By: Tia Politi, ORHA President
April 2024

Badon recap
We had a fun and productive meeting in Bandon last month, with amazing weather and a great turnout. Eleven of us gathered at Lord Bennett’s restaurant on Friday evening for a fantastic dinner and Saturday after the meeting another group headed to the Irish Festival at the Bandon Fisheries Warehouse for Irish food and music. There was wine, beer, cheese and chocolate tastings and I had my first Irish Banger with Mash and despite my Irish heritage it’s not my new favorite food. 

Treasurer Dan Griffin took us through the preliminary budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year and the board provided feedback for the Finance Committee to adjust prior to the vote in May.

The Forms Committee updated the board on the progress of the new ORHA Law Book. Sections are being formatted by Independent Contractor Ben Seamans and I have started working on commentary. It’s been a long time coming, but we hope to have the new book ready later this year, then we can pivot to a new Forms Manual. On that subject, remember that if you have ideas for changes to our existing forms or suggestions for new forms, you can either submit a support ticket on the ORHA Forms Store (https://forms.office.com/r/LEfvp8izL1), or email me at forms@oregonrentalhousing.com.

The Education Committee led by Chair Violet Wilson, and Co-Chair Rain Maryott, are looking for ways to provide more education at the state level and include proceeds in the profit-sharing like we do with the Forms Store, while still allowing for county associations to offer their own classes. This approach would really level the playing field for the smaller chapters but may impact a few of the larger chapters, so discussions are ongoing.

The Technology Committee led by Chair Cloud Miller, is continuing to work on virtual versions of our Forms Manual and Law Book, the proceeds of which would also be included in profit-sharing to the local associations and allow us to make changes in real time as forms or laws change. At some point, we need to look at how we offer forms as well. The Forms Store continues to grow and yet many of our members want printed forms. How do we move toward an online-only model while continuing to serve our less techy members? How do we keep the chapters from having to dispose of inventory when a form changes thereby impacting their bottom line? The Forms and Technology Committees are discussing solutions, and we hope to have some options to vote on later this year.

Survey Committee Update
Many thanks to Mid-Columbia Rental Owners Association Secretary/Treasurer Tanya Dean for stepping up to take over the ORHA Survey Committee. With former Committee Chair Alex Wilkins providing guidance, we’re excited to see a return to surveys of our members. They provide a window into what’s really happening across the state.

Property Management Palooza is coming!
Looking forward to heading east in May for our annual Property Management Palooza and ORHA Board Meeting for our “Far-Flung” meeting. Every year we travel to an area where we don’t usually go to host a seminar and draw attention to an area of the state that we don’t often visit.

This year, we will be in Hermiston and the all-day seminar will take place at the Oxford Suites Hotel on Friday, May 17th – Online registration is required, and the registration will soon be available on the ORHA website. Normally, during Palooza time, we hold committee meetings on the Thursday before the meeting, but due to the distance, we’ll be scheduling those for the week before, on Friday, May 10th. The ORHA Office emailed the May Board Meeting Notice to all ORHA Delegates on 04/01/2024 – Please check your email for further details, RSVPs are required before 04/16/2024.

If you don’t care for a long drive, virtual attendance options will be available, but we encourage you to come in person if you can. Bring the family and enjoy a tax-deductible trip with top-notch education. As usual the presenters will be donating their teaching time and proceeds from the seminar will be distributed to each of the participating associations.

Thank you for your support.