Commercial rent relief program

In January the State of Oregon allocated $100 million to a Commercial Rent Relief Program. Each of Oregon’s seven business regions will receive a weighted allocation of the funds and qualifying applicants within each region will be awarded by lottery. This program requires the cooperation and qualification of both landlord and tenant.

Once the program details were rolled out, we immediately received calls from both tenants and landlords asking us to help facilitate the application process for them. NAI Elliott is well positioned to stand in the shoes of the owner and navigate this system on the landlord’s behalf and be a resource to tenants. We sent out surveys to landlords and tenants to gather information and will be submitting the initial application before the March 22nd deadline. From there, the selection process begins.

Funds are applicable to tenant balances in arrears, forgone or forgiven due to COVID-19 from March 1, 2020 through February 28, 2021. The maximum award is $100k per tenant and maximum $3mil per landlord (awards rounded to nearest $1,000). Some balances may require a lease amendment to validate the agreement between landlord and tenant. We are available to identify and document, at the landlord’s discretion, in order to maximize the benefit of funds. If chosen, grant awards will be distributed to the landlord for application against tenant balance.

To qualify, the tenant must be open for business or intend to reopen for business when restrictions (if applicable) are lifted at the leased location.

Landlords must commit to waive any rights to collect outstanding penalties or interest or enforce eviction clauses related to the delinquent lease payments between March 1, 2020, and February 28, 2021. They must also agree not to evict tenant for six months from March 1, 2021, to August 31, 2021, for non-payment.

We are readying applications and anxiously await the lottery outcome. Once all the relevant documents are in place, we will continue to assist landlords through the final phases. Disbursements will be made to awarded parties on April 12, 2021.