6A — THE OBSERVER
SaTuRday, NOVEmBER 28, 2020
STATE
Legislature scrambles to head off end of rent moratorium
If Gov. Kate Brown declares COVID-19 ‘catastrophic disaster,’ lawmakers could hold remote special session
Landingham of the Oregon
Law Center, which helped
shape the legislation. “Our
goal here was not to be
perfect, because we didn’t
think we could achieve
perfection.”
The funds also would
be doled out so one region
did not drain the fund all
by itself.
Lawmakers said a sepa-
rate plan to stop some res-
idential foreclosures will
be ready for review next
week.
“We really want to keep
people housed during this
pandemic,” Holvey said.
“Sometimes this isn’t just
about renters, it’s about
homeowners.”
By Gary A. Warner
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon’s
ban on evicting tenants
from their homes expires
at the end of the year
unless the Legislature can
go into special session
amid a deadly pandemic.
A bipartisan bill
extending the moratorium
through June 2021 has
been written. It also cre-
ates a $100 million fund
to reimburse landlords for
some of their tenants’ back
rent.
The Landlord-Based
Assistance Program is a
compromise hammered
out between House Interim
Housing Committee
Chair Julie Fahey, D-Eu-
gene, and Rep. Jack Zika,
R-Redmond, with input
from landlord and tenant
advocates.
It’s ready to be fast-
tracked in a December
special session of the
Legislature.
The main problem: No
special session has been
scheduled. The regular
session of the Legislature
does not start until Jan. 19.
Waiting would allow
the eviction moratorium
and other key unemploy-
ment and health care pro-
grams to expire with the
New Year. When the cur-
rent deadlines were set,
many lawmakers thought
COVID-19 would be
under control if not cured.
Instead, its growing at a
faster rate than any time
this year.
“We had no idea the
pandemic would continue
into 2021,” said Rep. Paul
Holvey, D-Eugene.
With hoped-for fed-
eral aid never arriving, the
only way to head off the
chaos of a sudden end to
programs is for the state to
step in with a stop-gap fix.
Back rent could
hit $500 million by
June
Gov. Kate Brown could
call a special session, the
third of 2020. Lawmakers
have twice come to the
Capitol despite risks of
infection. But with case
rates skyrocketing across
Oregon, testing their luck
a third time would be dif-
ficult and dangerous, not
only for lawmakers, but
for even a pared down ver-
sion of the usual army
of staffers and workers
required when the Legisla-
ture meets.
Brown could take the
unprecedented move of
declaring COVID-19 a
“catastrophic disaster,”
More federal relief
remains uncertain
Claire Withycombe/Oregon Capital Bureau, File
State Sen. Bill Hansell, far left, speaks on the Senate floor on June 29, 2019. Oregon’s ban on evicting tenants from their
homes expires at the end of the year unless the Legislature can go into special session — even a virtual one — amid the
coronavirus pandemic.
“Just as we enter what is proving to be the most trying
period of the pandemic so far, federal dollars quite
literally dry up.”
— Gov. Kate Brown and U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, in a prepared statement
which could allow law-
makers to hold a remote
session without coming to
the Capitol.
House Speaker Tina
Kotek, D-Portland, has
said rent stabilization is a
primary goal of any spe-
cial session.
The state projects more
than 82% of tenants have
paid rent during the crisis.
Nationally, the amount
owed by the average renter
is $2,700.
Conservative estimates
put the amount of back
rent owed landlords in
Oregon at more than $250
million. As it now stands,
rent would again be due
Jan. 1, evictions would
again be allowed and ten-
ants would have to pay all
back rent by March 31.
With the economy
expected to be hobbled at
least until spring, when
a hoped-for vaccine will
become available to a
growing number of Orego-
nians, most Democrats and
Republicans agreed on the
need to push out the dead-
line until the end of June.
Back rent would be due
July 1. It would also extend
the timeline on notice of
eviction from 72 hours to
15 days.
Zika said lawmakers
know $100 million will
be gobbled up quickly. By
June, back rent due could
hit $500 million or more.
“It’s a drop in the
bucket,” Zika said.
But the proposed bill
creates a system for repay-
ment fair to renters and
property owners, Zika
said. The Legislature could
add additional funds to the
plan or come up with alter-
native rental assistance
aid when it convenes in
January.
Renters would
declare financial
hardships
The proposed June 30
rent moratorium deadline
would coincide with the
scheduled end of the Leg-
islature’s 2021 session,
allowing for any changes
in programs to be made
prior to final adjournment.
Under the plan, tenants
would give their landlord
a signed declaration that
they could not pay their
rent each month due to
financial hardships such
as unemployment, med-
ical bills, lack of child
care and limited other
reasons. Under the cur-
rent moratorium, no such
declaration is required. If
the new plan is approved,
tenants would not have to
give any more information
to landlords beyond the
declaration.
The landlord would
submit an application
for benefits on behalf of
their tenants to Oregon
Department of Housing
and Community Services.
The landlord would be
paid 80% of the rent due,
while forgiving the tenant
20%. Tax credits for that
portion might be possible,
lawmakers said. The pro-
gram is voluntary, but
landlords choosing not to
take part would still be
under the eviction mor-
atorium until the end of
June.
Advocates for landlords
said income from rental
properties was all the cash
flow that owners of a small
number of units have to
meet their family’s needs.
Without hope of getting
rents soon, they will either
sell their buildings or con-
vert to other uses, which
could take thousands of
units off the already tight
Oregon rental market.
While recognizing the
strain on many landlords,
advocates for tenants said
that at least they had alter-
natives, such as selling the
property. For those living
in rental units, removing
the moratorium would
mean moving in with
others, risking a higher
chance of COVID-19
infection. Children could
be in more precarious
circumstances, or even
homelessness.
The $100 million fund
would be prioritized to
go to landlords of smaller
properties, with a higher
percentage of total rent in
arrears. The funds cannot
be used to cover rent paid
by the landlord’s imme-
diate family.
The lawmakers said the
plan has safeguards against
false declarations and
duplicate applications by
tenants. It will also have
penalties for intentional
mismanagement of the
application by landlords or
putting in for payments for
unoccupied units.
“We anticipate that
there are bad actors on
both sides — not a lot,
but some,” said John Van-
Gov. Kate Brown and
both of Oregon’s U.S. Sen-
ators, Ron Wyden and Jeff
Merkley, issued a joint
statement Monday, Nov.
23, calling for a “lame
duck” session of Congress
before the end of the year
to replace the $2.2 trillion
CARES Act funds, which
expire Dec. 31.
“Just as we enter what
is proving to be the most
trying period of the pan-
demic so far, federal dol-
lars quite literally dry up,”
the statement said.
The Democratic-con-
trolled House has advo-
cated for up to $3 trillion
in spending to cushion
states struggling through
a prolonged crisis. But
Senate Republicans have
balked at such a large infu-
sion of cash to states.
On Friday, Senate
Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell, R-Kentucky,
said he would be open to
reassigning about $566
billion in small busi-
ness loans to be used for
COVID-19 relief instead.
President Donald Trump,
who lost re-election on
Nov. 3 to former Vice
President Joe Biden, has
not pushed for additional
funds.
Adding to the uncer-
tainty is a recent rash of
COVID-19 infections at
the U.S. Capitol that have
have forced a few sena-
tors and house members to
quarantine.
Biden has promised a
new aid package as soon
as he is sworn in to office
on Jan. 20. But the defeat
of Trump and the end of
the 2020 congressional
session leaves a gap of
several weeks before the
new Congress is sworn in
on Jan. 3 and Biden takes
office 17 days later.
Judge denies restaurants’ lawsuit over COVID-19 limits
Associated Press
PORTLAND — A fed-
eral judge has rejected an
effort from Oregon restau-
rants to stop the most recent
COVID-19-related restric-
tions imposed by Gov. Kate
Brown.
The lawsuit from the
Oregon Restaurants and
Lodging Association said
restaurants were being
unfairly singled out.
The judge from the
Oregon federal district
court on Tuesday, Nov. 24,
did not agree and and said
the freeze is within the
state’s authority, KOIN-TV
reported. Two restaurant
industry groups filed the
lawsuit against Brown last
week in response to her
executive order forcing
Oregon fines gym $90K
for violating freeze order
Associated Press
SALEM — Oregon
Occupational Safety and
Health Administration
officials have fined a fit-
ness business $90,000 for
defying Gov. Kate Brown’s
COVID-19 order and
remaining open throughout
a current two-week freeze.
The Statesman Journal
reports officials with
Oregon Occupational
Safety and Health said the
penalty is the result of cita-
tions against each of the
four facilities operated by
Courthouse Club Fitness.
People at the business did
not respond to request for
comment Wednesday.
Before the statewide
freeze went into effect on
Nov. 18, gym owner John
Miller said in a statement
that a second shutdown
would push his business to
the breaking point.
“As a result of the harm
done to our business from
the first shutdown, we will
not survive another clo-
sure,” Miller said. “This is
a horrible position I find
myself in, and it leaves
me with only one choice.
Courthouse Club Fitness
will remain open (Nov. 18)
and the days to follow.”
On Wednesday, Nov.
25, Brown said 21 Oregon
counties will continue to be
under restrictions when a
two-week “freeze” expires
Dec. 3. Indoor gyms will
remain closed.
restaurants to move to
takeout for two weeks,
among other measures, as
the state tries to lower a
spike in cases.
At the time, represen-
tatives from the Oregon
Restaurant & Lodging
Association and the Restau-
rant Law Center said the
action was taken to “pre-
vent economic devastation.”
After the ruling, Jason
Brandt with the associa-
tion said their real focus is
doing what they can to help
people keep their jobs.
“We are not blind to
the fact that face cover-
ings have to come off in
our industry when you
are eating or drinking in a
restaurant,” he said. “Our
challenge is the inequity
having people gather in pri-
vate spaces up to 6 people,
two households, where
people are moving around
with their face coverings
off.”
Brandt said the associa-
tion has had several meet-
ings with the governor’s
office and that they want
to keep working with the
governor’s office.
The current restrictions
are in place until Dec. 3.
“I am hopeful,” Brandt
said, “come Dec. 3, at least
some of our restaurants in
some counties across the
state will have the oppor-
tunity to have the freeze
lifted and have the oppor-
tunity to make the revenue
they desperately need for
their business.”