On June 1, Oregon’s eviction moratorium expired, ending a 14-month-long period during which Oregonians couldn’t be evicted for failing to pay rent. Fearing a surge of evictions, the Oregon legislature passed safeguards to keep tenants in their home. So far, it appears to have worked and a surge hasn’t happened.

“It has not materialized; it’s just starting to. And part of that is, we’re suspecting, related to the fact that Senate Bill 278 offered some protections for people if they had applied for rental assistance,” said Molly Heiss, director of housing stabilization at NeighborImpact. “Senate Bill 278, obviously allowed for evictions to start to take place. It did not do anything to extend the moratorium, but what it did do is put in the 60-day protection for folks that applied for rental assistance.”

The Oregon legislature enacted the protection period after the Oregon Housing and Community Services department had more trouble than expected due to the sheer volume of aid being doled out. Oregon HCS Executive Director Margaret Salazar said the department, along with local program administrators, have approved over $220 million in state and federal rental assistance in 2021, which Salazar said is more than they typically spend in a decade.

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