Insane "Relocation Assistance" in Portland, OR

[Nico Grasso]

I've been a landlord for my property in Portland, Oregon for 6 years now, with the same tenant for the last 4 years. I became a landlord after taking a job out of state. Due to COVID, my work is allowing me to go remote, so I thought, "Nice! I can finally move back into my home and be close to my family." My tenant's lease is coming up in about 4 months, so it all was lined up perfectly. I can give super early advance notice to my tenant.

So today I start researching non-renewal letters, and I came across this amazing "Relocation Assistance" that Portland instituted. Basically "Relocation Assistance" will be triggered for any landlord giving a notice of non-renewal on a fixed term lease. This comes out to $4.2k that I get to ship over to my tenant for trying to move back into my own property. 

This is after 4 years of not raising the rent once in a hot market. 

I guess I can just be happy to never have to be a landlord again. Not my cup of tea. Portland is a nice city and all, but stuff like this really makes me want to just never give them any of my tax money.

I'm talking to a lawyer next week, but does anyone else have experience with this? I'm trying to find an exception, but nothing I'm seeing fits my situation. My tenant did ask for an extra two weeks in the house, so maybe if I turn this into a week-to-week lease after the end of the fixed term lease, I have a nice out.. we'll see what my lawyer says.