Stop any rent increases during COVID19 times: 2020.

Stop any rent increases during COVID19 times: 2020.

Started
June 22, 2020
Petition to
State of Oregon Governor and 1 other
Signatures: 246Next Goal: 500
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Why this petition matters

Started by Mariola Sullivan

In 2019, SB 608 (2019) known as "rent stabilization" was introduced and ultimately became a law in the state of Oregon.   That law went into effect for the first time in the calendar year of 2019.  Under this law, Consumer Index value published on September 30 + 7% margin sets the maximum permissible rent increase value for following calendar year.  That the maximum permissible rent increase in Oregon for 2020 is 9.9%.  This law does not have any self-correcting measures for a recession, an economic calamity, or otherwise any state emergency-caused economic downturns impacts.   Looking around the country, the 7% margin is one of the highest numbers as comparing to similar laws in other states and larger municipalities through USA.  Since the Consumer Index is a normalized statistical calculation, daily and monthly values are normalized over a 12-month curve, which ultimately dilutes the value, so it is only a shadow of a measure of COVID-19's impacts.  Even so, tenants of Oregon have to wait until September 30, 2020 to see what that Consumer Index value will be and how it will impact their rent in 2021.  Looking at historic values of Consumer index, even in the deepest of recessions, that number never fell lower than -2.5%, and that means another possible rent increase in 2021.  

I have not seen any conversation on a municipal, state or federal level in regards to "freezing" rent increases in 2020 and possibly 2021 during this crisis. The previous petitions signed by thousands, perhaps millions of people- tenants asking for rent-forgiveness, thus far have been mostly ignored by politicians.  The cries of tenants, like myself who have been economically affected by COVID-19 have fallen on deaf ears of our elected officials regardless of the party affiliation.   


So what about making sure that we "flatten the rent line" for people???   My personal rent is going to increase by nearly the maximum allowed 9.9% starting in August 2020, and property management has been absolutely indifferent to this COVID-19 situation.  Because they are staying within the legally allowed value, there is nothing I can do legally - they are not breaking any laws.  Clearly, doing what's moralily right is not part of their "modus operandi".  I have heard from hundreds of other tenants with similar experiences.  Our story is also not unique to Oregon, but shared by people-tenants throughout USA.   Additionally, this company, which is a $8.5B/year real estate holding company that operates in many states, has an army of attorneys and hefty budget for legal fees, thus have arrogantly engaged in coercion and harassment of tenants during this time, reductions of amenities, and other blatantly-unlawful behaviors.  They can do that, because both the state of Oregon offices and City of Portland offices are too crippled by own internal administrative deficiencies to provide any reasonable service of enforcing the tenant rights to their constituents.

Rent deferment laws such as the one in Multnomah County/City of Portland, assume that the economy recovers swiftly and in a way that improves peoples savings abilities, so they can pay back the owned rents while staying current on monthly housing expenses.  It is a lofty aspiration, considering thestaggering and still increasing unemployment numbers. Additionally, the protocol of social distancing and mask-wearing is preventing many companies from being able to offer services at the same level and efficiency as prior to COVID-19, which means they are unable to keep the same level of staffing or create new jobs. The state of Oregon administrative and IT infrastructure  has been totally unprepared for this COVID-19 maelstrom, and as a result nearly 70,000 PUA applications still have not yet been processed and people still haven't received their unemployment checks (this is June 22, 2020).  The best we can hope for is a slow, but steady recovery that may take 1-2 years, just to return to pre-COVID-19 levels.  


While people are suffering, corporate tax-breaks given under CARES assures that the company that owns my apartment complex has already received over $88M in tax savings in the 1st quarter of 2020.  2nd quarter Corporate filings are due before the end of this month, and are very likely to show tax benefits numbers to double or triple in the 2nd quarter.  These are DIRECT benefits, that allow their money to remain in their corporate accounts, free and clear, and not a deferment for which they will have to wait months.  One of those tax benefits is being able to write-off any revenue losses, when tenants deferred their rent payments.  So that means, they get "PAID" timely even if tenants are unable to pay or defer their payments.   

In this petition, we are demanding that Oregon Governor Kate Brown exercises her executive powers to freeze rent increases through the end of 2021 and retroactive to March 15, 2020. 

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Signatures: 246Next Goal: 500
Support now
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Decision Makers

  • State of Oregon Governor
  • City of Portland Mayor