On April 4, 2016, the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) issued its “Office of General Counsel Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of Housing and Real Estate-Related Transactions” (hereinafter, the “Memo”). Continue reading “Recent HUD Memo RE: Landlord’s Use of Criminal Records Under The Fair Housing Act”
On this issue, in a guest blog dated March 13, 2015, Jo Becker, Educational/Outreach Specialist for the Fair Housing Council of Oregon (“FHCO”) posted an article for the Willamette Valley MLS titled: “Screening without Social Security Numbers: There are Options!” (See post here.) Continue reading “QUERIN LAW: Oregon Landlord Screening Without Tenant SSNs”
One toke over the line sweet Jesus
One toke over the line
Sittin’ downtown in a railway station
One toke over the line ~ Brewer & Shipley, 1971.
Background. Landlords in Oregon are understandably flummoxed by the new prescription drug du jour, medical marijuana. Why? Because, while Oregon permits the medical use of marijuana, the Federal Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. § 801, et seq., says that it is illegal to manufacture, distribute, and possess marijuana, even when state law authorizes its use. Furthermore, federal law supersedes state law where there is a direct conflict between them. So, what does a landlord do when confronted by a card-carrying tenant claiming that he/she cannot be evicted for marijuana use and/or cultivation, because they have a legal right to do so under Oregon law. The second arrow in the tenant’s quiver is the threat that “if you try to evict me, I will sue you under the federal Fair Housing laws[1] that say you must grant me a reasonable accommodation[2] [i.e. let me toke on the premises] because I have a “disability.”[3] Continue reading “Tenant Medical Marijuana Use In Oregon: Is It One Toke Over The Landlord’s Line?”
