Oregon faces a very serious, immediate housing crisis. A looming wave of evictions is upon us and will impact individuals, families, and communities in every corner of our state in ways that are likely to be devastating.

Oregon had over 18,000 evictions in both 2018 and 2019, before the disruption of the pandemic. The eviction moratorium has been effective at postponing a full-blown crisis, while our collective best efforts to deliver rental assistance has been extremely challenging. Even with improved distribution, there will be people missed, many who do not qualify for rental assistance, yet have arrearages, and there is a very high likelihood that communities of color will be disparately impacted. Community safety net services will bear considerable costs from mass evictions. As highlighted in the 2021 report by Portland State University’s Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative, Oregon’s downstream costs from mass evictions could be as high as $3.3 billion.

We urge the Oregon Legislature to immediately allocate $2.5 million to expand the capacity of our existing statewide community mediation system to meet eviction case demands across Oregon.

• With appropriate funding, Oregon’s 15 community mediation centers can handle additional cases throughout the state.
• Community mediation programs in Oregon successfully mobilized in response to the foreclosure crisis that hit Oregon in 2009 to create the Oregon Foreclosure Avoidance Program that remains successful to this day.
• Mediation can increase awareness of available resources. Mediation is one more avenue for both tenants and housing providers to learn about rent assistance, rehousing resources, and legal aid.

Eviction court backlog will cause delay and more uncertainty for tenants and housing providers. Importantly, mediation offers more flexible solutions than can be ordered by judges. For tenants, mediation can address the specifics of each case to see if arrearages can be paid and tenancy stabilized, or a plan for moving out can be created. For housing providers, mediation can address rent arrearages and reduce costs associated with an eviction.

The White House, Harvard & the American Bar Association, and many states (e.g. Massachusetts and Hawaii) support mediation as an effective and efficient housing stability tool.