74th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2007 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 2673
House Bill 3186
Sponsored by Representative SHIELDS; Representative KOTEK (at the
request of Community Alliance of Tenants)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
Expands required contents for notice of condominium conversion.
Requires declarant to send copy of notice and other information
to certain officials or public bodies. Makes notice ineffective
for starting 120-day period if notice does not contain required
information or if officials or public bodies are not notified.
Prohibits landlord from evicting tenant without stated cause or
imposing excessive rent increases after declarant gives 120-day
notice of conversion. Allows action to recover damages for
violation. Creates presumption that eviction without stated cause
or excessive rent increase during 180 days before giving of
notice of conversion was for improper purpose. Allows action for
resulting damages.
Requires declarant to make relocation payment to tenant after
giving notice of conversion. Allows down payment on purchase of
unit in lieu of relocation payment.
Limits hours for improvement or rehabilitation of common
elements during 120-day notice period. Requires declarant to
allow tenants access to and use of common elements during 120-day
notice period. Allows action for violation of hours restriction
or access and use requirements.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to conversion condominiums; creating new provisions; and
amending ORS 91.225, 100.305, 100.315 and 100.320.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 100.305 is amended to read:
100.305. (1) A declarant of a conversion condominium shall give
each of the existing tenants of any building which the declarant
intends to submit to the provisions of this chapter notice of the
conversion at least 120 days before the conversion condominium is
submitted to the provisions of this chapter. Thereafter, until
the property is submitted to the provisions of this chapter, the
declarant shall provide a copy of such notice to any new tenant
before the commencement of the tenancy. The notice of conversion
shall:
(a) State that the declarant intends to create a conversion
condominium and include general information relating to the
nature of condominium ownership;
(b) State that the notice does not constitute a notice to
terminate the tenancy;
(c) State whether there will be a substantial alteration of the
physical layout of the unit;
(d) State whether the declarant intends to offer the unit for
sale and, if so:
(A) Set forth the rights of the tenant under ORS 100.310 (1) to
(3) { + , including the time available for the landlord to make
an offer to sell and for the tenant to respond + };
(B) Set forth a good faith estimate of the approximate price
range for which the unit will be offered for sale to the tenant
under ORS 100.310 (1) and (2); { - and - }
(C) Set forth a good faith estimate of the monthly operational,
maintenance and any other common expenses or assessments
appertaining to the unit; { - and - }
{ + (D) State that financial assistance for purchasing the
unit may be available;
(E) Give contact information for the local regional housing
council or, if no regional housing council exists, for the
Housing and Community Services Department; and
(F) State that the landlord may not terminate the tenancy
without cause and may not unreasonably increase rent; and + }
(e) Be hand delivered to the dwelling unit of the tenant or
sent to the tenant at the address of the dwelling unit by
certified mail, return receipt requested.
(2) A notice of conversion given under subsection (1) of this
section { - shall - } :
(a) { + Shall + } be for the sole purpose of providing the
tenant with general information regarding the anticipated cost of
acquisition of the unit and estimated monthly expenses.
(b) { + Does + } not obligate the declarant to submit the
property to the provisions of this chapter.
(c) { + Does + } not constitute an offer to sell the unit to
the tenant or an offer to sell at a particular price.
(d) { + Is + } not { - be - } a limitation on monthly
common expenses or assessments.
(3) The notice of conversion given under subsection (1) of this
section must be delivered to the tenant at least 30 days prior to
the presentation of an offer to sell under ORS 100.310 (1) and
(2).
{ + (4)(a) The declarant shall send a copy of the notice of
conversion, accompanied by the information described in paragraph
(b) of this subsection, to:
(A) The mayor of the city in which the conversion condominium
is located or, if the conversion condominium is not located in a
city, to the county commission or county court; and
(B) The regional housing council or, if no regional housing
council exists, to the department.
(b) The following information must be sent with the notice sent
under paragraph (a) of this subsection:
(A) The address of the property.
(B) The number of existing dwelling units in the building.
(C) The number of currently occupied dwelling units in the
building.
(D) The rents currently being charged for dwelling units in the
building.
(E) The dates and amounts of the most recent rent increases for
dwelling units in the building.
(F) A certification by the building landlord that as of the
date of the certification no evictions or rent increases have
taken place in violation of section 9 or 10 of this 2007 Act or a
local ordinance.
(5) A notice of conversion that does not contain the
information required by subsection (1)(a) to (d) of this section,
or that is not sent to the public bodies described in subsection
(4) of this section, does not begin the 120-day period required
by subsection (1) of this section. Notwithstanding any prior
delivery of a deficient notice of conversion, the 120-day period
required by subsection (1) of this section does not begin until
the date a valid notice is delivered. A tenant or a local
jurisdiction entitled to notice may bring an action for
injunctive relief to prevent the conversion until the declarant
has complied with the notice requirement. + }
{ - (4) - } { + (6) + } The declaration may be recorded
prior to the end of the 120-day period required under subsection
(1) of this section with the written consent of all tenants who
received the notice of conversion less than 120 days before the
date of such consent.
{ - (5) - } { + (7) + } The requirement under subsection
(1) of this section to provide a copy of the notice of conversion
to new tenants shall not extend the 120-day period nor shall such
tenant's consent be required to record the declaration prior to
the end of the 120-day period as provided for under subsection
{ - (4) - } { + (6) + } of this section.
{ - (6) - } { + (8) + } A notice of conversion
{ - shall - } { + does + } not constitute a notice to
terminate the tenancy.
SECTION 2. ORS 100.315 is amended to read:
100.315. (1) The declarant { - shall - } { + may + } not
begin improvements or rehabilitation or cause improvements or
rehabilitation to be undertaken in a conversion condominium unit
without the tenant's permission during the 120-day notice period
prescribed by ORS 100.305 (1).
(2) The declarant may begin improvements or rehabilitation or
cause improvements or rehabilitation to be undertaken in the
general common elements during the 120-day notice
period. { + Improvements to or rehabilitation of general common
elements may be conducted only between the hours of 9 a.m. and 7
p.m. Unless the declarant and tenant agree otherwise, the
declarant must allow a tenant reasonable access to and use of the
common elements during the improvement or rehabilitation work.
(3) A tenant may bring an action against a declarant that
violates subsection (2) of this section and recover the greater
of actual damages or the equivalent of one month's dwelling unit
rent. + }
SECTION 3. ORS 91.225 is amended to read:
91.225. (1) The Legislative Assembly finds that there is a
social and economic need to insure an adequate supply of
affordable housing for Oregonians. The Legislative Assembly also
finds that the imposition of general restrictions on housing
rents will disrupt an orderly housing market, increase deferred
maintenance of existing housing stock, lead to abandonment of
existing rental units and create a property tax shift from
rental-owned to owner-occupied housing. Therefore, the
Legislative Assembly declares that the imposition of rent control
on housing in the State of Oregon is a matter of statewide
concern.
(2) Except as provided in subsections (3) to (5) of this
section, a city or county shall not enact any ordinance or
resolution which controls the rent that may be charged for the
rental of any dwelling unit.
(3) This section does not impair the right of any state agency,
city, county or urban renewal agency as defined by ORS 457.035 to
reserve to itself the right to approve rent increases, establish
base rents or establish limitations on rents on any residential
property for which it has entered into a contract under which
certain benefits are applied to the property for the expressed
purpose of providing reduced rents for low income tenants. Such
benefits include, but are not limited to, property tax
exemptions, long-term financing, rent subsidies, code enforcement
procedures and zoning density bonuses.
(4) Cities and counties are not prohibited from including in
condominium conversion ordinances a requirement that, during the
notification period specified in ORS 100.305, the owner or
developer may not raise the rents of any affected tenant except
{ - in a proportional amount equal to the percentage increase
in the All Items Portland Consumer Price Index since the date of
the last rent increase for the dwelling unit then occupied by the
affected tenant - } { + by an amount established by ordinance
that does not exceed the limit imposed by section 9 of this 2007
Act + }.
(5) Cities, counties and state agencies may impose temporary
rent controls when a natural or man-made disaster that materially
eliminates a significant portion of the rental housing supply
occurs, but must remove the controls when the rental housing
supply is restored to substantially normal levels.
(6) As used in this section, 'dwelling unit' and 'rent ' have
the meaning given those terms in ORS 90.100.
(7) This section is applicable throughout this state and in all
cities and counties therein. The electors or the governing body
of a city or county shall not enact, and the governing body shall
not enforce, any ordinance, resolution or other regulation that
is inconsistent with this section.
SECTION 4. ORS 100.320 is amended to read:
100.320. A city or county may adopt an ordinance that requires
a declarant to pay { + , in addition to any payment required
under section 6 of this 2007 Act, + } the moving expense of a
tenant vacating a conversion condominium unit.
SECTION 5. { + Sections 6 and 7 of this 2007 Act are added to
and made a part of ORS 100.305 to 100.320. + }
SECTION 6. { + (1) In addition to any payment required under
ORS 100.320, a declarant of a conversion condominium that gives a
building tenant a notice of conversion under ORS 100.305 shall
pay to the tenant an amount equal to three times the Section 8
fair market rent, adjusted for unit size and type, as established
and periodically adjusted by the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development under 42 U.S.C. 1437f. The declarant shall deliver
the payment to the tenant no later than 30 days after delivering
a 120-day notice to the tenant under ORS 100.305.
(2) If the tenant elects prior to the payment date to purchase
the converted unit, the declarant may reduce the purchase price
of the unit by the payment amount instead of making payment to
the tenant. If the landlord fails to timely deliver payment to
the tenant, the period provided for in the notice of conversion
does not expire until 90 days after the landlord makes the
payment. If the tenant ends the tenancy before payment is made,
the declarant remains responsible for the payment. + }
SECTION 7. { + ORS 100.305 to 100.320 do not preempt a local
government from adopting an ordinance that imposes requirements
on the declarant of a conversion condominium, or on the landlord
of a building being converted, if the requirements adopted by
ordinance are at least as strict as the requirements imposed
under ORS 100.305 to 100.320. + }
SECTION 8. { + Sections 9 and 10 of this 2007 Act are added to
and made a part of ORS chapter 90. + }
SECTION 9. { + (1) The landlord of a building for which a
declarant of a conversion condominium has issued the tenant a
notice of conversion under ORS 100.305 may not:
(a) Give the tenant a 30-day notice without stated cause that
causes the tenancy to terminate on a date that is prior to the
end of the 120-day period described in ORS 100.305 or the 60-day
period described in ORS 100.310; or
(b) Increase the rent for the dwelling unit in excess of:
(A) Any scheduled increase provided for in a written rental
agreement; or
(B) A percentage equal to the percentage increase in the
Portland-Salem Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for
All Items as reported by the United States Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
(2) A tenant may bring an action against a landlord that
violates subsection (1) of this section to recover the greater
of:
(a) Six times the monthly rent for the dwelling unit; or
(b) Twice the actual damages to the tenant arising out of the
termination. + }
SECTION 10. { + (1) There is a rebuttable presumption that a
building landlord has acted to avoid, or assist a declarant of a
conversion condominium to avoid, the requirements under ORS
100.305 to 100.320 if, within 180 days before the declarant gives
a notice of conversion for the building under ORS 100.305:
(a) The landlord gives a tenant a 30-day notice without stated
cause; or
(b) The landlord increases the rent in excess of the percentage
increase in the Portland-Salem Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers for All Items as reported by the United States Bureau
of Labor Statistics.
(2) A tenant may bring an action against a landlord that acts
as described in subsection (1) of this section to recover the
greater of:
(a) Six times the monthly rent for the dwelling unit; or
(b) Twice the actual damages to the tenant arising out of the
termination or rent increase. + }
SECTION 11. { + (1) Section 6 of this 2007 Act and the
amendments to ORS 100.305 by section 1 of this 2007 Act apply to
notices of conversion given to tenants on or after the effective
date of this 2007 Act.
(2) Section 9 of this 2007 Act applies to rental agreement
terminations and rent increases occurring on or after the
effective date of this 2007 Act.
(3) Section 10 of this 2007 Act applies to eviction notices
served, and rent increases imposed, on or after the effective
date of this 2007 Act.
(4) The amendments to ORS 100.315 by section 2 of this 2007 Act
apply to improvement or rehabilitation work on general common
elements performed on or after the effective date of this 2007
Act. + }
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