Oregon Passes New Law Providing Landlords with Financial Compensation for Relief Suffered for Un-Paid Rents due to Eviction Moratorium while Tenants Must Now Prove Financial Hardship

HB4401 was passed on Dec 21, 2020 – and became Oregon law. It extends the Eviction Moratorium period until June 30, 2021. However, there are new caveats for both Tenants and Landlords. Some of those include the following items and begin as of January 1, 2021:

Tenants must now provide their Landlord with a written “attestation” of hardship, declaring that their inability to pay rent is a result of the Covid -19 pandemic.
- DOWNLOAD THIS FORM: Declaration Of Financial Hardship
- With this form, Tenants will have until July 1, 2021to pay back-owed rent. Hardship reasons include:
  - Loss of household income;
  - Increased medical expenses;
  - Loss of work or wages;
  - Increased child care responsibilities or responsibilities to care for a person with a disability or a person who is elderly, injured or sick;
  - Increased costs for child care or caring for a person with a disability or a person who is elderly, injured or sick; or
  - Other circumstances that have reduced income or increased expenses.
- Without this form, Tenants must pay all back-owed rent accrued before December 31, 2020 by March 31,2021.
- Landlords may not levy late fees until after June 30, 2021.
- If a For Cause notice of Termination is levied on a Tenant, the timeline to respond and pay has been increased from 72 Hours (3 days) to 240 Hours (10 days).
  - This change is temporary, ending June 30, 2021.
Landlords may apply for financial relief from the newly enacted Landlord Compensation Fund. The State of Oregon allocated $150,000,000 for this process. There are several requirements that must be met to qualify for relief.
- The Landlord must forgive 20% of the amount owed.
- The Tenant’s Hardship Attestation must accompany the application.
- The applications will be reviewed through the State’s scoring criteria:
  - Ownership size (smaller Landlords have priority)
  - The amount and percent of rent owed vs size of the debt
  - This criterion is still being formulated as of Jan 6, 2021
  - The Agency administering the funds Is Oregon Housing and Community Services. CLICK HERE for their LATEST filing information.
  - TO SIGN UP FOR OHCS ANNOUNCEMENTS CLICK HERE.