WOW Oregons new landlord tenant laws are ridiculous. (rent, home)

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by NeonGecko

I'm a frequent flyer on paratransit, and no paratransit system I have ever been involved with - in 4 states now, and including when I was caring for my elderly father - will provide door to door service. Only curb to curb. I have, in fact, acted as a guide on occasion for blind riders - because the bus drivers aren't going to.

You do realize that people who make waves about issues like this run the risk of retaliation? This can take the form of making scheduling as difficult as possible, to actually denying service. I have experienced both situations personally, once because they improperly scheduled a trip for me and I called them to make them correct the mistake; the other was the paratransit service in Chapel Hill, NC, where they repeatedly "lost" my paperwork, or sent it back for trivial mistakes, for a period of nearly a year before we finally moved out of the region altogether. My doctor filled out their paperwork I am not kidding, at LEAST a half dozen times.

Another woman - in her 70s and an amputee - was actually kicked out of the program altogether because she was part of a group that was trying to draw attention to the gross malfeasance that was going on (I was NOT the only person being given the runaround via "lost" paperwork etc). She had to beg to be reinstated, and was only partially reinstated because of the intervention of one of the higher-ups in the local police department. Their excuse? She had one good leg, she should be able to hop to a bus stop (more than a few blocks away) on her own. At the age of 70+. I spoke with her, and she was afraid - AFRAID - to have anything to do with any more efforts to make these folks straighten up and fly right.

My friend has also been the victim of retaliation years ago, when her housemate was still alive and able to help her get from place to place. I don't remember what the triggering event was - a complaint about repeated late pickups, I think - but they basically started making scheduling as difficult and inconvenient as possible.

Before you tell me that should be reported as well - keep in mind that these kinds of things are very hard to prove.

In the main, paratransit officials and workers with whom I have dealt have been helpful - but when they are not, or when they are actively obstructive - the people who rely on them and have no other choice are generally pretty helpless to do anything about it.

Again the law is clear, sue them. You will get lots of money and the paratransit service will be forced to provide the service. It's an open and shut case.

11. Category:
Civil Rights & Accessibility
Question:
Are paratransit service providers required to provide service beyond the curb?
Answer:
Under Department of Transportation (DOT) Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations at 49 C.F.R. Section 37.129(a), complementary paratransit service for ADA paratransit eligible individuals must be “origin-to-destination” service. The goal behind use of this particular language, rather than characterizing the service as “curb-to-curb” or “door-to-door,” is to emphasize the obligation of transit providers to ensure that eligible passengers are able to travel from their point of origin to their point of destination. The particular factors involved will determine whether curb-to-curb or door-to-door service will be better for that individual or the location. During the local paratransit planning process, a transit provider may establish either door-to-door or curb-to-curb service as the basic mode of paratransit service. However, a paratransit policy must not be inflexible to the extent that service will not be provided beyond the curb under any circumstance. Paratransit providers must provide enhanced service on a case-by-case basis where necessary to meet the origin-to-destination requirement; some individuals or locations may require service that goes beyond curb-to-curb service. It should be recognized that transit providers are not required to accommodate individual passengers’ needs which would fundamentally alter the nature of the service or create an undue burden. Transit providers’ obligations do not extend to the provision of personal services, such as requiring a driver to go beyond a doorway into a building to assist a passenger or requiring a driver to lose visual contact with their vehicle. For further information, please see the following DOT guidance document: FTA - Americans with Disabilities Act - Origin-to-Destination Service.

[NeonGecko]

I don't think you comprehend how helpless a blind, partially deaf, isolated woman nearing 60 really is. Who is going to take a case like this? How is she going to get to meetings with a lawyer even if she could find one to take the case?

*I* had no recourse in Chapel Hill. I had 3 social workers and my doctor trying to get them to process my application - and it was actually for nearly 2 full years that they kept returning my paperwork and "losing" it or claiming they never got it. I finally went down with the paperwork in hand and forced them to time and date stamp it. And I am not one who is the least bit shy about kicking some ass when said ass is so eminently kickable. But I bear the label "disabled" for a reason - and I can't follow through as much as is needed for this kind of thing.

My friend is in another state half the continent away or I would be helping her, to the limits of my own disability.

When there is a bad seed in the paratransit world, they KNOW we are sick and unable to follow through on their malfeasance. They COUNT on it. The paratransit in Chapel Hill was just doing their level best to wear me down, and by and large they succeeded. If I was doing better, they'd never have gotten away with it - but if I was doing better, I'd never have known how obstructive they are because I wouldn't have needed the service to start with.

Part of the problem is that nearly every state has cancelled their CSW programs (Community Support Workers) - and these are the people that used to go to bat for the disabled in cases like this. There just aren't any advocates left any more to help us with things like this. The few that are left are overwhelmed.

[Apalled]

It is a pure shame that you landlords have to put up with us pathetic poor and disabled!...I am an 81 year old Korean War Vet Disabled,and am the owner of a Companion Cat who without I would have gave up years ago,but having this animal has kept me sane...Now I Understand that there are those among us who resent the fact that we (Poor & Disabled) even breath the same air that you do,but try to give us a break,I am sure you will get your just deserts for possibly becoming human for once in your life!..And do let me apologize for all of us who have possibly ruined your day...And may Good health and enormous wealth fall upon you, you surely deserve it!
Jim

[finchfamily4]

Why don't you all READ the ADA law - clarifies everything for you: Revised ADA Requirements: Service Animals

[Pretzelogik]

Welcome to the people's republic of Oregon.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by finchfamily4

Why don't you all READ the ADA law - clarifies everything for you: Revised ADA Requirements: Service Animals

I suggested that they do so months ago, but it won't happen.

[seasick]

Laws protecting "these the least of my brethren" makes me WANT to move to Oregon! They are vulnerable and it's most important to help and protect them and the animals they get comfort from, rather than take a tight-*** view of it and keep the regulations mean just because there are always a few who will take advantage!

[Mini-apple-less]

It's funny how someone can get away with lugging around their vicious pitbull everywhere by claiming it's a "service dog" while my apartment didn't even allow me to get a kitten.

[peaceloveandjulie]

You know, I haven't rented in 20 years, since I bought my first home when I was in my late 20s. In my 30s, I was stricken with Systemic Lupus, struggled mightily to keep working until it finally became impossible in my 40s. I was declared disabled by both Social Security and the teacher retirement system but I've fought against labels, stereotypes, and being "overly accommodated." Having my own home, with nothing owed on a mortgage, helps immensely.

But in moving to Oregon and building a smaller, more accessible home there in a Lupus-friendly environment for myself and my little dogs, I thought I might have to rent an apartment for 6 months (less, if possible) while my little home is completed. I knew I'd have to pay a pet deposit and it would be more difficult to find a suitable rental that was both accommodating for me and OK with my dogs. I'd likely have to pay a premium, and I was prepared to do that.

But, honestly? In reading some of these threads and posts from landlords, NO WAY will I rent. Uh-uh. I wasn't looking forward to it, anyway, as I regarded renting as a step backward (albeit temporarily) and money thrown away. I'm NOT willing, though, to be seen and likely treated as a lesser being and potential scam artist because I'm disabled and apparently part of a "protected group" when it comes to housing. I'm honest, fair-minded, as independent as I can be under the circumstances, and don't "use" my illness to gain advantage. Hellz, I don't even use my handicap placard in my car unless I am having a really bad day, mobility- and pain-wise.

Nope, I'm going to buy a used RV, plunk it on my land, and live in that while my place is being built. And it can serve as overflow guest quarters for family and friends who come to visit me when I'm done with it. Or I can sell it. But my 2 little dogs and I won't be wading into the potential landlord cesspool of really crappy attitudes toward potential tenants. I have better things to do with my energy than deal with suspicion, accusation, and latent aggression simply because I'm disabled and, therefore, "protected." I can protect myself just fine, thank you, by not renting at all!

[peaceloveandjulie]

Btw, it was this remark that made my jaw drop:

Low income tenants can go sleep in the gutter and they should thank their state legislature when they can't find a place to rent because their legislature has driven landlords out of the business.

Low income tenants can go sleep in the gutter ...? Really? That's how you choose to frame your "argument?" Methinks the new law and the state legislature aren't the biggest problem here and that enough attitudes like this one regarding the poor and the ill are what force government to get involved. Sheesh.