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Fair Housing Pitfall: Overly Restrictive Occupancy Standards

MHCO

 

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.

 

Pitfall: In 1991, HUD issued guidance called the Keating Memo establishing two-per-bedroom as the de

Phil Querin Article: Changes to Applicant Screening Procedures

Phil Querin

 

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.

 

Changes to Tenant Screening Notice. If a landlord intends to charge an applicant for screening, the landlord must provide notice of variou

Fair Housing Alert: Hidden Flaws in ChatGPT, Bard, Bing, and Other Generative AI Products - Potentially Discriminatory

MHCO

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.

 

 

Among these flaws is the possibility of hidden bias.

Phil Querin Article: When Does the Rent Cap Start under SB 611?

Phil Querin

Introduction. SB 611 amended the Rent Cap law. It became effective on July 6, 2023, meaning that all rent increase notices on or after that date had to conform to the new law. Section 5 of SB 611 applies to mobile home tenancies. It is substantially similar to the existing statute (ORS 90.600) but clarifies things a bit. The only major change is that there is now a rent cap set at 10%.


 

The Calculation. Unless exempted by ORS 90.600, a Ren