Tenants in Eugene, Oregon Lead Efforts to Advance City-Level TOPA Protections for Renters

By Nada Hussein, NLIHC State and Local Research Analyst and Katie Renzi, NLIHC State and Local Research Intern 

Since October, tenant advocates and leaders in Eugene, Oregon have rallied together to urge city lawmakers to consider strengthening renters’ rights by passing a “Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act” (TOPA). The proposed legislation would require landlord property owners to provide tenants who have sufficient notice and standing, before the sale of a property, with the chance to purchase their place of residency. The proposed TOPA law was introduced as a proposed provision to “Phase III” of Eugene’s renter protection process (a comprehensive roadmap of protections aimed at strengthening the rights of renters in the city), though it could also be passed as a stand-alone measure. If passed, the TOPA law would grant renters across the city the “right of first refusal,” meaning tenants or a unionized tenant group representing a building would be given the first chance (or opportunity) to purchase their building. Doing so would in turn preserve the housing as a permanently affordable place of residence, helping tenants avoid displacement due to the change of new ownership and the associated risk of rent increases. If passed, Eugene would join a handful of localities across the country, including the District of Columbia, San Francisco, and Philadelphia, to enact some form of TOPA or right of first refusal protections for renters. 

As noted, Eugene’s proposed TOPA law would be advanced under the city’s multi-phase process to enact renter protections. Dating back to 2017, when the work to reform landlord-tenant regulations began to take shape, the Eugene City Council employed efforts to better understand tenant experiences in the city, beginning with forming a relationship with the city’s Housing Policy Board to conduct outreach to renters under the guise of gathering information on rental housing affordability, accessibility, availability, quality, and stability. Such work culminated in a 2019 survey to renters in the Eugene area, which would lead to the creation of a Renter Protections Committee which met monthly between September 2019 and July 2021.  

From the committee’s recommendations, which focused on protecting renters and preventing displacement, this work led to a “roadmap” of tenant protection policies aimed at strengthening the rights of renters over the long term. At the state level, lawmakers in 2019 passed Senate Bill 608, which prohibited “no-cause” evictions after the first year of tenancy, and regulated annual rental increases. The City of Eugene would also enact in 2022 Ordinance 20670, the adoption of “Renter Protections Phase I,” which included a $10 cap on tenant screening charges for prospective renters. Other protections that have been adopted in Eugene, in addition to the screening charge cap, include information on relocation assistance for renters, and provisions to ensure safe and habitable housing conditions through stringent code enforcement compliance. 

Now, through the ongoing work to enact “Phase III” in Eugene, housing advocates and tenant leaders have called for lawmakers to consider enacting TOPA protections. In a one-pager published by the housing justice groups advocating for such protections, including Square One Villages, Casa of Oregon, Housing Oregon (an NLIHC member), Eugene Tenant Alliance, the Democratic Party of Lane County, the Springfield Eugene Tenant Association, and the Oregon Cooperative Housing Network, advocates have underscored the importance of a TOPA law for preserving housing affordability in the city. Per the one-pager, housing affordability is a significant issue in the city, as 78% of extremely low-income renters in the city pay more than 50% of their monthly income on rent. According to HUD, housing is considered affordable if a tenant pays no more than 30% of their monthly income on rental expenses and utility costs. Through the proposed TOPA law, the proposal would not only bolster housing affordability through the preservation of units by putting their ownership in the hands of tenants, but it would also increase homeownership rates, as homeownership rates in the city are almost 20 percentage points under the national average of 65.7%. 

Among the organizations leading the charge for tenants to have the right to purchase their places of residence prior to their sale, the Springfield Eugene Tenant Association (SETA), founded in 2019, is a non-profit organization that aims to educate and advance the rights of renters across Lane County, Oregan. SETA offers tenant education workshops, shares information on available community resources, and offers a free 24/7 hotline for tenants to call and discuss concerns. The hotline offers one-on-one guidance for renters, informing them of their legal rights, providing referrals for rental assistance if available, and sharing where renters can find low-cost legal services. Testimonials on SETA’s website include several tenants who praise the hotline, as well as related resources offered by the organization for helping tenants learn and utilize their rights as renters.  

According to SETA’s summary reports of anonymized hotline calls, between January and November 2025, the most common issue tenants experienced were termination notices, totaling more than 700 calls. Of these, at least a third were due to nonpayment of rent. Data from Evicted in Oregon, a research project tracking termination notices filed in Oregon’s circuit courts, found that Lane County has seen over 2,600 filings in the last 12 months, with more than 80% being the result of nonpayment. Given that rents are vastly higher than most renters can comfortably afford in Lane County, supporting initiatives that reduce displacement and housing instability for renters is a key priority for SETA. 

Most recently, the Springfield-Eugene Tenant Association has advocated in favor of TOPA being adopted by Eugene’s City Council. At a recent City Council meeting, SETA’s Executive Director Timothy Morris described the legislation as a “common sense, proven policy designed to keep people in their homes and preserve affordability in our communities.”  

For more information about the Springfield-Eugene Tenant Association and the resources they offer Lane County renters, their website can be found here.