Rising unemployment, financial instability and pandemic uncertainty prompt uptick in renter organizing P andemic woes and landlord harassment sparked a surge in tenant unions. Early in the third year of the pandemic, as the omicron variant unravels the sm ...
2 Feb 2022 - Piper McDaniel
Nearly 40% of all Oregonians over 65 say they are at risk of losing their homes Nancie Carlson got a notice to vacate her apartment in Klamath Falls, where she lived for the past 10 years, in December. When she found out, she was shocked. She didn’t sleep ...
16 Mar 2022 - Piper McDaniel
The housing shortage plays a role, but building more homes won't fix the affordability crisis. If someone lives in Oregon, there’s a low probability their rent is considered affordable. Half of all Oregon renters spend more than 30% of their income o ...
1 Jun 2022 - Piper McDaniel
Multnomah County tenants' advocacy group seeks to place a ballot measure ensuring the right to legal representation if their landlord tries to evict Courts are evicting Oregonians by the thousands. An untold number more aren't included in offici ...
27 Jul 2022 - Piper McDaniel
Pandemic-era rent assistance and eviction protections are dwindling. In a state with skyrocketing rent, tenants struggle to keep up. "There's a really wide array of people who end up finding themselves homeless,” Leeor Schweitzer said. Schweitze ...
3 Aug 2022 - Piper McDaniel
Landlords send property managers to court in their stead while tenants struggle to represent themselves What happened in eviction court late in the afternoon of Sept. 8 was ordinary — the Multnomah County Circuit Court docket held a roster of tenant-landl ...
14 Sep 2022 - Piper McDaniel
Sen. Wyden's DASH Act languishes in committee, despite being among most comprehensive current proposals to address homelessness If a person is battling hunger, the logical solution is to provide food. Newly re-elected Sen. Ron Wyden, D-OR, applies th ...
23 Nov 2022 - Piper McDaniel
Oregon is in a housing crisis. Experts say eviction court is part of the problem. What’s surprising about watching eviction court proceedings is how utterly bureaucratic they are. People on the receiving end of eviction are devastated. They are scrambling ...
7 Dec 2022 - Piper McDaniel
An attorney tasked with enforcing similar protections tells Street Roots why protections work and how they serve to level an uneven playing field What would Portland renters do if their landlord shut off the water and refused to turn it back on? While dir ...
14 Dec 2022 - Piper McDaniel
With help from mutual aid group Don’t Evict PDX, tenants receive rental assistance funds, guidance on eviction notices and support for tenant advocacy and organizing In early December, a mutual aid request to help a tenant who needed $4,980 by Dec. 6 to a ...
4 Jan 2023 - Christine Menges