Oregon tenant advocates fear eviction spike amid 14.6% rent hike cap

Anthony Carter | September 14, 2022

SALEM, Ore — Renter advocates in Oregon are sounding the alarm over a potential spike in evictions, following the state’s increase in the rent cap for next year.

On Tuesday, state economists shared that the most landlords can raise rent for Oregon renters in 2023 is up to 14.6% – the highest since the rule was established in 2019.

According to the law, landlords cannot increase the rent more than seven percent, plus the consumer price index (CPI), commonly known as inflation, for the west region from the previous year.

The CPI over the past twelve months was 7.6% – bringing the max increase to 14.6%. The rate is a nearly 5% jump from the 2022 rate of 9.9%.

“This is going to make a crisis even worse,” Kim McCarty, executive director with Community Alliance of Tenants based in Portland, told NBC5 Wednesday. “For someone paying the average rent in Oregon, that means they’ll see a more than $200 increase.”

In 2019, Oregon became the first state in the United States to establish a cap on rent increases. It only applies to buildings that are 15 years or older.

McCarty emphasized that the rent cap rule was created to prevent landlords from drastically increasing rent. However, it was before the coronavirus pandemic and the economic hardships that followed in recent years.

“With all of these increases in costs, housing especially, many households are at risk of eviction,” McCarty said. “We clearly need to fix it. It’s not sustainable, so we definitely need all the protections in place to help tenants.”

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