Landlords who evict families with school-age children mid-school-year would owe larger relocation payments under an ordinance submitted Wednesday, Aug. 26.

Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane, who represents District 3, filed the proposal to expand Portland's existing Mandatory Renter Relocation Assistance program.

That program already requires landlords to pay moving costs when they evict tenants without cause, decline to renew a lease, or raise rent by 10% or more in a year. Koyama Lane's ordinance would increase the dollar amount owed to tenants who have school-age kids and are displaced mid-school-year.

Specific payment amounts have not been released.

"As a teacher, I have seen first-hand the kind of devastating effects moving and housing loss has on children in school," Koyama Lane said in her announcement. "Causing a kid to have to pack up and move to a new home in the middle of the school year … can be traumatic and have long-term effects on their entire education."

Koyama Lane, a teacher by profession, cited research showing that switching schools mid-year correlates with drops in math and reading scores, a greater risk of being held back, and lower on-time graduation rates.

Why a payment boost, not a ban

Seattle, Tacoma and San Francisco have banned no-cause evictions during the school year outright. Koyama Lane's office said Oregon's rent-control preemption law prevents the city from adopting a similar ban, so the ordinance boosts financial assistance instead.

That financial framework survived a four-year legal challenge. The Oregon Supreme Court ruled 5-1 in November 2021 that Portland's relocation assistance ordinance does not amount to rent control and is not preempted by state law. OPB reported the ruling delivered "a fatal blow" to landlords' efforts to kill the program.

Koyama Lane's office said the new ordinance was drafted with the City Attorney's Office to keep it narrowly tailored and legally durable.

What's next

No council hearing date has been announced. The councilor's office said updates will come as the ordinance moves through the council process. Landlords who violate the existing program face penalties of up to three times the monthly rent, plus actual damages and attorney fees, under Portland City Code 30.01.085.

The ordinance landed the same day Portland Public Schools Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong announced the district could close between 10 and 20 schools.