Purpose & Scope
The purpose of this Lien Reduction Review Administrative Rule is to provide guidance for processing requests to reduce existing liens on properties resulting from an enforcement action taken pursuant to Portland City Code Section 3.30.040 and Chapter 29.70.
Enforcement fees are issued as a financial incentive to encourage owners to correct their code violations. Portland Permitting & Development (“PP&D”) routinely provides fee waivers and time extensions to help property owners complete the repairs necessary to make the property safe. Enforcement fees only accrue after PP&D staff have reached out to the property owner and attempted to work with them to address the code violations. If a property owner fails to correct cited code violations and bring the property into compliance within the required timeframe, PP&D begins issuing fees which are invoiced and managed by the City’s Revenue Division. Unpaid fees become a lien against properties. Enforcement fees are imposed only after all other attempts to gain compliance have failed.
Historically, code enforcement liens disproportionately affect low-income, elderly, disabled, and non-English speaking residents, who are often members of the Black, Indigenous, and Other People of Color (“BIPOC”) community. Therefore, PP&D needs to ensure its process for reviewing and reducing the liens is fair, consistent, and understandable, so it achieves PP&D Property Compliance goals, which are to:
- Simplify the lien reduction review criteria;
- Ensure PP&D addresses equity issues and resolves documentation barriers necessary to qualify for a lien reduction;
- Ensure that existing code enforcement fees and liens are reduced if the owner’s situation is such that financial penalties are not a motivator to work with Property Compliance staff to bring their properties into compliance, and can have the effect of creating greater hardship and potential displacement; and
- Provide for reasonable cost recovery for continued operations of the various enforcement programs, which exist to ensure public health and safety for the community.
History
Revised document dated February 15, 2006.
Filed for inclusion in PPD February 21, 2006.
Amended in PPD November 22, 2006.
Administrative rule amended by Director of Bureau of Development Services May 8, 2008.
Revised administrative rule filed for inclusion in PPD May 22, 2008.
Amended by Director of Bureau of Development Services January 31, 2013.
Amended by Bureau of Development Services March 25th, 2022.
Amended by Director of Portland Permitting & Development August 27, 2024.