Law tightens portion of landlord-tenant act
By GREG WASSON
Of the Emerald
SALEM — The last decade
has seen the Legislature
attempt to define the relation
ship between landlord and
tenant. But Rep. Norm Smith,
R-Tigard, says it’s incorrect to
say that all tenants have the
same problems.
‘‘Maybe a uniform act is too
difficult to write. What we’re
seeing this session are bills from
the mobile home tenants saying
We need a little special
treatment because we're
different.’ ”
Whatever the tenant’s identi
ty, Smith says it is important to
remember the historical
approach that owners should be
free to do what they want with
their land.
"Now tenants are demanding
more rights, as if they had a
vested interest in the land sim
ply because they pay rent. The
Legislature has tended to give
away too many of those tradi
tional property owners’ rights to
tenants.”
Smith is a member of the
House Judiciary Committee,
which deals with landlord
tenant legislation.
A second member of that
committee, Rep. Margie
Hendriksen, D-Eugene,
disagrees that renter legislation
has placed undue restrictions
on landlords’ freedoms.
"Our landlord-tenant law isn’t
out of line so far as protecting
the tenant from arbitrary actions
by the landlord. Under the old
idea, you wouldn’t have had
zoning or that kind of thing. But I
thought we moved away from
that a hundred years ago.
People don’t have absolute
rights to deal with their property
anyway they want to. We do
have regulations for social pur
poses.”
Monday, the House approved
a bill making it easier for owners
of self-storage units to confi
scate property from a tenant
who doesn’t pay rent. Current
law exempts clothing and
jewelry from the items a landlord
can seize when rent isn't paid.
The legislation, HB-2393, says
the clothing exemption doesn’t
apply to things stored in self
storage facilities.
Rep. Kip Lombard, R
Ashland, explained one reason
for removing the protection.
"The clothing which the
tenant intends to wear and
which is so necessary and im
portant is, in practically all
cases, going to be kept where
the tenant is living. That cloth
ing which for any number of
reasons may be stored in an
outside facility doesn’t carry
with it the same personal conn
ection."
Another representative
explained an additional reason
for the change. It seems that if
there currently is any clothing
stored in a warehouse, the
owner can’t change the lock to
force the renters to pay up. By
allowing the clothing to be im
pounded, the Legislature is
saying that landlords should be
able to take the goods until they
get paid.
Under present law, a drug
dealer who sells legal
substances as drugs commits
no crime. House Bill 2066 would
change that.
The legislation would make
sale of imitation drugs a Class A
felony. As Rep. Gretchen
Kafoury, D-Portland, explains,
police are hampered by the lack
of a legal tool in such a situa
tion.
‘‘A lot of the speed that's sold
is just caffeine. So, if law enfor
Self Service Typing
IBM selecfric
carbon cartridge
Kinko's • Copies
764 E. 13th 344-7894
xy
<4'
...
Catch our vast & immense
Sci Fi Sale
Sci Fi and Fantasy books reduced
20 to 40% Off retail price.
uo
BOOKSTORE
This week on/yy March 9 through 14
Upstairs in the Book Department
Only at the UO Bookstore
13th & Kincaid
Mon-Fri 8:15-5:30
Sat 10:00-2:00
Limited to stock on hand
Cash register sales only.
I extbooks 686-3520 • General Books 686-3510 • Supplies 686-4331
Paae 8
cement people catch somebody
with 20,000 tablets of someth
ing, run it through the lab, and
all it is is caffeine, there is not a
darn thing they can do about it,”
Kafoury says.
The bill was introduced at the
request of police agencies but
Kafoury jokingly adds that it
could be viewed as consumer
protection legislation.
While it may not stop a mov
ing car, the law gives Oregon
pedestrians the right of way in a
cross walk. At least that’s one
way to read the statute. Sen.
Dell Isham, D-Lincoln City,
complains that the books can be
interpreted differently.
"The most dangerous situa
tion I see is where one driver on
a four-lane highway stops, the
pedestrian starts to cross, and
the person driving in the next
lane interprets the law
differently and continues to
drive."
Isham has introduced legisla
tion, SB 407, saying that a car
must stop and remain stopped
whenever a crosswalk is
occupied.
Reagan submits budget;
$48 billion lost in cuts
WASHINGTON (AP) - Pres.
Reagan laid before Congress
Tuesday a $695-billion budget
he claimed would return
government to “economic sani
ty” through overall cuts of $48.6
billion despite a bolstered
military.
Reagan’s revised fiscal 1982
program would boost defense
spending by $4.8 billion and
slash 300 domestic programs
from the projections left by
Jimmy Carter.
Budget Director David
Stockman told reporters the
administration’s approach
would save $409 billion in the
next five years, about three
quarters of the reductions
necessary to meet the
president’s goal of balancing
the budget in 1984.
The fiscal 1982 package
would leave a $45 billion deficit,
partly stemming from Reagan’s
separate proposals to cut tax
rates.
In the Senate, Majority Leader
Howard Baker of Tennessee
urged his fellow Republicans to
postpone until next year any
legislative proposals not con
nected to the tax and spending
efforts.
The budget contained $13.8
billion worth of newly an
nounced cuts, including deeper
reductions than previously
CASH
For Textbooks
Mon.-Fri.
Smith Family
Bookstore
768 E. 13th
1 Bl. From Campus
Ph 345-1651
sought in welfare, water pro
jects, job programs, public
housing, food stamps and
education. First-time reductions
in veterans programs, loan sub
sidies and dozens of social
services also were proposed.
Reagan said in his formal
message accompanying the
document that it “will stop
runaway inflation and revitalize
our economy if given a chance.’
The revised budget updated a
preliminary spending cut plan
the president announced last
month. It was sent to Congress
along with Reagan's proposal to
trim personal income tax rates
by nearly 30 percent over the
next three years and cut bu
siness tax rates through
accelerated depreciation sche
dules.
Top Republicans on
Congress’ tax-writing com
mittees planned to introduce
the administration’s tax
proposals Tuesday.
Reagan’s spending plan,
certain to stir a rousing fight in
Congress, shows a startling
shift in priority from social
programs to a defense system
beefed up by new weapons
development.
CLASSIFIEDS
BAD DAYS CAN BE PREDICTED using bior
hythm charting. As an introduction, we offer full
charing for March thru June for $5 Send check
or M O (no cash) to LANE BIORHYTHMS PO
Box 1544, Springfield. OR. 97477. 3-1?
Women & Men
Let me match your interest and values with
other singles in this area. Very reasonable fee.
Women and men welcoem, but I especially
need women at this time
CONTACT FRIENDSHIP DIRECTORY
317 W. Broadway Suite 112
Eugene, Oregon 97401
343-8463 10 am-6 pm Mon-Fri
2411 :MWF
1
EARN $800 a MONTH YOUR
JUNIOR AND SENIOR
YEARS
Interested in math, physics or engineering? Then you
could earn as much as $800 a month your last two years in the
Navy’s NUPOC — collegiate program (NUPOC is short for
Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate).
If you qualify, you’ll get 16 weeks of Officer Candidate
School and another year of advanced technical education. And
you 11 receive a $6,000 bonus at the end of your training year.
This is one of the most elite engineering programs
anywhere, with unequalled responsibility and a
$24,000-$25,000 salary your first year.
For more information, contact:
Phil Wallace in Portland
Collect 221-3041