How Important are Local Renter Protections? What Eugene's Efforts Tell Us About the Fight for Fair Housing Nationally
Oregon’s ongoing housing crisis has been years in the making, and for those of us living in cities like Eugene, the effects are painfully visible. Renters make up over half of the Emerald City’s population1, and many face a bleak landscape: sky-high prices, a low vacancy rate, and a sharp rise in visible homelessness. Landlords have routinely charged steep, nonrefundable application fees, sometimes collecting fees from dozens of applicants for a single unit. This leaves low-income renters scrambling to compete for what few affordable homes remain.
In response to the worsening crisis and mounting public pressure, Eugene passed landmark renter protections in 2022 and 2023 aimed at leveling the playing field. These efforts built on Oregon’s 2019 rent stabilization law, which limits annual rent increases and bans some no-cause evictions after the first year of tenancy.2 But even the most modest efforts to rein in landlord abuses sparked fierce legal pushback, raising a key question: How important are local renter protections, and how much power do cities really have to enforce them?
Eugene’s Push for Fairer Housing
With widespread frustration over landlord practices and increasing homelessness, Eugene’s leaders took action in 2022 and 2023 by passing a slate of bold renter protection ordinances. The most notable provisions capped rental application fees at $10, limited security deposits to no more than twice the monthly rent, and expanded requirements for landlord-paid relocation assistance.3
Landlord groups quickly sued, arguing the city had overstepped its authority under Oregon law. Enforcement of the application fee cap was paused for years as the court battle unfolded. But earlier this year, the Oregon Supreme Court declined to take up the case, and the city began officially enforcing the $10 cap in March.4
Why Renter Rights Depend on Your ZIP Code
While Eugene’s ordinances are among the most robust in Oregon and notable among mid-sized cities, they sit somewhere in the middle of renter protections nationally. In cities like San Francisco, Seattle, and New York, tenant protections go further, including rent control, legal assistance for renters facing eviction, and stricter limits on move-in fees and deposits. Seattle even prohibits most evictions during the winter months.5
At the other end of the spectrum are cities and states with virtually no tenant protections, where landlords can charge steep fees, evict tenants with little notice, and reject applicants without explanation. In Arkansas, where I grew up, tenants can face eviction for being just a day late on rent, and landlords aren’t legally required to provide safe and habitable living conditions.6 Eugene’s middle-of-the-road approach offers a promising model for other mid-sized cities, but also reveals just how fragmented and uneven renter protections remain across the country.
Cities Can Lead, But They Can’t Do It Alone
So how important are local renter protections like those in Eugene, and how much power do cities really have to enforce them? Eugene’s experience shows both the potential and the limitations of local action. Tenant-friendly ordinances have made a real difference by capping application fees and offering renters a bit more stability in a competitive market.
But as the legal battle over the $10 application fee limit made clear, even modest reforms can be delayed for years by landlord lawsuits or blocked by state law. Florida, for example, passed a preemption law in 2023 that blocks local governments from enforcing renter protections, including limits on fees and eviction protections.7 This fragmentation leaves renters at the mercy of state politics or geography, and puts enormous pressure on cities like Eugene to take the lead in a fight they can’t win on their own.
For renter protections to be effective and enforceable, states need to do more than just step out of the way: they need to set strong standards and give cities the legal room and resources to go further when needed.
Local Action is a Step Forward
Eugene’s renter protections certainly didn’t end the housing crisis, but they demonstrated something that feels increasingly rare: a government willing to act. In a nation and system where a renter’s rights can vary widely from one city to the next, even modest protections can make the difference between stability and displacement. If fair housing is the goal, then cities need room to lead, and support from states that are ready to back them up.