Contact PTU:
Or send us a private message on Facebook or Twitter
If you have an urgent need, you can text us at (503) 461-0369
***PTU is an all-volunteer union. We will try to respond to your message as quickly as possible, especially if you and others in your building are trying to form a union and fight for your rights. We DO NOT give legal advice and DO NOT have any money to help pay your rent. If you have general questions about your rights as a tenant or need legal help or rent assistance, please contact the resources below***
Other Resources:
Topics:
- COVID specific
- Tenant Rights Information
- Free or Low-Cost Legal Help
- Mediation
- City and County Inspectors
- Housing and Rent Assistance
- Other Local Tenant Unions
- Organizing Resources
COVID specific
URGENT HELP:
If you need urgent support for an eviction or illegal lock out, text PTU at (503) 461-0369, or email us at [email protected]
If you received a court summons for a non-payment eviction, you can stop it!
- You will need to apply for rental assistance
- If there are a few days left before your first appearance, try to get legal representation. You can call or email the Oregon Law Center at (888) 585-9638 and [email protected], or you can call or text The Commons Law Center at 503-850-0811
- Make sure to attend your court hearing! If you would like to attend virtually, you can find your video link, or you can join by phone: 503-388-9555; Access Code: 146 407 9791
The eviction moratorium has expired, but you can still be protected by applying for rental assistance!
- Tenants in Oregon are protected against non-payment eviction through June 30th 2022 if the have a pending rental assistance application. Apply here for rental assistance
- Call 211 if you need help applying.
- You cannot be evicted for rent due between April 2020 and June 2021. You have until March 2022 to settle those accounts.
OregonLawHelp.org has a page dedicated to housing protection during COVID-19.
Tenant Rights Information
-
oregonlawhelp.org - Detailed, understandable, and accurate information about landlord-tenant law
- Legal Aid booklet - a run down from Legal Services of Landlord Tenant Law in Oregon
- ORS 90 - The Oregon Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, contains most important statewide landlord-tenant law
- Portland Rental Services Office: (503) 823-1303 or [email protected]
-
Community Alliance of Tenants Renters Rights Hotline: (503) 288-0130
- Specifically check out their CAT's Know Your Rights information
- Manufactured Communities Resource Center: (503) 986-2145 or [email protected]
- PDX Renters Unite! - Facebook group where you can share your stories with fellow renters, many of whom have gone through the same things
Free or Low-Cost Legal Help
-
Legal Aid Services of Oregon: (503) 224-4086 [Only serves low-income clients]
- Oregon Law Center: 1-800-672-4919 [only serves low-income tenants, usually requires referral from Legal Aid]
- Oregon law Center has a special eviction defense intake line at (888) 585-9638 available during the COVID-19 crisis.
- The Commons Law Center: 503-850-0811 (call or text) or fill out this web form [Free for tenants facing eviction for people making under 400% the federal poverty line]
- Portland Defender: (503) 592-0606 or [email protected] [Pro bono]
- Lyon Legal Services: 503-754-0457 [sliding scale based on income]
- Garcia Law LLC: 541-604-8718 or [email protected]
- Community Law Project: (503) 208-4079 or [email protected] [Reduced rates for lower-income]
- Oregon State Bar Modest Means Program: (503) 684-3763 or [email protected] [Sliding scale]
- Fair Housing Council of Oregon: (503) 223-8197
- Disability Rights Oregon: (503) 243-2081
- Don't Shoot PDX Community Legal Referral Services: [email protected] or message them on Facebook
Mediation
Sometime people don't want to pursue legal channels, or are for whatever reason unable to. In those cases, mediation might be an effective tool to resolve a conflict with a landlord. Resolutions NW has a program to support tenants with mediation.
- Mediation: Sometimes folks need a third party to help facilitate a difficult conversation. Mediators are not a judge or lawyer and have no ability to determine the outcome. Mediators are "co-partial" meaning they want the best for all parties involved and will work to create a space where hard conversations can take place. Our role is to make sure everyone feels heard and that each party understands where the other is coming from. There may be an opportunity for parties to come to a common agreement. If that is the case, mediators can help work out the details of that agreement.
*Disclaimer: Mediators are not advocates. We will not talk to the other party to convince them of your position. We can, however, talk to the other party in an attempt to "bring them to the table" to have a conversation all together. In order to take on a mediation, all parties must agree to go into the conversation willing to have a dialogue. Mediation is a voluntary process, meaning all parties are choosing to be there.
Resolutions NW has a landlord tenant mediation pilot program funded by the City. To see if you can get mediation through their program you can email [email protected] or call (503) 595-4890. You can read more about their program here.
City and County Inspectors - They can force your landlord to make repairs
-
Portland Neighborhood Inspections Program: (503) 823-2633
- For help addressing rats, vermin and pest infestations, contact Multnomah County Vector Control at (503) 988-3464
-
Multnomah County Environmental Health: (503) 988-3464
- The cities of Gresham and Wood Village have their own rental inspection programs. Cities with (more limited) residential code enforcement programs include Fairview and Troutdale.
-
Clackamas County Code Enforcement: (503) 742-4452 or [email protected]
- Cities with (more limited) residential code enforcement programs include Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, Happy Valley, Gladstone, and Oregon City.
-
Washington County Code Compliance: (503) 846-4875 or [email protected]
- Tenant mold hotline for Washington County is (503) 648-7723
- The cities of Tigard and Tualatin have their own rental inspection programs. Cities with (more limited) residential code enforcement programs include Sherwood, Beaverton, Hillsboro and Forest Grove.
- Call 211 for a regularly updated list of available housing and rent assistance.
- You can also sometimes find cheap housing through Facebook groups like Portland OR Housing, Portland Housing/Roommates/Sublets/Roomster, Portland Queer Housing, Portland Area Transgender and Queer Safer Housing, or Portland Disabled Housing Network
Other Local Tenant Unions
PTU operates throughout the Portland Metro area. Check out some of these groups operating on different scales:
- North Portland Tenants Collective: [email protected]
- Living Cully's Cully Housing Action Team: (503) 489-8334 or [email protected]
- Green Lents' Lents Strong Housing Team: (971) 319-0444 or [email protected]
- Oregon Renters in Action (formerly SE Portland Renters in Action): 503-995-0250 or [email protected]
- Monmouth-Independence Tenants Union: [email protected]ail.com
- Tenants United Corvallis: [email protected]
- Springfield-Eugene Tenant Association: 541-972-3715
- Southern Oregon Tenants Union: (541) 708-3576
- Residents Organizing for Change: [email protected] [Statewide affordable housing tenants union]
- Community Alliance of Tenants: (503) 288-0130 [Statewide organization]
- Manufactured Housing/Oregon State Tenants Association: 1-800-423-9371 [Statewide mobile home park union]
- Tenants Union of Washington State: (206) 723-0500 [If you're just across the border in Vancouver, WA]
- Homes For All: (646) 360-5800 or [email protected] [Nationwide coalition of tenant unions]
- Right 2 Survive: (503) 839-9992 or [email protected] [Because our houseless neighbors need a union, too]
Organizing Resources