April General Meeting Webinar
This month, we’re excited to welcome Ryan Barker from the Oregon Health Authority. In 2022, new laws were introduced imposing significant penalties on landlords and property managers who fail to comply with strict regulations regarding lead-based paint abatement. Anyone performing work that disturbs paint in housing built before 1978 must be certified. This includes property owners, property managers and their staff, general contractors, and specialized trade professionals such as painters, plumbers, carpenters, and electricians. Join us to learn more about your responsibilities and how to avoid costly penalties for non-compliance.

Cutting Costs for Tenant Screening
The Oregon Supreme Court recently ruled that the Eugene Rental Housing Code's $10 limit on screening fees is allowable, reinstating the cap effective March 10, 2025. Additionally, a pending bill in the legislature could eliminate screening fees altogether if it passes. With these changes in mind, here are some strategies to reduce tenant screening costs:

• Require Applicants to Provide a Recent Credit Report
  Ask applicants to submit a copy of their credit report pulled within the last seven days, which they can obtain for free at www.annualcreditreport.com. Credit reports provide valuable insights beyond credit scores, including past addresses. Comparing these to the information provided can help identify potential fraud. Review their payment history, total debt, and collections accounts. If their credit history does not meet your criteria, you can deny the application without proceeding further.
• Verify Income Before Additional Screening
  Request pay stubs, tax returns, or direct employer verification to confirm the applicant’s income. If their income is insufficient, you can deny the application at this stage without incurring additional screening costs.
• Check Landlord References
  Contact previous landlords to verify rental history. If references are unfavorable or cannot be verified, you may deny the application based on that alone. Always confirm that the person providing the reference is the property owner or an authorized manager. Property ownership records are public and can be checked online through the county assessor’s office or by calling the relevant county office.
• Conduct a Nationwide Criminal and Eviction History Check Last
  If all other screening criteria are met, proceed with a nationwide criminal and eviction history check as a final step. For applicants who have lived in Oregon their entire lives, you can look up their criminal history online at the Oregon Judicial Department’s Portal. If a similar resource is unavailable in other states, consider limiting costs by performing only the nationwide check through your screening company while handling the rest yourself.
• Adjusting Your Screening Process
  For property management companies or those accepting online applications, consider updating your policies to limit the number of applications you accept. This helps prevent a situation where you must either screen every applicant or refund screening fees.
• The Importance of Verifiable Information
  If you are unable to verify an applicant’s information—whether due to limited rental references, unverifiable employment, or other inconsistencies—you can legally deny the application. Ensuring all provided details are accurate and confirmable is essential for responsible tenant selection.

March Meeting in Person
The Board of Directors is excited to welcome Oregon Insurance Commissioner, Charles Wente, who will be speaking at our first in-person meeting of the year on March 27th at the Hilton Garden Inn in Springfield. With skyrocketing rates (mine went up 20% year over year), rampant non-renewal of policies, and the soaring cost of claims related to natural and
unnatural disasters, this is a topic we all care about.

When I was recently making changes to some of my insurance policies, I was made aware that some of the decision making regarding non-renewals is being influenced by surveillance photos where agents can check out the condition of your roof and note dangerous build-up of vegetation around the home, these factors and others including your width of driveway access, proximity to the urban-wildland interface and distance to the nearest fire station, combine to influence the decisions to possibly discontinue your coverage.

When I was speaking to one agent, I complained that I didn’t like having to pay every six months instead of once a year, I was told that is so they can decline to renew your policies in a shorter time frame if you have a claim or pose an unreasonable risk to their business model. Best clean your roofs regularly, remove vegetation from around the home, remove or limb-up trees near the home, and make sure there is clear access for fire personnel to reach your home or you could be cancelled. There is a lot more you can do to make your properties fire resistant (look for fire prevention tips in future Bulletins). Also, Oregon State University has a map that allows you to see the level of fire risk for your property.
Check out their website at: https://hazardmap.forestry.oregonstate.edu/explore-map.

Tip for Eugene rental owners from campus manager Michelle Williams of the Campus Lofts:
Here is an easy way to take and distribute photos to your tenants upon move-in/out - the instructions are for an iPhone:

1. Download the Google Photos app - you will need to sign up with a Gmail email (if you don’t have a Gmail account, just sign up for one)
2. Take your 350 move-in or move-out photos on your phone
3. In the Google photos app - go to SHARING and then CREATE SHARED ALBUM
4. Add title to your album - e.g., “1895 Flower Street Move out photos”
5. Click on Select photos and this brings up your camera roll from your phone
6. Click on all the thumbnails of the photos you want to put in the shared folder
7. Next Hit SHARE button -there are several options here as to HOW you want to share the folder
8. Text: you can hit MESSAGES and it will create a text message with a link to the folder of photos.
9. Email: I choose to email them, so I hit the email button, and it creates an email with the link to the folder in the body of the message - you just need to add in their email address(es) and hit send!
10. Then on my check in/out form (which I do in person when they take possession) - I have a spot where they initial that they RECEIVED the move in photos.

I really dug my heals in about having to share all the photos - it was just a time issue, so I thought - but this takes just a couple minutes to do!

Great tip from a great manager! Feel free to share your tips for inclusion in our newsletter – we all have something to contribute.

Anita Lewis

The board was recently informed of the passing of Anita Lewis, a founding member of Lane ROA. I met her at meetings a few times, but others on our board have long-term memories of her and her husband Bill, who passed previously. I try to always keep in mind the people that came before us and created a fantastic organization that continues to serve our members. While the times may be changing, we would not be where we are without the many years of service from those who came before us. It’s incumbent on all of us to take our turn to be of service to our chapter, our state and our industry.

Dennis Casady, our longest serving board member, remembers them fondly. “I knew both Bill and Anita well.  They built their home on Hill Road in the Mohawk Hills. They were founding members of ROA and were active in our organization. The year when we hosted the state meeting, Anita made matching vests for our local officers to wear at the meetings.  Both Bill and Anita were Great members and will be missed.”

Scott Smith says, “I knew Anita and Bill since I was a kid. We went to church with them at Mohawk Community Church; as a little kid, the sight of Bill pulling the rope to ring the church bell was unforgettable.  For those that didn't know Bill, he suffered a near fatal accident involving high voltage electricity as a young man and lost an arm, some fingers and had severe scarring on his head. But that didn't stop him!  They had a portfolio of mobile homes on rural property in the Mohawk Valley as I recall. Both Anita and Bill (who were inseparable) were very active ROA members when I first joined up in the mid-1990s.  I believe they were awarded a Landlord of the Year award from ORHA at one point in the late 90s or early 2000s. Anita and Bill were the epitome of "mom & pop" landlords who were good business people, actively managing their own units.  They also had big hearts and were ethical, benevolent people.”

 Eugene Rental Housing Code

I’m still getting a lot of calls to the Helpline with members not quite understanding the rules for properties in the city limits of Eugene. The ordinances are extremely complicated with high penalties for noncompliance. Read my updated article on the code later in the bulletin and stay tuned for the possible implementation of Phase 3 – the success of your business depends on it.

Towing law changes

In case you weren’t aware, the Oregon State Board of Towing has implemented some rule changes that landlords need to know. I hope you’ll join us in welcoming Torey McCullough from the agency who will walk us through the new rules at this month’s online General Meeting on February 27th.

One of the important things people often miss when renting property is ensuring that there are solid rules in place about vehicles. Our rental agreement allows you to limit the number and type of vehicles on the property; requires that all vehicles on the premises must current on registration and operable; restricts vehicle repairs; specifies that no vehicles may be parked on the lawn or block access to emergency vehicles, sidewalks or walkways; prohibits storage of vehicles without the prior written consent of Owner/Agent; and prohibits anyone from living in a vehicle on the premises. The term “Vehicles” includes but is not limited to campers, cars, trailers, boats, semi-tractors, semi-trailers and motorized equipment.

I get calls on the Helpline all the time about abandoned vehicles. One of the more costly things to tow (+/- $3,000.00) is trashed RV’s, campers and motorhomes, so watch your properties and act immediately if you see a vehicle violation. If you don’t have good rules in place, remember that under ORS 90.262 (1), a landlord is allowed to change rules so if you have no good vehicle rules but have a tenant who is bringing junk vehicles to the property you may be able to implement reasonable restrictions during the tenancy.

If adopted, a rule change is enforceable only if:

      (a) Its purpose is to promote the convenience, safety or welfare of the tenants in the premises, preserve the landlord’s property from abusive use (emphasis mine), or make a fair distribution of services and facilities held out for the tenants generally;

      (b) It is reasonably related to the purpose for which it is adopted;

      (c) It applies to all tenants in the premises in a fair manner;

      (d) It is sufficiently explicit in its prohibition, direction or limitation of the tenant’s conduct to fairly inform the tenant of what the tenant must or must not do to comply;

      (e) It is not for the purpose of evading the obligations of the landlord; and

      (f) The tenant has written notice of it at the time the tenant enters into the rental agreement, or when it is adopted.

      (2) If a rule or regulation adopted after the tenant enters into the rental agreement works a substantial modification of the bargain, it is not valid unless the tenant consents to it in writing.

Pay attention to subsection (2). You can’t just change any rule you want and remember; nothing can be changed during a fixed-term lease without the tenant’s written consent.

 

Hope you’ll join us to learn more about the towing process.

New Year, new laws?

With a new year upon us, the long legislative session of 2025 will begin February 4^th. Stay alert for messages from the ORHA legislative team and provide support where you can. Despite the increase in support for a more conservative agenda across the nation and Oregon, the West Coast remains solidly Democratic.

 That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean we will be faced with a likely barrage of new laws extending what are euphemistically called “tenant protections.” These new laws may reshape our industry significantly and we need to use whatever tools at our disposal to push back on some of the more extreme concepts so please act when called upon.

 Change in office hours continues

Remember that office hours continue to be 12-4 Monday through Thursday and closed on Fridays. With only one staff person on duty currently, it’s essential that we allow Loretta the time she needs to transition and keep Lane ROA on track. Even though she is in the office at other times, please respect the posted office hours. We hope to expand office hours again once we have hired a new office support person.

 The board is working on a job description for an additional staff member and plans to begin advertising for the position this month. We will advertise in the usual places but also want to spread the word through you, our members, in case you know someone who would like to apply. Expect an email with the details later this month.

 Programming and Speakers

We have a great line-up of speakers for 2025. This month our featured speaker is Melisa Andrion

Community Outreach & Volunteer Coordinator for Senior and Disability Services. As we baby boomers age, landlords are encountering concerning situations with older renters who are struggling to live independently and who may require services to successfully continue their tenancies or transition to assisted living. We hope to gain insight into those resources from Melisa to help you navigate these sometimes-challenging issues.

 This meeting will be held online. If you haven’t yet attended an online meeting, please give it a try! Just like overcoming hesitancy about attending online classes, I know a lot of members who did and found that it was great; so great, in fact, that we had to stop doing in-person classes due to a lack of participation.

 We hold five in-person general meetings per year (March, May, June, September and October) and five online (January, February, April, July and November), so if you don’t attend, you’re going to miss some great info. Hope you’ll give it a try .

Happy Holidays, hoping the message finds you well. As we near the end of 2024, I want to express my gratitude to you, our members, and our volunteer board of directors for all you do to support Lane ROA in our mission to provide quality landlord support. Our motto is, “Opening the Door to Successful Property Management,” and it is our mission to help you be a successful rental owner.

 Being a landlord in Oregon is becoming more and more complex – especially in Eugene and Portland – and we are all working diligently to keep you abreast of the ever-changing legal landscape. As we enter the 2025 long legislative session, please stay plugged in to calls for action from our legislative team in Salem. Your voice really does matter. While we have a dedicated lobbyist through the Oregon Rental Housing Association (ORHA), you are lobbyists too!

 I used to think ‘lobbyist’ was a dirty word until I joined the board of ORHA and saw that they largely function to educate lawmakers who can’t possibly know every facet of everyone’s businesses and concerns or the impacts of their votes.

 Take time to reach out to your legislative reps not only during legislative sessions, but regularly to let them know how their decisions impact our business and what that means not only for rental owners, but Oregon’s economy as well. When we send you a request to get involved, please respond, even if it’s just a few short sentences letting government leaders know how you feel about a specific piece of legislation – it does make a difference.

 Office transition

Remember, the office is still working through our staff transition and office hours will continue to be limited as we reorganize duties and look to hiring an additional staff person to assist Loretta. She has stepped up mightily and we are so grateful for her dedication to you and our board.

 Until further notice, office hours will continue to be limited to 12 noon – 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and closed on Fridays. We anticipate that early next year, once things have settled down and the transition is complete, we can extend those hours. We’ll let you know.

 

Thanks again for your support,

 Tia Politi, ROA President