How To Testify To A Committee
For
reference assistance, questions about the legislature, legislative
process, or other government agencies, please email: help.leg@oregonlegislature.gov, or call
1-800-332-2313.
Committees, as the heart of
Oregon’s legislative process, allow legislators to study bills
closely and hear testimony during public hearings in support of or in
opposition to the bills.
Public
testimony before a committee may influence the committee’s action.
Your testimony also becomes part of the public record and may be used
in future research.
You can
better prepare and succeed in giving testimony by following the
suggestions below.
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Oregon
Landlord’s 90-day Confusion
It’s a
beautiful summer day in July and I’m sitting at my desk pondering the
hotline calls I have been fielding, currently 4 for the day. As
I begin to dial the 4th caller, I’m betting to
myself that it will be a question centered around the “90-day rule”.
That’s the term I hear often from callers who are mostly private
landlords trying to navigate increasingly turbulent waters in the
rental industry.
... read more
Celebrating 50 Years of
the Fair Housing Act in April!
Here are some links to interesting and informative
articles about the Fair Housing Act.
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Portland
Landlords Legislative Call to Action
As many of
you know there has been a lot going on in Portland surrounding our
industry. As of right now the only law change has been the Mandatory
Relocation Fee Ordinance. It’s always had an expiration date, but on
February 28, 2018 Portland City Council will be voting on whether to
make this a permanent ordinance and if approved how they will amend
the law going forward.
... read more
Portland
City Council mandates that renters in Portland who are served a
no-cause eviction or a rent increase of 10 percent or
higher over a 12-month period or receive a substantial change in their lease terms or who do not receive the option to renew their
lease must be paid relocation assistance by their landlord. Tenants
must receive written notice for any of these events at least 90 days
prior to the effective date, except for units being sold conditioned
upon federal mortgage financing where a 60-day notice is required.
...
read more
Should You Let Tenants
Make Improvements?
You have a
house that’s, to put it mildly, ugly.
The front
porch sags, the exterior paint is peeling, the carpets are stained
and worn, and the circa-1960 bathrooms have never been updated. But
you have renters anyway, and they want to make improvements. Should
you let them?
That’s
almost exactly what happened in one Pennsylvania home. It turned out
badly for the landlord who gave the month-to-month tenants a notice
to vacate … after all the renovation work was complete. The court
made the landlord pay more than $11,000 to reimburse the tenants for
the improvements they made.
So the
question remains: should you let tenants make improvements?
The answer:
it depends.
... read more
Simple Ways to Make Tenants Feel at Home
The
landlord-tenant relationship is critical to successful property
management, and like any relationship, a good one requires care to
foster mutual respect.
You
want a tenant who is respectful of amenities and responsible with
up-keeping tasks—changing the air filter, maintaining a pest-free
living space, or making sure the water is running in winter. And a
tenant wants to feel that you are invested in both them and the
property. A tenant who feels that you are ready to meet their needs
is more likely to reciprocate your attentiveness by being thoughtful
in their dealings with you and your property.
A
good relationship means both parties have a vested interest in each
other’s success. For the landlord, this means that a tenant is less
likely to ignore a payment, fail to maintain the property, and is
more willing to come forward in as soon as possible to warn about
emergent circumstances.
So,
what are ways that you can foster that relationship so that your
tenants feel valued?
... read more
Thank
You For Being Such An Awesome Landlord!
When was
the last time you received an email, a text or even had a tenant say
that to you?
For me it
was last Monday.
... read more
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