Thousands in Oregon Face Eviction as Rental Aid Dries Up, Lawmakers Scramble for Solutions

After Oregon announced last month that nearly all the money from federal rental assistance programs has been spent or committed and applications were closed this month, thousands in the state could face evictions and state legislators are working to provide solutions.

A 2020 federal study revealed the state had the fourth-highest rate of residents experiencing homelessness at about 35 people per 10,000, trailing only New York, Hawaii and California.

Over 67,000 Oregon households responded to an October US Census Bureau survey with the response of feeling "not at all confident" they would be able to cover bills in the coming months.

Governor Kate Brown announced that the Legislature would return Monday for a special session related to the potential eviction crisis in the state, to find steps for the state to take to get more money for the rental assistance programs and extend the grace period tenants receive that prevents evictions while they wait for the aid to arrive.

They will look to extend the law Brown signed in July that gave renters a 60-day period that landlords cannot evict them as long as they provide proof that they applied for assistance.

As the state faces delays in delivering the aid payments to residents and the applications have been closed, over 8,000 households could face evictions because they have been waiting for the aid to arrive for over two months, according to a Thursday press release from the state.

About $119 million of the attributed federal assistance funds in the state hasn't reached residents yet, of the $289 million that was given to the state. In November, Oregon's Housing and Community Services announced the funds were almost completely allocated to requests that had come in, so they closed applications in December.

"We get calls from people every day who are in this situation," Sybil Hebb, the director of Legislative Advocacy for the Oregon Law Center, told the Associated Press. "The overwhelming word I would use to describe those calls is just pervasive desperation and fear."

Inside Musonda Mwango's Portland apartment are details of his life that have transformed the property into a home. His guitars hang in the corner where he composes music, Christmas decorations adorn the walls, and pictures of his three children—who live with him—are proudly displayed.

But as days tick by and bills stack up, Mwango is part of the growing number of households at risk of eviction in Oregon, even as he awaits aid from the state.

"We are going into winter, and in a period of celebration," the 36-year-old father said in late November. "And yet, you also have this thing at the back of your mind that this place, that we call home, might not actually be our home much longer."

Only three states had a higher rate: New York (47 people per 10,000), Hawaii (46 people per 10,000) and California (41 people per 10,000).

More than 22,000 households are still waiting to be considered for help.
The need for help continues to grow, especially as many tenants struggle to pay months of back rent. Lawmakers will be scrambling for solutions during a special session that begins Monday.

Following the expiration of the federal eviction moratorium, other states have implemented similar eviction limitations. In Connecticut and Virginia, a landlord must file for federal rental assistance before removing a tenant. In Michigan, the eviction process is paused while an application for aid is pending. In New Jersey and New York most renters can't be evicted until January.

Mwango applied for rental assistance in July and was approved in August. As of the end of November, Mwango still had yet to receive aid from the state. He is now past the protection period and, under state law, can be evicted.

Since July, Hebb said there have been more than 2,200 eviction proceedings filed in Oregon for non-payment. From 1,000 to 3,000 new rental assistance applications are submitted each week.

"If we let families down we are going to be pushing people into the real threat of homelessness. It's unconscionable not to take steps to prevent that," Hebb said.

Officials say a significant number of people are applying for state aid to pay back rent that has accumulated since the pandemic, as well as growing late fee charges.

"Even if someone has started a new job and they're now employed ... they may still have thousands of dollars of back rent that are owed," said Margaret Salazar, the director of Oregon Housing and Community Services.

Of the $289 million of federal rental assistance funds in Oregon, $119 million has yet to reach renters. Despite this, in November the Oregon Housing and Community Services announced nearly all the federal funds allocated to the state had been requested—as a result, the state agency stopped accepting applications in December.

Halting applications also eliminates the protection period for people who apply for the Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program after Dec. 1, though they can still apply through local community programs. However, not every Oregon county or city has rental aid available.

"It is clear from the ongoing intake of applications and the demand that's been demonstrated that Oregon needs additional rental assistance," Salazar said.
Texas and New York have also committed all of their money or indicated that funds will be exhausted soon.

State officials in Oregon have asked for $198 million in additional money from the U.S. Treasury, but it's unclear whether the state will get it. The Treasury is expected to begin reallocating money from places that have not spent it.

State Senator Kayse Jama, who is leading a legislative housing committee, says there are three solutions that "need to happen at the same time" to keep Oregonians housed—additional funding for the rental assistance program, extending the 60-day eviction safe harbor and speeding up rental assistance processing.

Brown is also proposing that landlords be paid in full for the rent they are owed, that up to $90 million in additional rental assistance be provided to low-income tenants through the winter and $100 million for local agencies to deliver more robust long-term renter protections.

"This is not a crisis of numbers, it is a crisis of people," Mwango said. "People that are actually trying to get ahead and who have been derailed by the pandemic – not by fault of their own and not because they are lazy."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.