If you are a residential landlord, you cannot take or keep any of a tenant’s belongings until the rental agreement has ended. If you wrongfully take a tenant’s personal belongings while the tenant is still legally renting from you, you may be liable for damages and your actions may relieve the tenant of liability for unpaid rent or other kinds of claims you might have. After a rental agreement has ended, however, you have the right to dispose of a tenant’s abandoned personal belongings, but only after following very specific rules.

It is not always easy to determine when a tenancy has terminated and the tenant has abandoned his or her personal belongings. Under Oregon law, a tenant’s belongings are considered abandoned in one of three ways.

The first way is when the rental agreement ends. This means that the term of the tenancy is over. The tenancy is also over if: the landlord or tenant has given a termination notice; the tenant has surrendered the keys; or the tenant has abandoned the premises and the landlord believes that the tenant has left belongings in the rental unit with no intention of returning.

The second way a tenant’s personal belongings are considered abandoned is when the tenant has been gone from the rental unit continuously for at least 7 days after a court has ordered an eviction of the tenant, even though the sheriff’s department has not executed the court order or judgment.

The third way in which a tenant’s personal belongings are considered abandoned is when a sheriff’s department executes a court order of eviction, after which the landlord must take responsibility for storing the belongings. In this case, the landlord does not need to wait for seven days to see if the tenant returns.

Once the tenant’s personal belongings are considered abandoned, the landlord has the right and the responsibility to deal with them. Regardless of the way in which the belongings were abandoned, the landlord cannot dispose of them until after meeting several important requirements. The only exception from these requirements is if the landlord and the tenant agree in writing no more than seven days before the tenancy ends, or after the tenancy is over.

If you are a landlord, your first responsibility is to give the tenant a written notice explaining that his or her belongings are considered abandoned and have been safely stored. This notice also must explain that the tenant must contact you within 5 days after personal delivery of the notice or 8 days after mail delivery of the notice, to arrange for removal of the belongings, or else you may sell them or throw them away. (The time period is 45 days for abandoned recreational vehicles, manufactured dwellings and floating homes.) The notice must tell the tenant how to contact you, and that you will make the belongings available for removal by appointment at reasonable times. The notice must also explain that, under certain circumstances, there could be a storage charge the tenant must pay. Finally, if you think the fair market value of the tenant’s belongings is worth $1000 or less, or so low that the cost of storage and sale probably exceeds the amount that would be realized from the sale, the notice must say that you will throw or give away any belongings not claimed within the required time period. The value of abandoned recreational vehicles, manufactured dwellings or floating homes must be no more than $8,000 for the landlord to be able to dispose of them without sale. The same kind of notice must go to any lien holder or holder of title on these kinds of property, and to the county tax assessor and tax collector in the county where the abandoned manufactured dwelling or floating home is located. (As of January 1, 2016, under certain circumstances the county is required to cancel personal property taxes owed on some abandoned manufactured dwellings that are sold to a person who intends to keep the dwelling in the facility where it is located to occupy as a residence.)

The landlord must either have the notice personally delivered to the tenant or sent first class mail to the tenant at all three of the following locations: the rental unit, any post office box the landlord knows about, and the most recent forwarding address known to the landlord.

As a landlord, your second responsibility is to store the tenant’s abandoned belongings in a safe place until the tenant removes them or the required time period passes. This place could be the rental unit, a commercial storage unit, or your garage. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule: You may immediately dispose of rotting food, and you may allow an animal control agency or humane society to remove abandoned pets or livestock. Special rules also apply to motor vehicles.

If you follow the statutory notice requirements and use reasonable care in storing the tenant’s things, you cannot be held responsible to the tenant for any loss resulting from handling or storage. If you fail to follow these requirements, the tenant will have the right to recover any losses, and the tenant will be released from other claims. If you deliberately ignore the notice and storage requirement of the law, you will be liable for twice the tenant’s actual damages.

Once the notice has been delivered, the tenant has at least 5 to 8 days, depending on the method of delivery of the notice, in which to contact you to remove the abandoned personal belongings. The tenant may contact you in person, by writing or with a phone call. You then must allow up to 15 more days for the tenant to collect the belongings. The time period is longer (30 days) for abandoned manufactured dwellings, floating homes, and recreational vehicles. You must act in good faith to make the belongings available to the tenant at a reasonable time and place. You may require the tenant to pay removal and storage costs, but not any other charges, before releasing the belongings. However, you may not charge the tenant anything if you had the sheriff execute on an eviction judgment against the tenant.

If the tenant does not claim the belongings or contact you to arrange to collect them, you may sell the belongings at a public or private sale. If the belongings have a fair market value of $1000 or less or cannot be sold for a profit, you can throw or give them away to anyone unrelated to you. Any sale must comply with special rules.

You may keep the reasonable cost of notice, storage and sale, and unpaid rent from the proceeds of the sale. Any balance must be forwarded to the tenant, with an itemized accounting. If the tenant cannot be found, any remaining proceeds go to the county treasurer in the county where the sale occurred. You must not keep the belongings for personal use.

If you fail to notify the tenant of the right to get abandoned belongings or refuse to turn over the tenant’s belongings after a proper request, the tenant may file an action to recover the belongings. The court clerk’s office has standardized complaint forms for that purpose, as well as answer forms for use by landlords. A tenant must file such a claim within one year of the time the belongings were wrongfully withheld.

There are a number of significant differences in the law described above when the tenant’s abandoned personal belongings include a manufactured dwelling, floating home, or recreational vehicle. Because these items are often worth a lot of money, and there may be others with a legal interest involved, you should ask a lawyer for more detailed information.

Mark L. Busch, P.C., Attorney at Law

https://www.marklbusch.com/single-post/2018/06/07/When-Tenants-Leave-Belongings-Behind

Mark L. Busch, a landlord-tenant attorney, presents a video to answer questions that most Landlords have about Landlord-Tenant Law.  He advertises with our state-wide association, the Oregon Rental Housing Association, and represents Landlords in the state of Oregon.

Check him out at https://marklbusch.com

Questions that most Landlords have about Landlord-Tenant Law are at the following points in the video: 

1. What is the most common Landlord-Tenant dispute you help with? (0:23)
   
2. How does the sale of a property affect the lease and its tenants? (1:23)
   
3. What is the proper way for a landlord to handle the collection, storage, and return of a security deposit? (2:40)
   
4. What are the three most important lease clauses that should be in every residential lease? (4:31)
   
5. What’s the proper procedure for a landlord to handle a tenant who fails to pay rent? (6:18)
   

HUD No. 18-086

HUD Public Affairs

(202) 708-0685

FOR RELEASE

Monday, August 20, 2018

HUD LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO BOOST LANDLORD ACCEPTANCE OF HOUSING VOUCHERS

New task force aimed at boosting landlord participation in Housing Choice Voucher Program

WASHINGTON – U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson today announced a Department-wide task force as part of a larger campaign to encourage more landlords to participate in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program. HUD’s HCV Program is the nation’s largest rental subsidy program assisting more than two million low-income households each year. However, two new studies find most landlords do not accept voucher-holders, and those who do complain about the program’s administrative requirements and housing authorities which manage the program at the local level.

Consequently, Secretary Carson established HUD’s new Landlord Task Force and announced a number of forums across the county to hear directly from landlords on ways to increase their participation in the HCV Program.

“These studies tell us that we have a lot of work to do to engage more landlords, so our Housing Choice Voucher Program can offer real choice to the families we serve,” said HUD Secretary Ben Carson. “We will be traveling the country to hear directly from landlords about how we can make this critical program more user friendly.”

Next month, HUD will release a new study of landlord voucher acceptance in five cities: Philadelphia; Los Angeles; Fort Worth; Newark, New Jersey; and Washington, DC. The study, which was sponsored by HUD and conducted by the Urban Institute, is the first to use paired testing methods across multiple sites to examine landlord treatment of voucher recipients. While landlord participation varies across the five study sites, the researchers found voucher recipients are hard pressed to find a landlord who will accept their vouchers, especially in higher opportunity neighborhoods. In addition, landlords often ‘stand up’ testers posing as voucher recipients and even deny rental requests once testers reveal their source of income. Read a summary of HUD’s and the Urban Institute’s forthcoming Pilot Study of Landlord Acceptance in the Housing Choice Voucher Program.

Another study examined the role landlords and property managers play in housing low-income tenants, especially voucher recipients, in three urban rental markets—Baltimore, Cleveland, and Dallas. Prepared by Johns Hopkins University, the study examined how these local markets influence a landlord’s decision whether or not to participate in the HCV Program. The researchers found that, while many landlords liked the program’s reliable rent payments, the main reasons given for not participating in the HCV program were frustrations with required inspections and disappointment with how local housing authorities handle disputes with tenants. Read Urban Landlords and the Housing Choice Voucher Program.

To encourage more landlords and property managers to participate in the HCV Program, HUD’s new Landlord Task Force will host a number of forums across the country to engage directly with housing providers, specifically those who do not participate in the voucher program. These listening forums are intended to reveal how HUD might make its primary rent subsidy program more accessible and acceptable, specifically in higher opportunity neighborhoods where landlord participation is lowest.

HUD will begin its landlord engagement campaign on September 20th in Washington, DC when it will present the findings of the two aforementioned studies. Individual landlord forums are planned in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Salem, Oregon. After completing these landlord forums, the Landlord Task Force will provide policy recommendations to the Secretary on programmatic changes to increase landlord participation in the HCV Program.

HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all.

More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet

at www.hud.gov and https://espanol.hud.gov.

You can also connect with HUD on social media and follow Secretary Carson on Twitter and Facebook or sign up for news alerts on HUD's Email List.

Are you interested in hearing the latest news on the Rental Industry?

The Oregon Rental Housing Association sends out newsletters with interesting articles about best practices for Landlords and upcoming laws effecting the industry.  If you would like to read the articles, you can sign up on their website and receive a free copy emailed to you or you can follow the link at the top of this page to see current and previous newsletters.

FAIR HOUSING ADVERTISING WORD AND PHRASE LIST

This word and phrase list is intended as a guideline to assist in complying with state and federal fair housing laws. It is not intended as a complete list of every word or phrase that could violate any local, state, or federal statutes. This list is not intended to provide legal advice. By its nature, a general list cannot cover particular persons' situations or questions. The list is intended to make you aware of and sensitive to the important legal obligations concerning discriminatory real estate advertising.

Fair Housing Advertising Word-Phrase List

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF THE FAIR

HOUSING ACT IN APRIL

Here are some links to interesting and informative articles about the Fair Housing Act.

HUD.gov - 50th Anniversary of the F.H.A.

Consistency is the Key to Compliance

Advertising Guidelines

Legislative Update – VICTORY ON HB 2004!!

July 7, 2017

ORHA members – our hard work has paid off! I couldn’t be more pleased to announce that HB 2004 has died in the Oregon Senate. After the Oregon House narrowly passed the bill 31-to-27 in early April, HB 2004 was never able to garner the support of the 13 Republican Senators and two key Democratic Senators, Sens. Rod Monroe (D-Portland) and Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose). Many of the Senators cited our members concerns when describing their decision to oppose this bill and its amendments, including the bill’s attempts to remove no-cause notices, to require landlords pay tenants’ relocation expenses, and the provision to lift the ban on rent control. I know many of you spent countless hours emailing, calling, writing and testifying in front of the Oregon Legislature. We always believed those efforts would succeed in the end, and we couldn’t have done it without your unwavering support. Thank you and congratulations, ORHA members!   Jim Straub ld@oregonrha.com ORHA Legislative Director

Oregon Rental Housing Association 1462 Commercial Street N.E. Salem, Oregon 97301 www.oregonrentalhousing.com

I want you to call each and every state Senator and ask for their commitment to vote AGAINST ANY BILL that would eliminate no-cause notices!  Let’s stop this bill!!   Our efforts are helping!  Many of you responded to our last Call to Action by contacting your legislators.  We need that kind of passion to continue in order to stop this bill in its tracks in the Senate!  I need everyone who has responded in the past to do so again.  If you’ve already contacted your Senator, Great!  You need to do it again!  If you’ve sat on the sidelines until now, it’s now or never!  (See below for Senators’ contact information and helpful hints.)  The Senate Committee on Human Services’ scheduled Work Session on May 31st will culminate in a committee vote on HB 2004-A – potentially passing the bill to the Senate floor for a final vote.  The Senate is all that stands in the way of this bill passing and being signed by Governor Brown. Here’s what the bill does: Virtually eliminates the use of No-Cause notices Requires that landlords renew leases with substantially the same terms or face a monetary penalty Requires landlords to pay relocation expenses for tenants   Take action today: Call each and every state Senator and ask for their commitment to vote AGAINST ANY BILL that would eliminate no-cause notices Make your voice heard by writing a short statement in opposition to HB 2004-A. Here is the link: shs.exhibits@oregonlegislature.gov   When contacting your Senator ~ Know Your Audience: Committee members are “citizen legislators,” and they want to hear your comments Be respectful of committee members Do not scold or insult members, or accuse members of causing your issue.  This may alienate members from your cause Know the Issue: Draw from your own knowledge and experience Support personal opinions with as many facts as possible Be knowledgeable of the “other side of the story” Presenting Your Written Testimony: Address members formally (e.g., Senator Jones, Representative Brown) State your name, city or county, and any other affiliation for the record Clearly state whether you support or oppose the bill and briefly explain your reasons When finished, thank the members and offer to answer any questions   A Sample Letter to Your Senator: Dear Senator _______________, I oppose House Bill 2004-A. Put a personal story here that reflects how and why you would like to retain the ability to use a no-cause notice.  (For example:  Tenants’ fear of retaliation if they complain about a neighbor, leering or disturbing behavior by others, landlords having higher screening standards because of us not being able to end the agreement if things go sideways) Please represent me and your constituents at the state capitol by opposing HB 2004-A and ANY bill that would eliminate no-cause notices. Respectfully, your constituent, (Your Name) (Your Address) (City, State, Zip) (Your Email)   Oregon State Senators  (Call, Send a letter and/or Email - Vote NO on HB 2004-A & NO Cause Notices):  Senator Contact Information Herman Baertschiger 900 Court St. NE, S-403 R-Grants Pass Salem, OR 97301 District 2 503-986-1702 Lee Beyer 900 Court St. NE, S-419 D-Springfield Salem, OR 97301 District 6 503-986-1706 Brian Boquist 900 Court St. NE, S-305 R-Dallas Salem, OR 97301 District 12 503-986-1712 Ginny Burdick 900 Court St. NE, S-213 D-Portland Salem, OR 97301 District 18 503-986-1718 Peter Courtney 900 Court St. NE, S-201 D-Salem Salem, OR 97301 District 11 503-986-1600 Alan DeBoer 900 Court Street NE R-Medford Salem, OR 97301 District 3 503-986-1703 Michael Dembrow 900 Court St. NE, S-407 D-Portland Salem, OR 97301 District 23 503-986-1723 Richard Devlin 900 Court St. NE, S-211 D-Tualatin Salem, OR 97301 District 19 503-986-1719 Ted Ferrioli 900 Court St. NE, S-323 R-John Day Salem, OR 97301 District 30  503-986-1950 Lew Frederick 900 Court St. NE, H-276 D-Portland Salem, OR 97301 District 22  503-986-1443 Sara Gelser 900 Court St. NE, S-405 D-Corvallis Salem, OR 97301 District 8 503-986-1708 Fred Girod 900 Court St. NE, S-401 R-Stayton Salem, OR 97301 District 9  503-986-1709 Bill Hansell 900 Court St. NE, S-423 R-Athena Salem, OR 97301 District 29 503-986-1729 Mark Hass 901 Court St. NE, S-207 D-Beaverton Salem, OR 97301 District 14  503-986-1714 Betsy Johnson 900 Court St. NE, S-209 D-Scappoose Salem, OR 97301 District 16 503-986-1716 Tim Knopp 900 Court St. NE, S-309 R-Bend Salem, OR 97301 District 27 503-986-1727 Jeff Kruse 900 Court St. NE, S-315 R-Roseburg Salem, OR 97301 District 1 503-986-1701 Dennis Linthicum 900 Court Street NE R-Klamath Falls Salem, OR 97301 District 28 503-986-1728 James Manning 900 Court St. NE, S-205, D-Eugene  Salem, Oregon 97301 District 7  503-986-1707 Laurie Monnes Anderson 900 Court St. NE, S-211 D-Gresham  Salem, Oregon 97301 District 25  503-986-1725 Rod Monroe 900 Court St. NE, S-409 D-Portland Salem, OR 97301 District 24  503-986-1724 Alan Olsen 900 Court St. NE, S-425 R-Canby Salem, OR 97301 District 20 503-986-1720 Floyd Prozanski 900 Court St. NE, S-415 D-Eugene Salem, OR 97301 District 4 503-986-1704 Chuck Riley 900 Court St. NE, S-303 D-Hillsboro Salem, OR 97301 District 15 503-986-1715 Arnie Roblan 900 Court St. NE, S-417 D-Coos Bay Salem, OR 97301 District 5 503-986-1705 Elizabeth Steiner Hayward 900 Court St. NE, S-215 D-Beaverton Salem, OR 97301 District 17  503-986-1717 Kathleen Taylor 900 Court St. NE, H-377 D-Portland Salem, OR 97301 District 21 503-986-1441 Kim Thatcher 900 Court St. NE, S-307 R-Keizer Salem, OR 97301 District 13 503-986-1713 Chuck Thomsen 900 Court St. NE, S-316 R-Hood River Salem, OR 97301 District 26  503-986-1726 Jackie Winters 900 Court St. NE, S-301 R-Salem Salem, OR 97301 District 10 503-986-1710

Thursday, May 4th, 2017 I can’t fight HB 2004-A alone and its starting to feel like I am. I must have your help NOW! ORHA has over 3,000 members all across Oregon, and less than 200 of you have submitted testimony. This is an embarrassing and ridiculously low percentage! Silence is consent, and if you don’t exercise your voice now, you will have no right to complain about the result, an unpleasant consequence that we may all have to live with. Thankfully, testimony on HB 2004-A has been extended through Friday. Make your voice count on HB 2004-A. Here is the link, shs.exhibits@oregonlegislature.gov just click on it, write a quick sentence and hit send. That's all it takes! If all you have is a single sentence, then so be it. Just say “I’m a landlord in X County, and I urge you to oppose HB 2004-A.” This single sentence is better than nothing. I’m counting on all of our ORHA members. Don’t let me and each other down now, when it matters the most. Make your voice heard and do it NOW! Jim Straub ld@oregonrha.com Your ORHA Legislative Director Oregon Rental Housing Association 1462 Commercial Street N.E. Salem, Oregon 97301 www.oregonrentalhousing.com

We NEED you in Salem on Wednesday! Monday, May 1st, 2017 EMERGENCY ALERT! We did it once before, and we need you to do it again! The public hearing on HB 2004-A has been scheduled to begin this Wednesday (5/3/2017) at the Oregon State Capital in Hearing room D at 1:00pm. We NEED to fill the seats in the hearing room! The tenant groups will literally have bus loads attending, just like last time - We have to be represented and only you can help. HB 2004-A would allow rent control, prohibit most End of Tenancy "no cause" notices, force fixed-term tenancies to extend to month-to-month and require landlords to pay relocation assistance to tenants, before they even move out! This bill declares an emergency making it effective on passage, which could be as early as next month. WE MUST STOP THIS! WE NEED YOU IN SALEM! For those of you that cannot attend in person, and even those of you who will be there, it is imperative that you email your written testimony against HB 2004-A by 1:00pm Wednesday. Here is the link. shs.exhibits@oregonlegislature.gov Please explain in your own words how the passage of this bill will affect you and/or your business. For those of you attending, please arrive by 12:30pm and sign up to speak at the table outside of the hearing room. Thank you all in advance! Jim Straub ORHA Legislative Director Oregon Rental Housing Association 1462 Commercial Street N.E. Salem, Oregon 97301 www.oregonrentalhousing.com