Oregon could be forced to spend billions on social services to care for tens of thousands of people predicted to be left without a home as the state’s pandemic eviction moratorium has ended, according to a report published this week Portland State University’s Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative.
As many as 125,400 Oregon households have little or no confidence they’ll be able to pay next month’s rent, according to the center’s analysis of the latest Census Household Pulse survey.
That means Oregon could spend $720 million to $4.7 billion to respond to evictions, the report said.
An eviction moratorium which had been in place since last April ended on Wednesday.
Under an amendment to Senate Bill 278, tenants who are unable to pay July or August rent wouldn’t be evicted for 60 days if they provide proof to their landlord that they’ve applied for rental assistance through Oregon Housing and Community Services.
The report used data from emergency shelters, inpatient and emergency medical services, child welfare, and juvenile justice services to estimate the downstream costs of evictions using a calculator developed by University of Arizona College of Law.
“The calculation once again shows the scale of the crisis Oregon could face without additional eviction interventions,” a news release states.
The report noted a disproportionate number of the households are likely renters of color. The center’s survey last fall showed that 35% of renters were behind on rent, a figure that jumps to 56% for people of color.
-Saphara Harrell
