The Eugene City Council held the first of two planned work sessions on renter protections Wednesday.
The city is drafting phase two of its renter protection ordinance. It would include limits to security deposits, require rental applications to be processed in the order received, and provide relocation assistance for evicted tenants.
Councilor Mike Clark said he’s afraid these rules would drive landlords to quit renting.
“I challenge any of my colleagues to point to any city in this country at any time where rent control has worked once. Anywhere,” Clark said. “And led to a stronger rental housing market on a long term basis.”
Councilor Matt Keating responded that this is a consumer protection piece to strengthen the landlord-tenant relationship.
Just over half of Eugenians are renters and about 5% are landlords. And rent rates are typically higher than mortgage rates in Eugene.
The council will hold its next work session on renter protections next week.
