Committee hears wide support for bill barring landlords from asking about immigration status; opponents raise constitutional concerns

The Senate Committee on Judiciary on Wednesday took public testimony on Senate Bill 599, which would prohibit landlords from inquiring about, disclosing or rejecting rental applicants on the basis of immigration or citizenship status and would require landlords using identity verification to accept a broad set of documents.

Sponsor Senator Winsve Campos said the measure is both practical and moral: "This bill is not just a policy change. It is a moral imperative," Campos told the committee, asking lawmakers to protect tenants who often live and work in Oregon but face housing barriers.

Supporters included statewide tenant-advocacy groups, housing providers and faith organizations. Sybil Hebb of the Oregon Law Center described technical elements and the dash-1 amendment, saying the amendment narrows the measure to rental housing and aligns accepted identity documents with the City of Portland ordinance. "We chose to have a narrower approach to simply amend it into the Landlord Tenant Act because we did not want to get into trouble with federal lending restrictions," Hebb said.

Witnesses gave examples of tenants who struggled to secure housing because they could not produce a Social Security number or other documents. Rabbi Forrest Alexander described clients whose paperwork or lost documents kept them from completing leases; he said one person spent more than two years in shelter to obtain a necessary birth certificate.

Organizations representing affordable housing providers and large non-profit landlords said the bill is workable and does not interfere with federally funded programs that require immigration checks. Christina Palacios of Housing Oregon said providers are comfortable complying with the exemption for federal programs and praised collaborative drafting with legal advocates.

Opposition testimony was limited but vocal. Chad Kernutt, who said his family has been landlords, urged rejection on property-rights grounds, calling the proposal a regulatory taking and arguing landlords should be able to choose tenants. "The Constitution protects the property rights of citizens," Kernutt said in opposition.

Committee members asked technical questions about whether existing Fair Housing protections already cover immigration-related discrimination. Sybil Hebb said national-origin and race protections are related but do not explicitly cover immigration or citizenship status, and she said her clients reported fear and reluctance to assert tenant rights.

The committee closed the public hearing and accepted written testimony through the Friday deadline; no vote occurred at the hearing.