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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (April 20, 2016)
April 20, 2016 The Skanner Page 7 FAIR HOUSING CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW SPECIAL SECTION Portland Housing Bureau T he Portland Hous- ing Bureau will be accepting N/NE H o m e o w n e r sh i p Applications for Prefer- ence from Monday, May 2, 2016 through Friday, May 13, 2016. Recognizing that past City actions have mar- ginalized and displaced many longtime residents “ these areas online. Note: The Preference Policy determines the order of applicants on wait- ing lists for housing, not their eligibility for housing programs. Visit PHB’s website, https:// w w w.portlandoregon. gov/phb/, for eligibility requirements. How does it work? Whenever PHB hous- The Portland Housing Bu- reau (PHB) developed a pref- erence policy to prioritize households with generation- al ties to N/NE Portland of North and Northeast Portland, the Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) developed the Affordable Housing Preference Pol- icy as a tool to prioritize impacted households for PHB housing opportuni- ties in the area. The Pref- erence Policy aims to ad- dress the ongoing impact of this legacy by giving priority to households with generational ties to N/NE Portland—i.e.: current and former res- idents of specific areas that were subject to high levels of urban renewal, and their descendants. you can view maps of ing (including rental housing and ownership homes, or down payment assistance) in N/NE Port- land becomes available, PHB will advertise an open application round for households to apply to receive preference for those openings. Top priority will be given to households (and their descendants) who owned property that was taken by Portland City govern- ment — during the build- ing of Memorial Colise- um or the expansion of Emanuel Hospital, for ex- See APPLICATIONS on page 10 PHOTO BY JERRY FOSTER Housing Bureau to Begin Accepting Applications for Preference Portland Housing Bureau Awards $47 Million for Affordable Housing Projects Portland Housing Bureau T he Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) has award- ed approximately $47 million in local and fed- eral funds to eight proposed affordable hous- ing projects. The six new developments and two renovation projects come as a result of the Bu- reau’s 2015 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), released last October, which made an unprece- dented $61.6 million, 100 Project-Based Section 8 vouchers, and five publicly owned sites available for affordable housing proposals. PHB estimates the award will result in 585 new units of affordable housing — and will preserve another 255 through renovation projects—includ- ing more than 120 total units for the lowest-income households (those earning up to 30 percent of the Median Family Income, currently $15,400 a year for an individual and $24,300 for a family of four). “Taken together, these eight projects respond to the urgency of the housing emergency for the most vulnerable Portlanders, and integrate the kinds of services and programs that will bring greater security and long-term solutions to those most in need,” said Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who oversees the Portland Housing Bureau. “I commend the Housing Bureau for stretching itself and its resources to get here, and I commend our proposers for the creativity and resourceful- ness they brought to meet the challenges we face.” Citing the city’s housing emergency, Commis- sioner Saltzman directed PHB last fall to deploy all of its available resources, including urban renew- al dollars budgeted for future years. The 2015 NOFA also featured unprecedented co- ordination among local public agencies, with land and other resources contributed by Multnomah County, the Portland Development Commission, and Home Forward. Beyond financing considerations, the eight proj- ects were selected according to their alignment with several current housing initiatives, including the N/NE Neighborhood Housing Strategy and the A Home for Everyone plan to end homelessness, as well as how they proposed to serve priority pop- ulations such as homeless families with children. Additionally, the three developments planned for North and Northeast Portland, which are ex- pected to bring nearly 200 new affordable units to the area, will prioritize longtime and displaced residents of the N/NE Portland community for housing through the City’s new preference policy, which was unveiled earlier this month and will ac- cept applications in May. What You Should Know About Portland’s New Renter Protections By The Skanner News PHOTO BY BRETT VA (CC BY 3.0) VIA FLICKR I n October the Portland City Coun- cil voted to adopt an ordinance in- creasing the required notice peri- od for no-cause evictions and for rent increases of 5 percent or more. It states: • A landlord may terminate a rent- al agreement without cause only by delivering a written notice of termination not less than 90 days before the termination date, or the time period designated in the act, whichever is longer. This re- quirement does not apply to rental agreements for week-to-week ten- ancies or to tenants that occupy the same dwelling unit as the land- lord; • A landlord may not increase a tenant’s rent or associated hous- ing costs by 5 percent or more over a 12-month period unless the land- lord gives notice in writing to each affected tenant at least 90 days pri- or to the effective date of the rent increase, or the time period des- ignated in the rental agreement, whichever is longer. • Notices of rent increases must specify the amount of the increase, the amount of the new rent or as- sociated housing costs and the date it becomes effective. • A landlord who fails to comply these requirements will be liable to the tenant for an amount up to three months’ rent as well as actual damages, attorney fees and costs. • A resident of Oregon can file a complaint with any of the follow- ing organizations Fair Housing Council of Oregon (FHCO), Legal Aid Services of Oregon (LASO), Department of Justice (DOJ), Bu- reau of Labor and Industry (BOLI), Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The City Attorney and the Housing Bureau refer Fair Housing complaints to any of the organizations named above, and landlord tenant complaints to the Community Alliance of Tenants. The ordinance also imposed new regulations on owners of federal preservation projects. If owners de- See RENT on page 10
