?It?s the most immediate and effective way to stop displacement and gentrification at scale.? Last week, Oregon became the first state in the U.S. to implement universal rent control. Senate Bill 608, signed in to law by Governor Kate Brown, will restrict annual rent increases to 7 percent and ban what are known as ?no-cause? evictions, in an attempt to provide immediate, widespread relief to the state?s rent-burdened households.
Although Oregon tenant groups had been mobilizing to pass rent control legislation for over two decades, the law?s passage will address what has recently become a crisis situation, according to Pam Phan, of Oregon?s Community Alliance of Tenants. ?It?s the most immediate and effective way to stop displacement and gentrification at scale.? Oregon now joins the states of California, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and the city of Washington D.C. as places with some rent control or rent stabilization policies on the books. Another three states?Colorado, Illinois, and Washington?are considering similar statewide measures. Currently, 37 states prohibit or ban rent control outright.
About half of all renters across the country are cost-burdened, meaning that they spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent. While the problem transcends urban and rural jurisdictions, it is most prevalent in low-income and segregated communities.
As homelessness rates skyrocket across the country, the push for tenant protections has emerged as a pivotal issue...