This Law Has Landlords Everywhere Worried

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Portland, Ore., city council members want to put a stop to landlords sticking renters with higher rents.

Last week, City Council members approved a “relocation assistance” bill that is raising eyebrows of landlords across the country. Here’s what the new bill does: If a landlord raises the rent by more than 10 percent of a renter — and doing so would force the renter to have to move — the landlord will have to pay the tenant between $2,900 to $4,500 in moving fees. The amount they pay the renter is dependent on the size of the original lease. Council members say that amount would be sufficient then to not only cover average moving costs but also the first and last months’ rent and a security deposit.

Read more: Make a Perfect Match With Automated Renter Screening

City Council members say the new law is to help prevent renters getting stuck with higher rental costs that force them to move out. Council members say currently 1,800 Portland residents are homeless and unable to find affordable housing.

“This notion could spread, especially to more progressive cities,” says Michael Vraa, a tenant advocacy attorney at Home Line in Minneapolis. “The vast majority of cities and states do not have rent control, and there is no legal limit on how much landlords can raise rent. In other words, one year your rent could be $2,000 … the next, $3,000.”

Portland’s ordinance is temporary and will expire once city officials declare the city’s “housing emergency” over.

Meanwhile, Portland building owners are threatening to sue the city council. They say the law will bankrupt small landlords who are raising costs to maintain their properties.

“What if heating costs rise? What if the property needed a new roof? What if property insurance has risen? Does the landlord eat these costs or is it only fair that the cost is shared?” asks Denise Supplee, a real estate professional, investor, and co-founder of SparkRental. “It makes me mad that too often the landlord is vilified, when they are ordinary folks trying to make a living. I have seen my share of ridiculously tenant-friendly laws that can quickly put a landlord out of business, however this Portland one tops the list.”