Back to Events
Legislative Event
Preventing the Future Collapse of Rental Housing (Virtual Educational Event)
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM (PST)
Event Details
Join us for an interactive webinar on Wednesday, January 8th detailing Oregon housing providers' 2025 legislative priorities. Several speakers will overview bills centered around Public Safety, Maintaining Affordability, Operations, Renters Resources and Preserving Affordable Housing.
| Elected officials in attendance: | Staff in attendance: |
| Senator Jeff Golden (SD 4) | Seth Dugan-Knight (Legislative Director - Oregon House Democrats) |
| Senator Kim Thatcher (SD 11) | Gabii LeGate (Senator Kate Lieber - SD 17) |
| Senator Lisa Reynolds (SD 17) | Luke Harkins (Representative David Gomberg - HD 10) |
| Representative Court Boice (HD 1) | Kathy Martin Willis (Representative Paul Evans - HD 20) |
| Representative Pam Marsh (HD 5 - Chair of the Interim House Committee on Housing and Homelessness) | Sara Kim (Representative Hai Pham - HD 36) |
|
Representative Kim Wallan (HD 6) |
Michael Cherry (Representative Tawna Sanchez - HD 43) |
| Representative Anna Scharf (HD 23) | Abagail Kirshy (Representative Andrea Valderrama - HD 47) |
| Representative Rob Nosse (HD 42) | Stacy Clark (Representative Mark Owens - HD 60) |
| Representative Tawna Sanchez (HD 43) | |
| Representative Vikki Breese-Iverson (HD 59 - Vice Chair of the Interim House Committee on Housing and Homelessness) | |
| Portland City Commissioner Eric Zimmerman (D 4) |
Topics:
Public Safety
- Behavioral health challenges – Tenants with barriers placed in housing without services – Jessie Dhillon
- Failings of Housing First model without applicable wrap-around services
- Two critical tools for housing providers to manage properties: Applicant Screening & Last Resort Evictions
- Applicant Screening – preserve best practice to ensure tenants’ affordability – Amy Bertrand
- Why the industry needs quality applicant screenings
- Income level screening is a tool to be less rent burdened
- Explain various levels of screening, introducing PURA’s $10 cap
- Insurance costs and availability – Chris Page
- Current challenges to insuring rental housing
- Tort Reform bill – cap on non-economic damages & Security Best Practices to limit liability
- Ability to evict: How eviction court procedures are financially harming housing providers - Marcel Gesmundo
- Eviction is a last resort and the least favored outcome for housing providers
- Support of Governor's request for rental assistance
Maintain Affordability/Support Operations
Cost of complying with rapid fire regulatory changes
- Housing Providers struggle to keep up with compounding costs – Greg Frick
- Rental Registries and per-unit fees
- Utilities
- Increasing regulatory environment sets housing providers up for failure
- Right of redemption – Leah Sykes
- Untenable business position for housing provider to provide service without payment - even delayed payment
- Patchwork local legislation (Happy Valley & Gresham examples) – Jessie Dhillon
- Statewide Rent Cap – Greg Frick
- How are housing providers supposed to keep up with statewide Rent Control?
Renters Resources and Preserving Affordable Housing
- Prioritize funding for affordable housing properties who are losing their status – Shannon Shaffer
- Tenant Readiness: Provide funding for in-person Rent Well education to better ensure successful tenancies – Caitlyn Kennedy
