In a fairly non-surprising ballot result, Multnomah resdients said “No” to a controversial tax which would have placed a 0.75% hike on the sale of homes, stocks, bonds and businesses in order to fund lawyers for tenants who were facing eviction. It’s undecided what the impact of this would have been. It certainly could have stopped landlords illegally evicting tenants, but at the same time could have caused a huge backlog in the court system by being overrun by property based legal disputes.

Although Portland is often pictured by the mainstream media as some kind of degenerate and socialist state with high taxes and no morals, the result of this poll clearly shows that over 82% of residents have common sense and will not be fooled by political rhetoric. If illegal eviction was a problem – this was certainly not the solution.

Oregon capital gains tax is variable and depends on personal income, but can already go as high a 9.9% for large earners. This ballot would have pushed this figure to 10.65%, but was of course rejected.

Of course, on the other hand, the worry is that with rising rent costs, landlords will want to quickly evict non-paying or struggling tenants since they will lose a lot of money if a property is either unoccupied, or occupied by a tenant who has refused to pay. In turn, this would likely fuel Portland’s homeless crisis by adding gasoline to the already gigantic flames.

To evict a tenant, landlords must adhere to the following criteria:

1. Just Cause Eviction: In Portland, landlords are required to have a “just cause” to evict tenants after they have lived in a rental unit for more than one year. Just cause reasons may include non-payment of rent, violation of lease terms, or other specific grounds defined by law.
2. Notice Requirements: Landlords must provide written notice to tenants before initiating eviction proceedings. The notice period varies depending on the reason for eviction.
3. Rent Increase Protections: Portland has rent stabilization measures, known as rent control, that limit the amount by which landlords can increase rents. However, there are exceptions for newer buildings and certain circumstances.
4. Tenant Relocation Assistance: In situations where landlords are terminating a tenancy without cause or increasing rent significantly, they may be required to provide relocation assistance to eligible tenants.