In order to help Oregonians who are dealing with the high cost of housing, lawmakers in Oregon this week unveiled some of their plans to develop more homes and reduce rents and home prices.
Lawmakers debated plans to restrict rent increases for mobile home parks, construct more condominiums, and take action against landlords who embezzle deposits at committee hearings held at the state Capitol on Tuesday and Wednesday. All are intended to alleviate the strains that cause, according to a recent report from Oregon Housing and Community Services, a third of homeowners and more than half of all renters to spend more than 30% of their income on housing expenses.
Here are a few housing measures that politicians want to present in the upcoming year:
Mobile home park rent control
Rent increases for buildings older than 15 years are currently limited by state legislation to no more than 10% or 7% plus inflation, whichever is lower. The House Housing and Homelessness Committee’s chair, Rep. Pam Marsh, a Democrat from Ashland, intends to present a bill that would further restrict rent hikes in marinas and mobile home parks.
John VanLandingham, vice president of the Oregon State Tenants Association and a legal assistance attorney in Lane County, said that Oregon has 1,328 manufactured home parks with over 72,000 spots. The majority of residents in those parks rent the land but own their homes. In the roughly 25 marinas with floating residences in the state, people live in houseboats and rent boat slips, which are akin to parking spots on the water.
According to VanLandingham, “we are solely focused on rent increases because that is the issue that is frightening the living daylights out of all manufactured home park tenants throughout the state.”
Marsh’s plan would cap rent increases for marinas and mobile home parks at the inflation rate. This would bring possible rent increases closer to the cost of living adjustments that manufactured homeowners on fixed incomes receive from Social Security, according to VanLandingham. Seniors and farmworkers make up a large portion of prefabricated home owners.
A simpler way to construct condominiums
Condos, as opposed to conventional single-family residences, allow buyers to purchase a single unit within a complex. Generally speaking, they are less expensive than other kinds of dwellings. For example, in 2023, the median price of a single-family home in Oregon was $552,460, while the median price of a condo was $341,000.
However, condo building has drastically decreased, falling 92% from a record of about 4,200 new units in 2006 to only 309 last year.
Sen. Mark Meek, a Democrat from Gladstone and a real estate agent, stated that condos are no longer being built in Oregon and have not been for years.
Restrictive state rules that allow property owners more time than in other states to bring complaints or lawsuits against construction corporations are mostly to blame for that decline, he said. According to a 2018 ECONorthwest analysis, Oregon had a longer 10-year statute of limitations than other West Coast states for property owners to make claims about building flaws. Developers and financiers have viewed standard apartment buildings as a safer and more lucrative option than condos due to the possibility of lawsuits and rising apartment rentals.
In order to lower the chance of flaws, Meek’s proposed bill would shorten the 10-year restriction to six years and mandate more thorough exterior condo inspections. He said that the plan, which has the support of developers and House Housing and Homelessness Committee Republican vice chair Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson, was the kind of audacious yet workable answer that the state’s housing problem required.
Tightening up on hold deposits
To secure an apartment while arranging the terms of the lease and the date of move-in, many landlords want holding deposits from potential tenants. These deposits are usually at least several hundred dollars and occasionally as much as a month’s rent. The deposit is typically applied to the tenant’s first month’s rent, security deposit, or other move-in expenses if they are able to move in; however, they frequently forfeit the money if they are unable to do so.
A bill to restrict landlords’ rights to retain those deposits is planned to be introduced by Gladstone Representative Annessa Hartman, a Democrat. When landlords fail to offer a lease—for example, by overbooking a rental unit or attempting to rent a property that does not meet state criteria for habitability—Hartman’s measure would oblige them to immediately return the deposit and pay a penalty equivalent to the amount.
Apartments with air conditioning
Lawmakers are considering requiring indoor cooling in all flats with ten or more units after altering state legislation two years ago to oblige landlords to permit tenants to use air conditioners.
In order to keep each bedroom at a temperature that is 15 degrees lower than the outside temperature and no higher than 80 degrees, the Senate Housing and Development Committee will present a law requiring landlords to supply central air, portable air conditioners, or other passive cooling methods. If not, landlords would be required to give renters access to a communal cooling area that keeps the temperature below 80 degrees on or close to the apartment complex.
In order for tenants to enjoy a minimum indoor temperature of 68 degrees, Oregon and other jurisdictions have long mandated that landlords provide heat in rental houses. Due to climate change, Oregon has seen an increase in extreme heat in recent years, sparking heated debates about landlords’ obligations to provide cooling equipment. A heat dome incident in 2021 claimed the lives of almost 100 Oregonians, and a heat wave in July of this year set records for temperatures in Salem, Eugene, and Hillsboro.
— Oregon Capital Chronicle’s Julia Shumway
Established in 2021, The Oregon Capital Chronicle is a nonprofit news outlet that specializes in Oregon politics, government, and policy.
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