Calls are mounting in Portland for elected officials to temporarily ban evictions, as the coronavirus pandemic throws the ability of low-wage workers to make their next rent payment into question.
As more Portlanders opt to stay inside, businesses are seeing their customer base thinned out, if not disappearing entirely. Restaurants have reported a dip in diners. Theaters, museums and music venues are on hiatus, after Oregon banned large public gatherings. Bars have temporarily shut down.
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For workers without a steady salary, this will likely lead to shrinking paychecks, which could mean falling behind on rent and, potentially, eviction at a time where living on the streets poses even more health risks than usual.
To protect renters, lawmakers in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco are pressing for temporary eviction bans. Miami's police say they won't help landlords remove tenants while the city's in a state of emergency. San Jose is poised to enact a monthlong eviction ban for renters who can show their loss of income is related to the virus.
Many advocates want Portland to be next. A petition asking for an eviction ban, created by local renter's rights group Portland Tenants United, has collected more than 3,500 signatures in the last five days — including that of city Commissioner Chloe Eudaly. Portland mayoral candidate Sarah Iannarone has joined the push, calling on the city to stop evictions for those who can notify their landlords ahead of time that they can't make rent.
In a statement, Deborah Imse, the head of landlord trade group Multifamily NW, urged city and state leaders to provide "meaningful, financial relief to renters and housing providers alike" over the next two months, but stopped short of supporting a ban on evictions, which, she said, would make "no sense" if it "leads to a wave of foreclosures on rental properties."
The City Council is entertaining the idea. Commissioner Amanda Fritz’s senior policy director, Claire Adamsick, said the office is considering it. In a statement, Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty said she’s “open to the idea” — which she said exemplifies the “creative, humane thinking” necessary during this time — “but has more questions.” A spokesperson for the office of Mayor Ted Wheeler, which has taken the lead on the potential ban, said the mayor’s open to all options and is consulting with colleagues.
Eudaly, a vocal champion of renters rights, has come out the strongest in favor of a ban. At a press conference Friday organized by Portland Tenants United, Eudaly told reporters she was “urging [her] colleagues at every level of government” to try to keep people housed during the crisis.
Commissioner Chloe Eudaly speaks at a press conference in favor of a temporary eviction moratorium on March 13, 2020, in Portland, Ore.
Rebecca Ellis / OPB
People were clearly already hurting, she said: Her cousin, a stage manager at a local music venue, will be out of work for the next month, and will fall behind on mortgage payments as a result. A family member who owns a cafe in North Portland is seeing sales cut in half. Her friend Jim Brunberg, who runs three local music venues including Revolution Hall and Mississippi Studios, has shut down operations. Eudaly said the coronavirus has cost Brunberg about $2.5 million in economic activity already and forced him to lay off 179 employees.
“This is just one example of the economic devastation that’s coming,” Eudaly warned.
She said the city has asked city attorneys for a “legal analysis” to determine whether the city has the power to ban evictions.
It was possible, she said, that the city was preempted by Oregon state law, in which case she said state lawmakers should intervene to give the city more leeway.
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The city attorney's office declined to comment. But Eudaly said clarity is coming.
“We asked for this [review] days ago, and are expecting it any minute now,” she said.
In the meantime, evictions in Portland continue, a fact that was front and center at Friday afternoon’s press conference, which was staged across the street from the Multnomah County Courthouse.
Inside courtroom 120, designated for eviction proceedings, the docket chugged along as usual.
“Whereas [in] so much of Portland and Oregon, nothing is usual, business is going on as usual in the courthouse,” said Portland Tenant United founder Margot Black, noting there were more than 40 people on the docket for the day. “The eviction mill is not on lockdown.”