On September 12, the City Council is scheduled to have a public hearing on extending the sunset of the Rental Housing Code until March of 2017. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. at Harris Hall in the Lane County Public Service Building (125 E. 8th Avenue). The extension would allow time for the Council to discuss and consider several recommendations made by the Housing Policy Advisory Board. More information on the recommendations is available in the July 13, 2016 Council agenda packet (view at http://coeapps.eugene-or.gov/cmoweblink/0/edoc/1573179/Agenda Packet.pdf beginning on page 41).
The Rental Housing Code was created in 2005. The purpose of the code is to make sure rental properties in the city are safe by creating minimum standards that they must meet, and by providing assistance for property owners, managers and renters when there is a question about those standards. Staff help renters and owners communicate with each other so they can resolve issues without further city involvement or legal action. The program is complaint driven and requires written communication from the renter to the owner or manager at least 10 days before a complaint will be accepted by the City.
When the Rental Housing code was created, it included an initial sunset date of December 31, 2008. Since that time, the sunset date has been extended two times by the City Council. Currently, Eugene’s Rental Housing code is scheduled to sunset on September 30, 2016 if no action is taken.
The upcoming hearing is an opportunity for the public to provide feedback to the Eugene City Council on an Ordinance that extends the current sunset date to the spring of next year while the Council discusses possible changes based on recommendation from the Housing Policy Board. The City Council is scheduled to take action on the proposed extension on September 26, 2016.