. Just got notice that rent is jumping from 975/mo to 1300/mo. It's crooked. Love my home, love my neighborhood. I'm sad to have to go
12
I am very worried. In 2012 I was displaced after five years of flawless tenancy from my SE Portland home due to a rent increase of $600. It happened the same month I lost my corporate disability and my service dog had a $6,800 life-saving emergency surgery. My landlord said they just weren't profiting enough on the house to make it worth while. Never mind the sweat equity I gave them finishing the basement, building a sky-lighted live/work space in the garage, painting the whole thing and refinishing the hardwoods. Without the ability to work, any income, or any savings, I had no choice but to live in my car with my dog for nine months. As a childless woman who wasn't in an abusive relationship and who didn't have substance abuse issues and who did have a dog who could no longer meet the performance expectations of a service animal, there were no options for me. Fortunately, I got a $6000+ grant for my art and used that money to get into an income-restricted apartment. It's $875 for a huge nice pet-friendly two-bedroom. Unfortunately, a year ago they stopped letting us sign leases "in an effort to bring us up to neighborhood market rates" and a class action lawsuit was filed. Now my complex is trying to lose its federal income-restricted status so all 400+ apartments can double in rent. Now bank inspectors are coming by every few weeks. Now 400+ families are about to get served eviction notices. Now, even though I'm able to make a decent income, I can't find another place comparable to this for less than 1/3 of my income. Now I'm looking at the old Volvo like a pretty good option. Except this time instead of living in it I'll get in and drive away from the city I've called home for 15 years.
13
After assurances that my elderly woman owner of the condo my wife and I rented that she wasn't going to sell for at least a year, after 6 months she stated she was putting the place up for sale.
I think the goal was to just simply get us to buy the condo, but what with Home Association fees, etc, we just bought our own place in NE.
Thus, I think there should at least be a clause in Renting for a 1 year window with no rent increases for that time - and after that the owner having the opportunity to either increase the rent or sell as he/she wishes.
14
...and how many of you guys were at the first of the housing meetings designed to determine how federal dollars are going to be used for housing? It happened yesterday and like 12 people were there. The meeting was full of data and awkward silences until finally the public was allowed to comment at which point me and one other guy and one pissed off lady with more problems to voice than solutions to discuss got to say something.

Here is a summary of what I pitched them- not that any of you lazy asses care, but for three hours last night it was to my eyes and ears the only thing presented which may constitute any form of solution:

http://theencasing.blogspot.com/2015/09/de…
15
honestly the Merc should just quit because just like that meeting you just report problems not solutions and you thrive off of it all the while people here think someone cares about there comments all the while the discussion that actually leads to implementations of your tax dollars goes largely without direction and what direction/ ideas are presented have no backing from any other public members because your all home jacking off and venting on the mercury website.

I don't care am off to NY in december and hope you all know you all deserve for your town to be ran through.

The next meeting is September 30th, I'd give you a link but it is not hard to google "portland housing bureau" and look at their calendar
16
Add my name to the "Portland No-Cause Eviction List Summer of Bummers". I was thinking 60 days would be plenty of time to find a new place but nope, I'm going to be living in my fucking car at the end of the month more than likely.
17
Portland doesn't have a renting problem, we have an entitlement problem. We have an abundance of housing in SE and Vancouver. We have people who don't want to move to the areas their income can afford. Everyone loves the free market around gas and the price of milk. But, when it comes to a Portland livability index equalizing to Seattle and San Francisco...suddenly the government needs to step in and squash the greedy landlords. You can still buy a house in the Portland area for $185K. Pro Tip...if you don't buy now, someone else will. Stop relying on someone else making a decision on where you live, apply for the FHA First Time Buyers loan, save up the 3%...and live in the burbs. The cheap cozy Portland ship sailed people...Foster and 85th is calling your name.
18
So "rent control" is prohibited... how about encouraging it without outright requiring it? Would it be legal for the city to significantly increase the property taxes on rented buildings, and then give a tax break if the rental rate is considered to be "affordable" by some reasonable standard?
19
We've been great tenants in the City of Vancouver for three years... every year our rent has gone up over $100... what we used to rent for $825 per month... now goes for $1300 per month.... our backs are officially broken and were it not for a good friend with a spare room... we and our daughter would very likely be homeless... Looking at options... but looking like we may have no choice but to leave the city we love...
20
This is capitalism in action, folks, and it's the most parasitic and predatory form of capitalism, too (rent-seeking). Face facts: as a renter, you are paying big bucks every month and all you're getting for your money is the right to squat on the property for another month. And even though there are hundreds of thousands of renters paying out good money every month to live here, neither the city of Portland nor the state of Oregon thinks that we should have any right to be secure in our housing status or protected from arbitrary rent increases driven by a market which is largely out of our control.

So what do you do? Buy a house? The same market forces that are making renting unbearably expensive in Portland are making real estate more expensive too; if you couldn't afford to buy a home here in 2015, you sure as hell can't do it now. Leave Portland? Sure, you can do that, but housing prices are going up all over America. You may be able to run for a while, but sooner or later, you're going to have to face the problem.

So what's the solution? Fight back against capitalism! Acknowledge that renting is an obligatory form of housing for large numbers of people and will be for the foreseeable future, that renters are entitled to a property in their homes and communities that substantially competes with a landlord's right of exclusive possession, and that the state is obligated to recognize and protect that property (i.e. renter's rights). Reject the idea that housing security is "entitlement" and that America only belongs to those who can afford it.

And once you've done that, plug into one of the many groups fighting to strengthen renters' rights, secure more public funding for affordable housing, overturn the state laws against rent control and inclusionary zoning, and raise the minimum wage to a living wage. Many of these groups have people who know who to lobby, how to get effective laws written and passed, and so on - but they always need more public support.
22
No cause evictions do not go on your record and won't be a reason a new landlord won't rent to you. There is a simple solution to this problem, stop fighting every developer trying to build more multi family housing in Portland. We need more supply to deal with all this demand.
23
@ EVERYONE: You do realize it is the governments primary role to protect citizens rights to property ownership, NOT TO PROTECT US FROM EACH OTHERS RIGHT TO PROPERTY OWNERSHIP??? If you pay attention to the policies your all advocating for they make little difference, are easily bypassed, and/ or adapted to by developers. Get real and instead of policy changes ask the government to physically put something out there that naturally pulls rental prices down for the surrounding area. But ohh yeah I forgot your all so bent on the american dream of isolated privacy and property ownership you'd never think to take down the walls.

@chinbeardsareover: If someone needs to move to Vancouver they may as well just move to the trailor parks of arkansaw- the people are the same and the threat of gentrification is much further.

...and china beards will always grow back. Deal with it.
24
You know how you get to stay in your apartment? Find a way to pay the rent. Everyone else is able to do it, why can't you? Do you think the rent is going up and the place is going to sit empty? Not a chance. Someone else, with cash in hand, is ready, willing and able. It's the way the world works, it's just that simple.

It's a little sad to see so many sour grapes here. Just because you've lived in Portland for a while, in a property owned by someone else, doesn't entitle you to join the lifelong club. Portland is a cool place and like most cool places, it's desirable and you need to be able to afford the price of admission. It's a fact of life.

Someone else summed it up very succinctly, you can live where your income allows and that's it. I'd love to live in a Palm Springs mansion, but as someone who is not a millionaire, that isn't going to happen. Should I complain about it?
25
We still have affordable housing in Salem, OR. "Salem, it's not so bad." πŸ˜ŽπŸ‘
26
@RealityCheckTime-
What about all the people working at bars, gas stations, grocery stores, manufacturing and so on that don't make 30K+ a year? They are the ones that make Portland desirable and are getting priced out. Commuting 2+ hours a day is expensive and time lost for a crummy dead-end $13/hr job with measly benefits. I made sacrifices to live in NE (like not owning a car) because everything I needed was 15 minutes away via bike, no problem! Now that I need to live out in Gresham how am I supposed to keep my 10 hr day job in NW Industrial? Buy a car with all my extra money, haha right. Not with student loan debt and bills on my shoulders every month. Unfortunately for my check book, getting a higher education made me a humanist, not someone who is willing to take advantage of another just to make another dollar.

Soon Portland will be packed to the brim with a$$holes, but fortunately i'll have moved out along with all the other normal people that gave Portland that charm (we'll be taking that too).
27
@RealityCheckTime right, because not being able to afford a mansion in palm springs is exactly like people here not being able to afford their 1 bedroom apartment rents.
28
Yoshi_Man, I appreciate your comments about de-partitioned housing. However, I don't appreciate you yelling at or criticizing other readers/commenters.
29
The rents are going up because Wall St is buying up big complexes.

What we need is to change the rules to make it harder for a big corp. to own hundreds of local rental houses. We can also start to tax big landlords in retaliation for raising rents.
We could also consider real estate transfer taxes and restrict the size of infill.

While we are at it- it is complete BS that AirBnB isn't making things worse.
30
@wheelsforlife Just because someone can afford slightly more expensive rent than you, that makes them an a$$hole? That doesn’t sound like a fair, nice, or educated assessment. I’ll just assume you’re frustrated and it’s affecting your thinking. Listen, bud, I understand adult responsibilities are a bummer and loans and bills suck but you’re bound to the same rules as everyone else. Just because you view yourself and your fellow sub-$30k’ers, as you put it, as more salt of the earth than everyone else doesn’t make it so and it doesn’t grant you any special privileges. Portland is not never-never land.

@Reverend Bite Me -- will never happen.
31
Rent has doubled in five years, yet my wages haven't. Big surprise, that.
32
So, are one of these groups working on repealing the law that prohibits rent control?
What better time than now?
33
@ monica: I don't appreciate any of you guys commenting anywhere and I don't think you should be allowed to because all your doing is adding to the drama/ entertainment while affecting nothing at all.

@ reality check time: dumbest thing I ever heard- as if this is not a society that we constructed with causes and effects that we can address.
34
...ohh snap rev bite me, I just realized I have a friend- how did this happen and when? You know what your cool to comment, everyone else shut up... please.
35
@yoshi_man I wish that were true and it's a nice pipe dream but that's all it is. One third of adults are obese and won't even do anything to help their own health. You think they're going to use already limited resources and start a revolution? Sounds inspiring but, pragmatically, it ain't gonna happen. Let's check back in 1, 6, 12, and 24 months and see which of us is correct.
36
It wouldn't really matter if "wall street" or locals own the rental houses. Locals who bought these houses as rental properties would still be charging nearly the same prices (if not more in many cases), and locals who bought them as primary residences would just be reducing the rental stock. What we need is more development of rental supply, period. And this needs to be done alongside policies and/or incentives that mandate a portion of this is developed as below market housing.

This would help ease the pain of Portland's swift growth and rental prices for some, and would hopefully help a meaningful amount of people. What it wouldn't do is return Portland to the fantasy of the glory days of 10 - 20 years ago. People who want that are best to seek a smaller, less popular town. Nothing wrong with smaller town life, I hope to return to it someday. Cost of living aside, if one is of the mindset that all the "evil transplants" are making this city such an insufferable place to live, I don't see why seeking to relocate isn't at the top of the list of options. I mean, even if you could get into a subsidized housing situation, why would you want to be surrounded by brunch lines, increasingly fancy and expensive restaurants, D bags, bros, increased traffic, ice cream lines, shiny condos, hip and pretty 20 somethings, etc.? Or maybe people's true hatred for that stuff is way overblown?

Most importantly, why remain in a city in which you will most likely never be able to afford a home in a location that you desire? Not saying "get the hell out all you assholes who can't afford it here", I'm just asking those questions sincerely, and I certainly know I would be looking to relocate if I was in the position that many are in.
37
Everyone screamed free market, we want Uber, they don't have to abide by the rules all the taxi companies have to abide by.

It's a Free Market, let us make money through Air BnB, no need to abide by the same rules as hotels and licensed B & B's.

Well you've got a free market for rentals and now you want rent control.
38
Where does one go, as a landlord, to express concern and support for a more fair housing market and a change in the laws?
39
Hey JTR, a lot of us are considering leaving, especially to get away from people like YOU.
40
The writing is on the wall poor Portlanders, GTFO of town! You've lived in Portland for generations? Well now you can set down roots somewhere rural, no jobs in your field there? Well... time to learn variety is the spice of life. What, you say your family has worked to make those undesirable parts of Portland better after generations of redlining and loss of opportunity? Thanks for all the hard work SUCKERS!

As far as you low income workers in all the service jobs, try packing in 3-4 people per bedroom, we need you to stay and do the dirty/busy work we don't want.
41
Seriously though, you'll get used to 1 1/2 hour each way daily commutes eventually if you want the job badly enough.
42
@ reality check: it would hardly require any resources at all, just people to pull their head out their ass which I have to agree; it may not happen soon but someday new things like this will pop up I'm sure. I mean do you really believe we're all going to be crammed into smaller and smaller boxes/ dog houses...oops I'm sorry I mean 'Tiny Houses' and never start putting things like this on the table? The thing to appreciate is that at no point in history have we ever hit a point where every piece of land was taken up and marked off, but for practical purposes we're getting there astoundingly quickly and when that gets closer people will start considering new options "outside the box"
43
"when a natural or man-made disaster that materially eliminates a significant portion of the rental housing supply occurs," Like Capitalism?
44
...you know what reality check, fuck that dumb shit. Honestly if more than just a dozen dejected citizens showed up or even if only half a dozen showed up and actually advocated for something like this it would happen. Period. Change is always that close but folks don't show up to see just how these meetings go down; without direction or any input from the public whatsoever. The gov officials hands are tied up to their neck with meaningless data and rules. They have no autonomy they just do their job but if they have you they have something to point in front of their boss as a solid reason to implement a new idea.

it really is that simple but you'd need to show up to see this. You likely think it's powerful people with agendas holding people back but it's not, it is just directionless government trying to serve a populace who gives them absolutely no direction. Period.

...actually I should say thank you for making me realize I should pull some recruits instead of listening to your incredibly naive shit. But yes I grant that it will not likely be Portland to implement any idea that is actually progressive- too many spineless people here.
45
As a small time local landlord (my wife and I saved for 19 years to buy a rental property), who is currently imposing a "No Cause" eviction process with a tenant, I would like to clarify a point. A "No Cause Eviction" sometimes is an eviction for cause. The process of performing a No Cause eviction is more streamlined under law, legal and in my case the preferred option. The tenants I'm evicting have done serious damage to my house, pissed off all the neighbors, crowded the house to bursting with extra friends, family and possessions, piled trash all around the house and lied to me over and over about remedying these issues. Not every No Cause Eviction is a dastardly deed.
46
@yoshi_man Naive? LOL, spot on, actually. And, I'm not really disagreeing with you. You yourself said you went to the meeting and 12 people showed up. Obviously more than 12 people are affected, right? Where was everyone else? Probably at home wasting time watching drivel like America's Got Talent. The proof that people won't help themselves is right in front of you -- the average person is more interested in tabloid nonsense than their own well being.

I saw enough bros and Sperry wearing dipshits eating $8 one-scoop ice cream cones in San Francisco and I probably dislike the look of those smug crap faces at least as much as you, although maybe not quite. You know what Dolores Park was like before those twats rolled in? You know what it's like now?

My point is that you don't get to keep the cool neighborhood as a given. Money talks and BS walks. Someone else said it -- monthly rent buys you one more month, that's it. If you want to keep what's "yours" you need to be ready to compete with the transplant invaders. It sounds like more people are interested in simply rolling over than doing that. What am I missing?
47
Why are you calling a notice of no cause an eviction? Ten carrying on to say it's hard to find housing after that? Bad practice for your readers. Yes our housing situation is tragic, especially for our low income community members but if you got a no cause notice don't say you got an eviction. It can cause your new potential landlord to be a little more concerned when screening you. No cause notice to vacate/eviction are two totally different things...
48
You missed nothing. Just to clarify though; what I am defining IS a way of competing. helping people and making money off of them do not inherently contradict, at least not when your willing to go so far as to take the walls down.
49
Get used to 6 people living in a house designed for 3, with a basement partitioned for another 4. We used to make fun of immigrants back in the day who did this exact same thing. There's already a shortage of competent cooks and chefs in this town, and local businesses are already feeling the pinch; who are you going to get to work for less than $15 an hour other than worthless high school kids?
50
Thank you "global economy" for equalizing the horrific levels of greed and housing shortages found in the bay area to formerly affordable cities.
So we all have to move for some retard from a multi-billion valued dot com can slum it here in Portland. This city is becoming one giant Apple infested turd.
51
Glad I am not the only one making the connection here between the rampant calls for deregulation of all kinds (think Uber, AirBnB et. al) and the outcome which is a system which we have today which holds little in the way of SENSIBLE and rational regulation of a market. There are certain areas of life which should not be driven exclusively by market forces. Obviously, healthcare and I would add housing.
52
Thanks loveanddeath. You know nothing about me, but if "people like me" cause you to move to a place where you will be happier and that better suits your cost of living needs, I guess that is a good thing for all involved.
53
Come to Chattanooga! I left Portland 2 years ago and bought 2 houses here for less than the cost of an empty lot anywhere in Portland!
54
This shit's been going on for centuries, surely.
55
On the rent control topic, do a little online search for apartments in LA and SF and see how well has rent control worked there. Yes, there are several people who are in units at below market rates that they have lived in many years, but many of them are stuck in the same old shitty situation of "landlord refuses to upgrade my dilapidated unit until I move, and I can't afford to move to a nicer, more market priced place".

Overall, rents have risen in those places over the long term as much or more than Portland, it has just been at the mandated 3% per year max increase over many years (the law allows landlords to do this, and landlords know that if they didn't do the annual increases every year, they might never be able to recapture the opportunity to increase), vs. Portland landlords bringing things up to market levels more sharply over the past 2 - 3 years.
56
Forgot to mention that under rent control, any time an apartment is vacated and put on the market, the landlord can increase the rent as much as they want. We all know how nomadic many renters are, so this fact alone effectively negates many of the supposed rent control benefits.
57
I have owned a home in Portland for the last 10 years. Rented it for 7 with no increases while paying a loss on my mortgage due to low property values. I recently evicted my tenants to move back to North Portland. BTW my home was trashed. Frankly, I deserve an increase for my YEARS of hardship. Less for my family for years and now you cry fowl as rent and demand make up the difference. If you can't afford to live here then move further from town. I will probably do the same as my family grows beyond my current home. Look to nearby Seattle as their lower income housing is almost 30 miles outside of the city.
58
They say the pen is mightier than the sword, but apparently the land lords have already taken the pen and used it offensively.
59
How about all the renters make a citywide agreement to flat out ignore all no cause evictions from here on out. Sounds to me like the number of notices far outstrip the local authorities ability to physically remove every tenant who receives one. People here used to sit in trees to save from logging all the time. Where's your fight Portland? Are you just going to sit there and keep taking it while you wait for this half ass mayor to swoop down and save you?
60
"Situations just like this have been playing out all over the Portland area: Owners learn their properties are worth more to investors, so they decide to sell. The new owner takes over, kicks everyone out, does some cosmetic remodeling, and increases rents for a new set of tenants."

This has been going on for some time now. Last October I was given notice by the Astoria Apartments in the Rose City area that my rent would go up almost another $450 from the nearly $900 a month they already had jacked it up to. I've lived in those apartments for 30 years, a good solid tenant. But now that I have to live on Social Security Disability, I am no longer on the "desirable list" for their new dream of "beautifying & enhancing the tenant community" or whatever. The place has long been beyond any (fictional) 30% ratio of rent to income, and this last raise forced me out as soon as I could arrange to squeeze myself into another like-sized apartment with my daughter, her boyfriend, and my little granddaughter; bottom line ... at a certain point in life, get ready to kiss your independent living and your own live goodbye. You have health issues which grow all the time, the companies you've worked for make sure you'll NEVER see retirement, and you reach an age (past 50) where no one will hire you (and IF you get a real job interview, the person doing it is usually half your age or less ... and has no idea how to relate to you). I really think that the society is not so subtly telling people who have come to my spot in life to just go off and die. Well, here's news for YOU - if you live long enough, you will become us. Have fun! It isn't as far off as you are thinking!
61
Some friends of mine are getting evicted from a house in NoPo this month as well. The owner's parents gave him the house years ago so he could rent it out for some extra cash. In the 10 years he's owned the house he has don't exactly zero maintenance on the place. There are no smoke detectors (illegal), the roof is missing tons of shingles, the probably lead paint is half fallen off, a completely dead tree is about to fall over on the house in the back and another 20 foot tree is growing out of a crack in the foundation. They had me look at the wiring in the basement because breakers kept flipping and it's a freakin' patchwork of ancient cloth-wrapped wiring and electrical tape. The place needs to be razed right now but give it a couple more months and it will probably burn down all by itself.

Oh yeah, and I heard the owner tried moving into a spare bedroom in the place he was renting to others when he was going through a rough patch with his wife. What a fucking weirdo.
62
@disastronaut: That's be funny if this is the same house NPortlandHomeOwner owns! One guy's "They trashed my house!" is another's guy's "The owner's a slumlord and won't fix shit!".
63
Unfortunately, the last ten years - a lot of landlords had a hard time turning a profit with high vacancy rates and low rents. Now that the market has turned - a lot of landlords are taking advantage of the higher rents and housing shortage. Is that fair to tenants? Probably not - but owning a rental property is a business. And most businesses are "for-profit" the last time I checked. A smart business owner has to take advantage of any market situation - including raising rents when they can.
64
^ "And most businesses are "for-profit" the last time I checked. A smart business owner has to take advantage of any market situation - including raising rents when they can."
If you need to exploit people in order to make a profit, you should not be in that business. There is nothing smart about being a total piece of shit.
65
To the people that looked down their noses at me for buying a house in Lents 10 years ago because it was "so far out", too tacky, too white trash, and SO sketchy: Welcome to the neighborhood.
66
Amazing a state that is as "progressive" as Oregon has no rent-control policies, no affordable housing clauses or any form of renter's rights. So much for all the west coast progression, right.
67
The city does actually have affordable housing policies that come along with the grants & loans it makes through the development commission and its Urban Renewal Area policies. Now, that's not to say that more doesn't need to be done, but the city isn't just sitting on its hands.

On the rent control topic, not sure how well that would help things. Take a look at LA and SF.
68
Part of the reason for lack of affordable housing could be property tax increases, School Improvement bonds, Libary, and Metro natural area levies, not to mention the hefty Portland Water Bureau sewer bill increases. All of these add costs to the operating expenses of the landowner and are eventually going to work their way down to the tenant.

All of these additional government services cost money and with the exception of the Arts tax, are usually paid through property tax increases. I think it is easy to always point the finger at somebody else but by always asking and approving more and better services, we are also to blame for the increase in the cost of living in PDX.
69
The solution is small co-ops. Four tenants to partner on one house, and renovate it into a virtual four plex to avoid rezoning. Cozier quarters.
70
The state law prohibiting rent control is ORS 91.225. I will gladly donate my time and money to any well-organized group working to overturn it.
71
If you've lived in unit for more than a year it has to be a sixty day notice. And any notice must be written.
In reality timing and order is your only friend. Start a family before you buy a house and buying a house becomes a dream. Refuse to work sixty hour weeks, roll your own cigs, eat and drink at home to save money for a down payment and you will always be under the mans thumb. "The Man" doesn't want you to buy. So continue to whine about rents while you have a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other, the man is happy. You're paying more tax than he is.
Wake the Hell up! Buckle down and bust your ass saving and not spending money on whatever, But a house is your ONLY HOPE TO GET OUT FROM UNDER THE MANS THUMB. WHO IS THE "man"?
IRS
LANDLORDS
BANKS
GROW A PAIR AND WORK 60 hours a week for three years. Buy a house. Oh wait You'll have to be drug free to get a job. You'll have to miss out on partying for a couple of years. If you got the stones,,, buy a house and quit your bitching
72
WHY AREN'T PEOPLE ADDRESSING THE STATE LAW?! THAT IS CLEARLY WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE!
74
@JTR,
LA is a model of an ideal rental market for people willing to stay in their homes and communities. In LA you might see generations of people in the same building/apartment which stabilizes communities and businesses. Rental protections can keep tenant families stable in their homes for decades. Meanwhile you can raise the rent, you just can't raise it exorbitantly. The max is 2%-5%/year. You can get to a 50% rent increase, just not all at once, like a greedy landowner will, who has no sense of decency or concept of empathy and has enjoyed the residual lobbying power of his predecessors.
75
"You know how you get to stay in your apartment? Find a way to pay the rent. Everyone else is able to do it, why can't you?"
Oh my Goodness What an AMAZING insight! I NEVER thought of that. Well Hell let me just go tell my boss and my husband's boss that they HAVE to give us raises immediately to compensate for our $600 rent increase after receiving a no cause eviction for our home we lived in for 12 years (and NOT ONCE paid rent late on). We had 60 days to come up with over 3grand to move and stay in our general area so our kids wouldn't be traumatized by having to leave the only school they've ever known.
You really should run for president-heck, why stop there- run for God because you have ALL the answers. Just make more money! duh, stupid poor people :)

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