Committee hears compromise on shortening notice for buyer-occupant sales; tenant advocates push protections

The Senate Committee on Housing and Development held a public hearing March 3 on Senate Bill 586, which would change how much notice a landlord must give a tenant in a fixed-term tenancy when the landlord has accepted an offer from a buyer who intends to reside in the unit.

LPRO staff summarized the bill: the measure, as introduced, would reduce the required notice period from 90 days to 45 days after the fixed term concludes if the landlord has accepted an offer to sell the dwelling unit to a buyer who intends to occupy it, and would eliminate the requirement that the unit be sold separately from other units. Senator Mark Meek (sponsor) described the problem created by the existing statute, enacted as Senate Bill 608 in 2019, and explained that the 90-day requirement has made many typical real-estate closings difficult and prevented some buyers who intend to occupy a unit in dupleces/triplexes/quadplexes from closing.

Stakeholder negotiation: Representatives of the Oregon Law Center and Oregon Realtors reported they reached a negotiated dash-1 amendment and would support the bill with that change. Sybil Hebb of the Oregon Law Center said the parties agreed to preserve the 90-day notice period as the default but allow a landlord and buyer to give a 60-day notice if they also provide the tenant an additional payment equal to one month's rent to offset the shortened notice. Hebb read agreed technical fixes including ensuring the seller provides evidence of the accepted offer at the time of the notice. Jeremy Rogers of Oregon Realtors said the change addresses marketability issues for owner-occupant buyers and the duplex/triplex/quadplex closing problem.

Opposition and support: Kim McCarty of the Community Alliance of Tenants urged the committee to oppose SB 586 without stronger tenant protections, saying reduced notice would destabilize tenants, particularly voucher holders. Multifamily Northwest and other housing-industry witnesses supported the negotiated amendment, saying it provides needed flexibility for buyers who intend to occupy a unit while retaining protections for tenants.

Next steps: The committee closed the public hearing; witnesses said they supported the dash-1 compromise language and urged the committee to adopt that amendment if the bill proceeds.