Oregon officials hopeful they can reopen rental assistance program soon

As Oregon’s program to help renters was set to close to new applicants Wednesday, the day it is expected to run out of money from the federal government, hope sprung that the program will get an influx of funds and allow it to reopen soon.

In the framework for what the state Legislature will consider in its Dec. 13 special session, Gov. Kate Brown proposed an additional $90 million — coming from federal American Rescue Plan funds — to refill the depleted pot.

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And if the Legislature acts quickly, the state’s six-week pause for accepting new applications could be cut dramatically, Margaret Salazar, executive director for Oregon Housing and Community Services, said.

The state said it will have obligated all of the $289 million it was initially given from the federal government for emergency rental assistance by Dec. 1.

“If the state is able to make more funds available for the state emergency rental assistance program, provided that the program is a match with the current program … we would be able to continue to accept new applications and we expect we would be able to do that sooner than the six-week time period that we had publicized,” she said.

Salazar said Wednesday that the department declined to continue to take applications beyond Dec. 1 in case the program does not get more funds from the state or federal program.

She said the state has requested $189 million additional funds for the program from the U.S. Treasury. But she said the state doesn’t know if it will get that money until spring, if at all.

Rent: Oregon Legislature to meet in emergency session as renters face evictions

“We are pausing application intake because of funding, just to be crystal clear,” Salazar said. “It’s heartbreaking to hear, but there’s just too much demand out there, and we simply cannot continue to accept applications.”

Local governments like Marion County and Lane County that were given separate pots of money by the federal government for emergency rental assistance still have their programs open for new applications.

But those in less populated counties like Polk are out of luck after Wednesday unless the Legislature acts.

More: Time has run out to prevent evictions for tens of thousands in Oregon

As of Wednesday, about 9,000 people in the state are beyond the "safe harbor" protection time frames out of about 21,000 applications in the review process.

They are at imminent risk of eviction as they continue to wait for the state to work through the backlog of applications.

In Marion County, there were 1,339 past the 60-day window, and in Polk County, there were 265.

The Legislature, through Senate Bill 278, gave applicants an additional 60 days of protection while they waited. But this group has exceeded that.

When asked Wednesday, Salazar wouldn’t say how much longer of an extension it needs to save the renters.

Some states have passed laws to extend eviction protection until each application is resolved, but she said Wednesday she didn't know what time period legislators are considering.

“We have a wealth of data,” Salazar said. “We have not weighed in on the time period that we think would be appropriate.”

Bill Poehler covers Marion County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@statesmanjournal.com or on Twitter @bpoehler.

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This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon officials hopeful they can reopen rental assistance program soon