Oregon Housing Legislative Updates 2025: Key Bills
First Chamber Committee Deadline
The following is a summary of potential multifamily housing policy changes in Oregon and Washington. Wednesday, April 9th, marked the First Chamber Deadline in the Oregon State Legislature. To stay active for the 2025 legislative session, most bills had to be voted out of the House or Senate chamber committees. This deadline is a key checkpoint in the legislative process, signaling which proposals are advancing toward becoming law and which are not.
Over the past several months, the Multifamily NW (MFNW) Government Affairs team has been actively lobbying on these potential multifamily housing policy changes by testifying in committee hearings and collaborating with coalitions to advance owner/investor/developer priorities. Here’s a list of high-priority bills that are moving forward and those that were successfully lobbied against. Multifamily NW is continuing to work on bills moving forward until the end of the session in June.
Supported and Opposed Bills Moving Forward
SUPPORTED BILLS
Senate Bill 6-3 (Support-High): The original bill requires the Department of Consumer and Business Services, a municipality, a building official, or any other agency or official responsible for administering and enforcing the state building code to approve and issue or disapprove and deny any application for a building permit not later than 45 business days after the date on which the applicant submits a complete application. The MFNW team advocated in support of the original bill. An amendment was added that altered the bill to apply to building permit applications for middle housing and single-family residencies in subdivisions of more than 6 lots and removed the penalties from the original bill. The amendment was adopted, and the bill passed out of committee unanimously 5-0.
Senate Bill 52 (Support—High): This bill would require the state to study and identify barriers to building market-rate housing in Oregon.
Senate Bill 814 (Support-High): This bill expands rental assistance to vulnerable Oregonians under 25, a proven strategy for housing stability. MFNW successfully lobbied in support of this bill, which passed out of the committee of origin and unanimously off the Senate floor. It now awaits a public hearing in the House Housing and Homelessness Committee.
Senate Bill 974-3 (Support-High): The original bill expedites the land use timeline for multi-unit developments to 45 days. Municipalities that cannot comply face penalties to help encourage them to accelerate the process. The MFNW team advocated in support of this bill. An amendment was added and adopted, which defines the timeline in which local government or special districts must return a decision on final engineering plans for residential development within urban growth boundaries. The bill with the -3 amendment passed out of committee with a 4-0 vote.
Senate Bill 1086 (Support-Medium): This bill, introduced by Senator Dick Anderson, is a bipartisan effort to address Oregon’s critical shortage of building inspectors, which has been delaying housing production statewide. The bill establishes a statewide apprenticeship program and an Associate of Applied Science Degree pathway to train new residential inspectors, plans examiners, and permit technicians. This initiative aims to create a skilled workforce pipeline, reducing bottlenecks in housing development while maintaining safety standards. After unanimous Senate approval, the bill now heads to the House for consideration.
House Bill 3522 (Support-High): This bill simplifies squatter removal, making units available to responsible tenants faster. Thanks to MFNW’s successful advocacy, the House Housing and Homelessness Committee unanimously passed it.
OPPOSED BILLS
Senate Bill 426 A (Oppose – Medium): This bill would make an owner and a direct contractor jointly liable in a civil action for any unpaid wages to an unrepresented employee. Despite MFNW lobbying efforts, this bill passed out of the Senate Committee on Judiciary 4-2 with amendments and will soon be heard on the Senate floor.
House Bill 2134 (Oppose – High): This bill would allow tenants to terminate a tenancy during the fixed term without penalty upon 30 days’ notice if the landlord delivers a 90-day terminating notice. Despite the MFNW team’s opposition, the bill passed out of the House Housing and Homelessness Committee and then passed off the House Floor with a vote of 44-9. This bill has been referred to the Senate Housing and Development Committee.
House Bill 2961-7 (Oppose-Medium): This bill would increase the number of parking spaces with charging capabilities in newly constructed apartment complexes. The MFNW has lobbied and testified against this bill, but it passed out of the House Committee on Climate, Energy, and Environment 7-5. This bill would require 20% of all commercial spaces to have charging stations (including office, multifamily, etc.) Originally, the bill required 20% charging and allowed for the installation of up to 50% of all parking spaces, but it eliminated that requirement.
House Bill 3521-5 (Oppose-High): This bill requires providers to pay damages if a lease isn’t executed, even for reasons beyond their control, increasing costs. The MFNW team relayed several concerns to the architect of the bill, explaining that the proposed legislation expands past the current statute regarding habitability and enforces a penalty immediately rather than the 4 days in current law. The adopted -5 amendment alleviates some concerns by extending the penalty’s return period to 5 business days. However, we remained concerned regarding the ability of tenants to break their agreement. This bill passed out of the House Housing and Homelessness Committee 8-4.
House Bill 3533-2/Senate Bill 430-3 (Oppose-High): These companion bills prohibit a person that advertises consumer goods or consumer services for sale in this state from displaying in an advertisement or quoting during a transaction a price for the consumer goods or consumer services that does not include or disclose every fee. The MFNW team is worried that this bill would affect our industry and has requested an amendment or a statement in history that clarifies that it would not apply. We have yet to receive an amendment or statement despite members of the committee expressing their intention not to impact our industry. HB 3533-2 passed out of the House Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection 6-3, and SB 430-3 passed out of the Senate Committee on Judiciary 3-2.
Senate Bill 444-5 (Oppose-Medium): This bill requires the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services to adopt rules to conform the state building code to accessibility requirements under the Fair Housing Act and certain American National Standards Institute standards for housing accessibility. With the adoption of the -5 amendment, this bill effectively increases the number of Type A dwelling units by 2.5x. MFNW testified in opposition to this bill due to the increase in costs, but it passed out of committee. The measure would currently apply to all buildings with 15 or more units. MFNW is lobbying for a higher floor.
Supported and Opposed Bills that Died:
OPPOSED BILLS THAT DIED:
Senate Bill 49-1 (Oppose-High): This was a placeholder bill that would later be coined as the “Housing Production Accelerator” bill. The subsequent amendment rolled up six different policies, including a provision for inclusionary zoning at the local level. MFNW was highly opposed to this amendment because of the inclusionary zoning policy. Ultimately, the -1 amendment died, and a -2 amendment passed, which did not include any of the six proposed changes that would cause our members heartache. We will be working with the Chair of the Senate Housing and Development to help explore other development ideas during the interim.
Senate Bill 54 (Oppose-High): This bill would unfairly burden housing providers by mandating expensive cooling systems for all residential properties, including multiunit buildings with 10 or more units, by 2036. It imposes excessive costs on housing providers without sufficient long-term support, which will drive up rents and exacerbate existing housing affordability issues. The MFNW team vigorously advocated against this bill, leading to its removal from the planned work session. MFNW and other stakeholders will work during the interim with a proposed roundtable to help find alternatives to the challenges around extreme heat.
Senate Bill 594 (Oppose-High): This bill was well intended but, unfortunately, limits housing providers’ ability to manage their properties by preventing no-cause evictions of students and teachers during a school year. This bill never received a public hearing or work session.
Senate Bill 722 (Oppose-High): This legislation would restrict law-abiding housing providers by banning all software tools that aid in setting rents and managing occupancy rates, limiting their ability to manage properties efficiently. Further, reducing rent cap exemptions for new units from 15 to 7 years discourages housing development and threatens to worsen the housing shortage. MFNW vigorously advocated against this bill, leading to its removal from the planned work session.
House Bill 2070 (Oppose-High): This bill would impact housing providers by eliminating pet rent, forcing them to absorb the costs of potential pet-related damages and additional maintenance without compensation. The MFNW lobbied against this bill, resulting in no public hearing or following work session.
House Bill 2967 (Oppose-High): This bill would unfairly prohibit applicant screening fees, forcing housing providers to absorb the costs of background and credit checks, which are essential for responsible tenant selection and property management that impacts every single tenant. A subsequent amendment followed that would cap the fee at $10. The MFNW team lobbied against this bill and the amendment. This week’s scheduled work session for the bill ultimately resulted in its withdrawal.
House Bill 3111 (Oppose-High): This bill would impose an unnecessary and burdensome mediation requirement on housing providers, complicating the eviction process and leading to increased costs and delays for all parties involved. The MFNW lobbied against this bill, resulting in no public hearing or following work session.
House Bill 3767 (Oppose—High): This bill would lift the prohibition on municipalities establishing annual rent cap increases. MFNW successfully lobbied against this bill, ensuring there was no public hearing or work session. There will be an informational hearing on this bill on 4/21 in the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness.
House Bill 3877 (Oppose-High): This bill would establish a rental registry under the management and control of Oregon Housing and Community Services. The database would track all rental units in the state, collecting information not only about the properties/units but also about the ownership. A per-unit fee would have funded this database, making it more expensive to run in Oregon. MFNW successfully lobbied against this bill, ensuring there was no public hearing or work session. There will be an informational hearing on this bill on 4/21 in the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness.
SUPPORTED BILLS THAT DIED:
House Bill 2297 (Support—High): This bill would require a tenant to pay accruing rent to avoid termination for nonpayment. Unfortunately, this bill never received a public hearing or a work session, which is very disappointing. However, this remains one of our members’ biggest challenges, and we will continue to draw attention to the trend of nonpayment and subsequent missed rent payments prior to a trial date.
House Bill 2305 (Support – High): Coined the “3-strike rule” bill, this bill allows a landlord to terminate residential tenancy upon a third material violation or late payment upon 30 days’ notice with no right to cure. Unfortunately, after the public hearing, stakeholders were unable to amend the bill to make the policy palatable for both housing providers and tenant advocacy groups.
Stay tuned for more updates on pending multifamily housing policy changes in Oregon and Washington.