Executive Directors Message

Ron Garcia, RHA Oregon Executive Director

Much of our industry has changed in recent years, including the best practices necessary to be a good landlord.

New laws and regulations, new technologies, enhanced accounting programs, targeted vendor services that both improve a resident’s experience and/or relieve a property provider’s burden, have exploded. The resulting effects require us all to retool, regroup and re-think how we used to do things in order to determine what we need to do now, to adapt.

Rental Housing Alliance Oregon has long been a landlordmember based community. In the past, Property Managers and Vendors joined mainly to prospect for potential new clients and to build up their own book of business. While there is certainly nothing un-noble about this motivation, it was often perceived as self-serving. Indeed, many DIY Landlords have boldly proclaimed that no Manager or Vendor could ever do “it” better than they could. In the old days, it wasn’t uncommon for landlords to consider Property Managers as nothing more than expensive rent collectors; and Vendors (from roofers to bookkeepers) deemed as excess luxuries.

We can no longer travel down that road. We need a new direction to stay ahead of the curves. Allow me to introduce a new name for a new “virtual highway” called “the CRAFT of Rental Property Ownership”.

Community. Resources. Advocacy. Forms. Training.

Our Community has expanded. Property Managers, DIY Landlords, Vendors, Builders, and Policy Makers and Community Action Agencies are all equal stakeholders. We rely on one another; benefiting by our association through networking, sharing, messaging and core values. Developing relations and fostering trust is critical in the housing industry. We have never needed more urgency to work in community, and to improve the professionalism, image and reputation of rental property owners, and the residential investment property business as a whole. This includes fostering improved relationships between Landlords and Tenants.

We are shared Resources. Property Managers, DIY Landlords, Vendors and Agencies are actively engaged in creating and sustaining affordable and

quality housing. Through their actions and interactions, they provide valuable guidance to one another and share best practices among industry peers. From their own perches, they can write articles, teach classes, become board members, and reach out to the community at large. In my nearly 35 years in the housing world, I have come to the humble conclusion that I receive much more from other professionals than I could ever pay back as an individual.

Advocacy counts. Housing laws are among state and local governments’ top priorities. Our footprint matters. By continuing our individual and united engagement in legislative activities, including our voice in surveys, and “calls to action” and opportunities to donate to valuable PACs that support our stands, we vastly increase our effectiveness. We must hold onto the belief that solutions to complex problems exist and we need to work together rather than remain at odds.

Housing Forms must be continually updated and vigorously understood. They are the product of federal, state, and local law. They offer a roadmap for rental providers, tenants, attorneys, accountants, and courts to stay on track and succeed in business. They are guideposts for Vendors, to learn the rules on tenants’ rights, like Fair Housing or granting access, or habitability, which allows them to distinguish themselves as competent service providers in the housing market.

Attending professional Training beyond the scope of collecting CE Credits should be our industry standard. Classes provide a unique and targeted format to share the instructor’s specialties and skills while meeting us as their targeted demographic. Covid taught us all how to use technology to learn online. There is simply no excuse for not keeping up to date any longer. In summary, as the residential housing infrastructure undergoes seismic shifts that will have lasting impacts on all of those involved in the market, I contend that organizations like Rental Housing Alliance Oregon are best positioned to provide the necessary support for all stakeholders who have an interest in creating and maintaining the opportunities designed to continue to provide safe and affordable homes.