One city is aiming to protect tenants from rent hikes during these troubling times. In Portland, Oregon, a new ruling states landlords must now pay their tenants' relocation costs if those tenants can't afford the rent increases they're imposing. This rule will apply to rent increases issued through Mar. 31, 2021, and puts landlords on the hook for between $2,900 and $4,500 to allow tenants to move. Furthermore, this rule could be extended past March 2021, depending on how circumstances shake out.

A blow to landlords

This new Portland ruling may be designed to protect tenants, but landlords sure aren't happy about it. Portland landlords will be required to give tenants a minimum of 90 days' notice if they plan to increase their rent. From there, tenants can provide written notice that they require assistance, and landlords could then be liable to pick up the tab for their relocation costs.

Of course, the goal here is not to hurt landlords but help ensure tenants don't fall victim to homelessness in the absence of a statewide eviction moratorium. But clearly, the new rule hurts landlords a lot -- especially mom-and-pop landlords without the resources larger property management companies have.

Should landlords nationwide be worried?

If landlords can be held liable for covering tenants' relocation costs in Portland, the same thing could technically happen anywhere. But this rule only applies to landlords imposing rent increases; it doesn't apply to landlords whose tenants opt not to renew their leases due to financial constraints.

Things really aren't looking good for LL's.

SO DON'T Increase THE RENT?

Place them on month to month til the dust settles.

How much would you increase it anyway? Cause from what I read here many just leave the rent for 10-20 30 years.

Be indignant or be patient.

We are all behind this 8 ball for now so don't shoot yourself in the foot or jump through hoops.

6x6, to answer your question, I am really thinking about exiting the business next year, or as soon as things get back to "normal" - whatever that means.

I will sell to a corporate buyer. I don't know of any sane individuals who would want to get into the business.

This kind of stuff starts on the left coast and works its way eastward.

IN 1997 I purchased a foreclosed apartment property that was NOT sold at the auction, then taken back by the bank. The various City and County agencies gave me on paper 3 months to get the property up to standards -- otherwise I wouldn't have made the purchase!

Two days after I became the owner the agencies changed their minds, giving me 30 day to fix up the entire property -- an impossible task!

In those days If I couldn't fix a unit because it was occupied, I had to PAY EACH TENANT UNIT RELOCATIONS COSTS, between $7,000 and $12,000 per unit.

So I then had to think "outside the box" and let the violations mature, making the City "RED TAG" the property. This meant the tenants could not live there any more -- the property wasn't safe!

My property was completely vacated. So I put up a 8 foot chain link fence with razor wire coils on top. Then hired some Junk Yard Dogs to live outside on the grounds -- chasing away anyone looking to steel copper wire and anything else.

Funny thing is that this bill actually creates more homelessness. Instead of raising rents, landlords will simply cancel leases. This will force more tenants out onto the street.

I'm just a smidge concerned about entities unilaterally moving in and making sweeping rules overriding preexisting contracts.

Yes, Jeff, all of the stupidest ideas start in CA, Portland, or Seattle.

"...Portland landlords will be required to give tenants a minimum of 90 days' notice if they plan to increase their rent."

Don't forget it was Pelosi, and others who crashed the economy in 2007. They thought it would be nice to give 200K mortgages to people with poor credit. P forced the banks to give the money or else. I saw my tenant's son in law and daughter take one of these deals. Then he got hurt and work and could not pay mortgage. They were evicted because the mortgage had a clause that prevented them from selling. They lost everything. This happened to so many people that the banks crashed and so did Wall St.