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Portland’s property maintenance rules continue to disproportionately burden homeowners of color, ombudsman says

Portland’s property maintenance rules continue to disproportionately burden homeowners of color, ombudsman says
Portland, seen from Pittock Mansion, June 8, 2021. A new report from Portland's Ombudsman's Office has found that the city's process for enforcing property maintenance rules continues to disproportionately impact homeowners of color and neighborhoods threatened by gentrification.

Portland, seen from Pittock Mansion, June 8, 2021. A new report from Portland’s Ombudsman’s Office has found that the city’s process for enforcing property maintenance rules continues to disproportionately impact homeowners of color and neighborhoods threatened by gentrification.

Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB

Portland’s process for enforcing property maintenance rules continues to disproportionately impact homeowners of color and neighborhoods threatened by gentrification, according to a report by the City Ombudsman’s Office.

The office first warned Portland leaders of this issue in 2021, triggering promises from elected officials and department leaders to make swift reforms. Yet little has changed in the years since, according to Ombudsman Jennifer Croft.

“We continue to hear from vulnerable homeowners who experience negative impacts of complaint-driven enforcement,” Croft wrote in a Jan. 22 letter to Portland Permitting & Development Director David Kuhnhausen explaining the report. “Including emotional stress caused by growing liens and heightened tensions with neighbors who file complaints.”

Portland has rules regarding property maintenance that cover everything from the height of a homeowner’s fence to the condition of their lawn. These rules are enforced only when the city receives complaints from neighbors or other passersby. Homeowners found in violation of these rules can face ballooning fines if the problem isn’t fixed. Unpaid fines can result in a lien on their property, meaning the homeowner can’t sell their property until paying the city a fee.

Croft referenced property data from 2023, which showed that the city has placed liens on 290 Portland homes, totaling about $11 million in fees. This is comparable to the amount of liens on houses in 2021, when the first report was published.

In 2021, the city found that the complaint-driven nature of the enforcement system meant inspectors weren’t necessarily responding to neighborhoods with the most property violations. Instead, they were zeroing in on areas where neighbors were more reactive to the condition of their neighbor’s homes. These neighborhoods all had something in common: they were mostly areas of town where wealthy, white residents were moving into racially diverse, low-income neighborhoods and looking to change its aesthetic.

This pattern remains largely unchanged.

“Our analysis of this data shows the liens tend to be larger and more numerous in ZIP codes with lower-value homes and where certain communities of color live,” Croft said.

Croft’s follow-up report has fewer details than the initial 2021 findings, but she references data that found Portland homes valued below $50,000 were more likely to have liens tied to maintenance complaints, as well as homes in neighborhoods with a more concentrated Latino or Pacific Islander population.

“With more equitable enforcement, there would be no correlation between liens and home value or race or ethnicity,” she wrote.

In 2021, the ombudsman’s office sent recommendations on how to improve this system to leadership – Bureau of Development Services Director Rebecca Esau, and Commissioner Dan Ryan, who oversaw the bureau. (Esau is no longer at the city; Ryan remains on City Council). The development services bureau has been renamed the Permitting & Development Bureau.

That included ending the disparate outcomes of the complaint-driven system “with urgency,” getting feedback from communities impacted by this system, and assigning an employee to oversee these reforms. None of these recommendations have been fully carried out by the city.

Croft points to some piecemeal solutions – like a one-time program that erased outstanding liens for some homeowners of color in East Portland and a policy change to waive enforcement fees for certain low-income property owners. Yet without addressing the city’s “continued reliance on complaints as the basis for enforcement,” Croft writes, the inequitable outcomes of the policy won’t change.

City department leaders say some of these recommendations have been derailed by budget cuts, which limit their ability to hire the staff needed to address the issue. Job cuts are expected this coming year, as the city confronts a $100 million deficit.

Another wrinkle, identified in the 2021 report: The city’s development bureau relies on property violation fees to operate the property inspection program, meaning changes to the enforcement model could further undermine its budget.

Despite these limitations, Croft sees a chance for the city’s brand-new council and mayor to change course.

“New leadership has an opportunity to take a fresh perspective on the city’s property maintenance standards and the balance between reactive enforcement and proactive support for economically vulnerable homeowners,” she wrote.

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