Landlords are filing more court evictions monthly than they did before the COVID pandemic, though the number of evictions trended down after the Legislature passed a law giving tenants more time to make up late rent.

That’s according to a presentation lawmakers on the Senate Housing and Development Committee heard from the Oregon Law Center, which advocated for eviction protections. The group’s legislative advocacy dictator, Sybil Hebb, warned lawmakers that the number of evictions may increase if the state doesn’t provide more money for emergency rent assistance: The $88 million lawmakers set aside this spring is on pace to run out by next summer, with about a year left in the two-year budget cycle.

In 2019, Oregon landlords filed an average of about 1,560 eviction suits each month. A pandemic-related eviction moratorium lasted through June 2021, and tenants with pending applications for rent assistance were protected from eviction through June 2022.

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Oregon eviction filings above pre-pandemic levels; advocates say more state aid needed