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SALEM, Ore.

Dozens of tenants and landlords associations showed up Monday to testify for and against a bill that would adjust the state's rent cap laws.

Oregon's rent cap laws, passed in 2019, allow landlords to increase rent up to 7% plus the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI), which adjusts with inflation.

The CPI for 2023 was set at 7.6%. When added to the base of 7% it comes out to a total allowed rent increase of 14.6%, meaning renters who were paying, for example, $1,600 a month in rent last year could be seeing their monthly rent go up to $1,830 in 2023.

If passed, Senate Bill 611 would change the base amount to 3% plus CPI with an max increase of 8% regardless of inflation.

"I think every single member of the Legislature has heard from their constituents about the housing affordability crisis that Oregonians are facing, and I think that we all agree that something has to be done," said the bill's sponsor Sen. Wlnsvey Campos, D-Aloha.

The bill would also require the landlord to pay the tenant three months' worth of rent if serving them with a no-cause eviction.

Currently, newer homes, with certificates of occupancy issued in the past 15 years, are exempt from Oregon's rent caps. This bill would change that to buildings with certificates of occupancy issued in the last three years.

Campos noted that in an attempt to strike a compromise with landlords she and Sen. Kayse Jama, D-Portland, drafted two amendments to the bill.

"I cannot accurately say that we have brought forth a compromise, but what I can say is that we have taken into account feedback from a number of different stakeholders," she said. "We also wanted to take into account the folks that are providing housing."

Oregon renters, landlords testify on bill that would increase rent control (KATU - 5 PM)

The first amendment would change the base cap from 7% plus CPI to 5% plus CPI with a max of 10% regardless of inflation. It would only require two months rent reimbursement for nonpayment evictions and would exempt properties with first certificates of occupancy issued within the last 10 years.

The second amendment calls for the same modifications as the first but also keeps the exemption at its current 15-yearcertificate of occupancy requirement.

Neither landlords nor tenant groups supported the amendments, with landlords saying they are unable to get on board with any portion of this bill and tenants complaining that much of the "predatory rent increases" they experience are in units that have been occupied for fewer than 15 years.

"I am voicing my support for the original SB 611 rent stabilization bill. I am a resident atCannery Row Apartments in Sherwood and in addition to being a wife and a mother to a small child," said Jessica Israel. "I am currently fighting cancer and my husband was permanently injured as an essential worker during the pandemic. But now I am also fighting a predatory rent increase of 32 to 50%."

Israel notes that her home is less than 15 years old, and if the dash-two amendment passes, the bill would not help people in her situation.

Sybil Hebb, an attorney with the Oregon Law Center and a lobbyist for tenant groups pointed out that the dash-one amendment would bring the rent cap in line with what it is in California but noted that California lawmakers are considering readjusting their rent cap as well because of the impacts of inflation.

Landlords told lawmakers that they will not support any bill that would decrease the allowed rent cap and said they believe the solution is to pay out more in rent assistance and build more housing.

"If I was going to use a common phrase for what I feel like is happening right now is would be biting the hand that feeds you and the hand being landlords," saidKennedy Amundson, who owns a property management company. "Oregon needs investors and landlords alike to not only have a desire to be here but to develop rental housing in Oregon; they need to be able to continue to own and manage their existing rental here."

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Oregon renters, landlords testify on bill that would increase rent control - KATU