Like other real estate businesses, you may be using ChatGPT, Bard, Bing, and other generative AI products, a.k.a. chatbots, for marketing purposes, such as developing advertising strategies, analyzing housing markets, and generating property listings, ads, social media posts, and other marketing content. Just recognize that for all their potential benefits, chatbots contain flaws that make them risky to use for marketing and advertising.

HB 2680 makes several changes to the procedure for tenant screening under ORS 90.295. These changes will be updated in the MHCO Forms.

Screening Notice. The law specifies that upon completion of an applicant’s screening by a screening company or consumer credit agency, the landlord must provide the prospective tenant with confirmation of the screening and a receipt for the screening service from the company and/or agency.

While vital to prevent overcrowding, occupancy standards may violate fair housing rules to the extent they have the effect of excluding families with children.

Spot the Discrimination Mistake

A tenant who shares a one-bedroom apartment with her husband tells the landlord she’s pregnant with the couple’s first child. Along with a smile and warm congratulations, the landlord offers her an eviction notice. Explanation: Once the baby is born, the couple will be over the community’s strict two-person-per-bedroom occupancy standard.

HB 2634 moves the regulation of Recreational Vehicles out of the Manufactured Dwelling/Floating Homes portion of the ORLTA (ORS 90.505 – 90.850) and into the residential dwelling portion (ORS 90.100 – 90.465). ORS 90.505 – 90.850 now only applies to situations where the tenant owns a manufactured home or floating home, rents the space on which the manufactured or floating home is located, and that rented space is located inside a facility (manufactured housing park or marina).

All Recreational Vehicles are now subject to ORS 90.100 – 90.465. The bill begins by defining  “Recreational Vehicle Park” amending ORS 90.100 (38) (Definitions) to reference the existing definition of a recreational vehicle park in ORS 197.492.

ORS 197.492 (3)“Recreational vehicle park”:

(a)  Means a place where two or more recreational vehicles are located within 500 feet of one another on a lot, tract or parcel of land under common ownership and having as its primary purpose:

(A)   The renting of space and related facilities for a charge or fee; or

(B)   The provision of space for free in connection with securing the patronage of a person.

(b) Does not mean:

(A) An area designated only for picnicking or overnight camping; or

(B) A manufactured dwelling park or mobile home park.

The ORLTA only applies to Recreational Vehicles and Recreational Vehicle Parks that are used for full time dwellings, and not those RVs used for camping or vacation purposes. HB 2634 further amends the definition of “Vacation Occupancy” (now ORS 90.100(52)) to exempt certain types of vacation-only rentals from the ORLTA. With regard to RV rentals, “vacation occupancy” is defined as follows:

ORS 90.100(52) “Vacation occupancy” means occupancy in a dwelling unit, not including transient occupancy in a hotel or motel, that: […]

(b) Is for the rental of a space in a recreational vehicle park on which a recreational vehicle owned by the occupant will be located and for which:

(A) The occupant rents the unit for vacation purposes only, not as a principal residence;

(B) The occupant has a principal residence other than at the space;

(C) The period of authorized occupancy does not exceed 90 days;

(D) The recreational vehicle is required to be removed from the park at the end of the occupancy period before a new occupancy may begin; and

(E) A written agreement is signed by the occupant that substantially states: “Your occupancy of this recreational vehicle park is a vacation occupancy and is NOT subject to the Oregon Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (ORS chapter 90).”

The Bill also makes slight changes to ORS 90.425 (Disposition of Personal Property Abandoned by Tenant). Under the ORLTA, when attempting to dispose of an abandoned recreational vehicle, the landlord must provide notice to the tenant. In return, the former-tenant now has 5 days, with personal service, or 8 days with service by first class mail, to contact the landlord and make arrangements for the disposal of the abandoned RV. The prior law required a 45-day notice period.

Additionally, the Bill now allows a landlord to destroy or dispose of a presumably abandoned recreational vehicle if the current market value is determined to be less than $4,000. A landlord may also choose to use the procedure for removing an abandoned motor vehicle under ORS 98.830 to remove an abandoned RV.

The rules outlined above apply only to residential tenancies or vacation occupancy entered into on or after January 1, 2024, the effective date of this law.

On July 6, 2023 the Oregon Legislature passed SB 611 which lowered the existing cap on annual rent increases for residential tenancies.  With the Governor's signature the bill is now the law.

Every year in late September, the state of Oregon calculates a maximum rent increase for residential tenancies based on the preceding year’s September Consumer Price Index for the West Region (CPI). The formula is a base of 7% plus the CPI. Typically, this results in a maximum rent increase of around 9%. Last year, due to pandemic-related inflation the CPI shot up to 7.6%, resulting in a maximum allowable residential rent increase for 2023 of 14.6%.

A new 10% cap has gone into effect as of July 6, 2023. Any rent increases going into effect from this date until December 31, 2023 may not be more than 10% [see note about rent increases in the City of Portland, below]. The new rental cap for 2024 will be calculated and published by the State of Oregon in the fall.

New Cap: SB 611 retains ORS 90.600’s the statutory formula of 7% plus the CPI, however residential rent increases will now be capped at 10%, regardless of whether the CPI exceeds 3%. All tenancies subject to ORS 90.600, except week-to-week tenancies, are subject to the following rules:

1. A landlord may only increase rent with written notice to the tenant at least 90-days prior to the rent increase; and
2. A landlord may not increase the rent more than once in any 12-month period.

Exemptions: Landlords are exempt from the rent cap under two circumstances:

1. The first certificate occupancy for the unit was issued less than 15 years from the date of the notice of rent increase; or
2. The unit is affordable housing under a federal, state or local program and the increase in rent:
   1. Does not increase the tenant’s portion of subsidized rent; or
   2. Is required by the federal, state, or local program or because of a change in the tenant’s income.

If a landlord is claiming exemption from the cap on the grounds mentioned above, the exemption must be noted in the 90-day rent increase notice.

City of Portland: Landlords in the City of Portland should note that the new statewide 10% rental cap does not override the City of Portland’s Relocation Assistance Program requirements under  Portland City Code 30.01.085(c). Any rent increase of 10% or above, even if allowed under SB 611, will trigger a requirement that the landlord pay relocation assistance if their affected tenants request it. There are limited exemptions to Portland’s 10% increase rule. Landlords should consult with an attorney to inquire about exemptions before increasing City of Portland rents more than 9.9%.