Defying logic: Once again, local politicians attempt to tackle rising rents and home prices by passing well-intentioned but counterproductive policies that defy the logic of economic principles ("Portland landlords must pay relocation costs to evict tenants without cause," Feb. 2). Making landlords pay moving costs of tenants? Landlords will simply raise the rents of others to offset the costs or be more selective when choosing possible tenants. Developers will also be reluctant to build new apartments if these potential costs are added to their financial investment. Increasing housing supply is the only effective way to make Portland more affordable, and the City Council just made it more difficult. The members of the City Council can boast nice-sounding platitudes all they want, they'd still fail a freshman Econ class.
David Imhoff, Southwest Portland
New law hurts good tenants: Portland City Council should research the facts before passing such a catastrophic measure as last week's "tenant protection "ordinance.
This new law, which effectively eliminates a landlord's ability to remove problem tenants, will prove to be a disaster for our law-abiding tenant community.
Through the combination of a minimum 90-day period to evict residents for violating rental agreements or damaging their unit, combined with a fine of thousands of dollars for evicting such residents, landlords will find it nearly impossible to remove the residents that disrupt good resident's lives. Why does the responsible resident's safety and right to live in a peaceful environment take a back seat to those who cause problems?
Why don't landlords simply use a "for cause" eviction to remove problem residents? The answer is simple: in Multnomah County obtaining a "for cause" eviction is incredibly expensive and time consuming.
City Council must examine how many "no cause" evictions are not connected to rental agreement violations. Situations where the landlord wishes to repair and/or upgrade an individual unit or the entire building are examples. This type of "no cause" eviction is relatively rare when compared to residents facing evictions due to rental agreement violations. Accommodations can be designed to assist those affected by building renovations.
City Council has passed an incredibly damaging piece of legislation. The guaranteed end result will be higher rents, lower quality and reduced housing stock and most importantly, significant and long lasting damage done to the majority of the tenant community.
RW Fullerton, Southwest Portland
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