Oregon Reopens Pandemic-Related Rental Assistance For Thousands

GRESHAM, OR — A lifeline is being thrown out to thousands of Oregonians who are in danger of eviction because of pandemic-related financial hardship. Oregon Housing and Community Services announced on Wednesday that a pipeline of assistance, turned off since December, is being reopened.

The Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program had helped around 36,000 households by providing more than $256 million in emergency rental aid.

That was until December when the program ran out of money.

"We are grateful that the Oregon Legislature and Gov. Brown came together to provide more resources for rental assistance and eviction prevention programs, which will keep thousands more Oregonians stably housed during this critical time,” OHCS Executive Director Margaret Salazar said.

"During the pause in accepting new applications, several OERAP system improvements were also implemented that we hope will make the application process and payments more accessible to renters, community partners and landlords.

"We appreciate the time and energy partners spent in providing valuable feedback that helped bring along these improvements."

The state provided the following information for renters in need of help:

• Tenants can apply for OERAP at oregonrentalassistance.org or contact a local community action agency. Applying for OERAP is now easier because the application has been streamlined and simplified based on feedback.
• Tenants can use this simple checklist to gather their documents in advance.
• During testing, we have identified sections in non-English applications where the translation from English is not complete. We are working with the vendor to correct this issue. All applications are fully functional and can be submitted, but applicants may see phrases that are not fully translated. Paper applications in languages other than English are fully translated and can be found here.
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• This will be a limited reopening of at least three weeks, based on availability of funds.
• Tenants who submit new applications can access protections from eviction for nonpayment of rent while their application is being reviewed and processed. Tenants must show proof to their landlord that they applied for the program to receive the protections.
• OHCS will begin processing and paying out new applications in about three to five weeks.
• Tenants at immediate risk of eviction should apply for rental assistance right away to access safe harbor protections and also contact a legal organization.
  • Oregon Law Center’s Eviction Defense Project: 888-585-9638 or evictiondefense@oregonlawcenter.org
  • Oregon State Bar: 503-684-3763 or legalhelp@oregonstatebar.org.