As the city was just beginning to thaw after the punishing winter storms last month, the advocacy group Portland Tenants United penned a letter to Mayor Ted Wheeler.
The group wanted Wheeler to "call on Portland landlords to do their part by forgiving rent and late fees for tenants affected by the snow — without exception."
From the letter:
Last week’s snow was a perfect storm — a confluence of the heaviest snow in decades, an inept city response to impassable roads, a lack of workers’ rights (not being paid for work or school closures), and the ever-present hunger of the landlords — celebrating record profits from our housing crisis and probably already planning how to spend their late-fee bounty. Renters have lost significant income, and many are at real risk of not making rent. It’s hard to see how anyone could argue that this isn’t a disaster; a train literally came off its rails!
When asked shortly about the letter shortly afterward, Wheeler—who was getting ready to unveil an ordinance that would require landlords to pay tenants' relocation costs in some instances—said "a lot of people are asking for a lot of things."
But it appears the mayor took PTU's point seriously.
Wheeler's not going to quite the lengths activists have demanded, but today—the first of the month, when rents are often due—he and Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury did ask landlords to be understanding about their tenants' plight. In a missive posted online, the officials are requesting that landlords "work with their tenants when the rent comes due in February to find resolutions other than evictions if they come up short. For tenants who can show they worked fewer hours in January than in past months, we ask that landlords consider waiving late fees in February, and entering into voluntary payment plans to recover past due rent rather than issuing non-payment of rent notices and pursuing evictions."
The request comes, of course, as the city's wrestling with how to cope with steep rent increases that have spurred disturbing displacement trends. Nearly half the city's residents are renters, according to the Portland Housing Bureau (with the ratio increasing all the time), and more than half of those are considered cost-burdened.
Oh and by the way: It's going to snow later this week.
Hit the jump for the full letter from Kafoury and Wheeler.
February 1, 2017
Dear Neighbors,
Over the past month our community was subjected to a series of unprecedented severe weather events, which claimed lives, closed businesses, and disrupted transportation. Conditions were so harsh, Oregon Governor Kate Brown declared a state of emergency.
At the same time, a strong partnership between the city of Portland, Multnomah County and our business leaders led to an outpouring of support to help those who don’t have a home and didn’t have regular access to shelter.
We joined forces with community organizations and volunteers to open more than 700 emergency shelter spaces in community centers, churches, and office buildings. We dedicated another 100 beds of winter shelter that will stay open through May, thanks to a donation from the Menashe family and Greystar.
While we are bracing for another round of severe weather, and opening warming shelters this week, it is important that this partnership doesn’t end. We hope that through continued partnership we can prevent additional human tragedies this winter.
In order to address the challenges that renters face from temporary disruptions in income, this year Portland, Multnomah County, and Home Forward directed over $5.8 million of local, state, and federal resources into our shared short term rent assistance program and are actively working to identify additional rent assistance resources to make available to tenants in the coming months.
In turn, we are also asking landlords to work with their tenants when the rent comes due in February to find resolutions other than evictions if they come up short. For tenants who can show they worked fewer hours in January than in past months, we ask that landlords consider waiving late fees in February, and entering into voluntary payment plans to recover past due rent rather than issuing non-payment of rent notices and pursuing evictions.
Many people in our community are bringing home incomplete paychecks this month because they couldn’t safely make it to work, because they faced sudden child-care burdens with schools shut down, or because their employers were shuttered during the worst of the weather. We should work together to ensure that being a few dollars short doesn’t lead to the trauma of homelessness.
The close coordination and hundreds of community volunteers we saw during the storm shows us what our community can do when we come together. We know we can continue working together now to improve lives.
Sincerely,
Deborah Kafoury Ted Wheeler
Chair, Multnomah County Mayor, City of Portland