Press Release: Anti-Eviction Picket
For immediate release
503-482-4170
On Tuesday, June 15th tenants will gather at the county court in downtown Portland to impede business as usual at the Landlord/Tenant court.
What Is the Evictor Class?
With a little over two weeks until tenants’ meager pandemic protections disappear, Mayor Wheeler, the county commissioners, Governor Brown, and the state legislature appear eager to forgo their duty to protect us from landlords, lawyers, judges and the sheriff’s department who are preparing to file and enforce thousands of new evictions on July 1st. We call this group the evictor class.
How Do Evictions Work?
Evictions are acts of violence that destabilize and destroy lives. They are a very profitable form of violence. Developers, landlords, landlord lawyers, and sheriffs will cheer for their long awaited cash grabs. The city, county, and state bend to the forces of gentrification to ensure that the parasitic housing industry increases their profit margins. Tenants who are unable to pay their rent during the pandemic are going into debt waiting for the rental assistance the state and federal governments have promised, but have yet to fully deliver. Despite the promise of federal and state funds earmarked for rent relief, the evictors will not hesitate to displace thousands of families and further accelerate the increase of Multnomah’s houseless population. Our struggle is intertwined with that led by the houseless community, who are also fighting for housing justice and the right to remain in the face of violent evictions and sweeps. The city and county have failed to address either in a substantive way.
The city and county have shown their absolute inability to imagine effective solutions to this new stage of what they call “the housing crisis.” We reject that framing. Instead we offer a more accurate appraisal of the situation articulated by the Autonomous Tenants Union Network (ATUN-RSIA): “Tenants have always been in crisis. Since before the founding of the United States, property ownership has been a requirement for full political recognition. To be a tenant is to stand on the losing side of a class relation: we pay tribute to landlords because they own land and we don’t. And they own land because landlords before them expropriated the original peoples who still live here.” It is the purpose of the evictor class to create crises; to protect their profit model, their grip on institutional power, and the level of surveillance and control they exert in the lives of tenants.
This Is Not A Moratorium
As dangerous as it would be for elected officials to let HB 4401 expire, we must point out that the “eviction moratorium” was never a true moratorium. Landlords who were temporarily unable to evict tenants for non-payment of rent have simply found other reasons to evict, such as having too many plants in the front yard or the vague accusation of disturbing “the quiet enjoyment” of the property. Never before have landlords exhibited such creativity in their reasons for eviction. Evictions have largely continued at the same pace as before the moratorium, except for the months in 2020 when the courthouse were completely closed.
Released in February, a study conducted by the Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative at Portland State University found that 89,000 Oregonians were behind on rent. Portland and Multnomah county claim a huge fraction of those tenants. The courts are unable to evict struggling tenants all at once; and even if they could, landlord lobbyists wouldn't risk the popular backlash that would surely ensue. If we do nothing to protect tenants, evictions will steadily accumulate. Here is the actual death of so called Portland, that the PBA, the mayor, and newspapers prefer to blame on racial justice protesters. Portland's people are not pushed out of their homes from broken windows and graffiti, we are being displaced and dying because of profit-seeking.
Our Demands
This is why tenants are organizing, in our homes, our buildings, and at the steps of the courthouse. Today we are calling for an extension of the tenants’ pandemic protections, a county-wide universal Right to Counsel measure immediately, and support for the sensible people-first recovery measures laid out in Oregon Renters in Action’s “Keep Oregonians Housed” petition. Until then, we will dog and disrupt attempts to claim that the risk to tenants' lives is in any way equivalent to the risk of real estate investment that suffered a temporary setback. We will fight for ourselves and our neighbors; because each tenant is a human being with dreams and aspirations and not simply a monthly check destined for the landlord’s bank account. We say no to “business as usual” that builds wealth and passive income as a result of a violent process. We will prevent, delay, and reduce the harm of evictions; and build tenant power in Portland.
Event Information:
What: A picket.
When: Tues June 15th, starting at 9:30am.
Where: Multnomah County Circuit Court, 1200 SW 1st Ave, Portland, OR 97204.
