With the advent of a new executive order, renters in Oregon have a few more months of relief from the threat of no-cause evictions. Gov. Kate Brown announced Monday that she had issued a new residential eviction ban, in effect through the end of 2020. Earlier this year, the Oregon state legislature passed House Bill 4213—which established an eviction moratorium on both residential and commercial properties through Sept. 30, giving people six months to pay any unpaid rent. The bill covered those facing eviction for non-payment or no-cause evictions—while the new order only covers residential properties.
According to a press release from Brown's office, "EO 2-56 establishes a new, temporary residential eviction moratorium through the end of the year, due to the urgent need to prevent a wave of evictions during simultaneous wildfire and pandemic emergency response and recovery efforts. Both crises have had an acute and disproportionate impact on Oregon's communities of color, including Black, Indigenous, Latino, Latina, and Latinx, Pacific Islander, and Tribal communities, as well as families living in rural Oregon."
In Monday's press release, Brown said she hopes the Oregon legislature will take up the issue later this year, when it is expected to convene for yet another special session.
Many of the Oregonians most impacted by the pandemic and wildfire crises are those who can afford it least, and who have already faced housing discrimination and vast disparities in the availability of affordable housing," Brown wrote. "My action today will provide immediate relief, but we still have much work to do to address the systemic racism that lies at the heart of the affordable housing crisis in our country."
