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"We can’t legislate for morality, but we can pass a fair, no cause eviction policy for our communities."
Ben & Marjorie Davis
Bandon
Marjorie and Ben live in Bandon, Oregon. They are senior citizens and are both cancer survivors. Ben is actively fighting liver cancer and is in ongoing, intense treatments. In the middle of this treatment, they were evicted from a home they rented without just cause. They were retaliated against after the landlord refused to pay for utility expenses that the landlord’s daughter incurred while living in a non-permitted home on the same property.
In 2014, Ben and I moved to the Southern Oregon Coast from California. We’ve always wanted to live in Oregon. Ben loves the ocean and for generations, my family has lived in the Coos Bay area. My husband and I both have had recent battles with cancer and we saw Oregon as a place of healing.
Any Oregonian will tell you that our state shares a common set of values. There is a real sense of community here. We take care of one another. That is why my husband and I moved here.
Soon after moving, we rented a mobile home in Bandon where we made friends and quickly became part of the local community. We loved where we lived and we were good, responsible tenants.
But after some time, the landlord’s daughter started living on the same property in another non-permitted home. And we ended up having to pay for her water and electric bills. We didn’t think this was fair, especially because we rely entirely on social security for our income.
We asked the landlord for help with paying for his daughter’s portion of the electric and water bills. He refused. And ultimately, with little notice
and no cause, my husband and I were given 60 days to move out.
The experience and news was devastating, especially to my husband who was seriously ill and requires near full-time care. Because of the stress, my husband lost his appetite and we saw serious increasing problems with his health. He also could no longer get MRI’\s due to the added stress he was under.
I just couldn’t believe the callousness of our landlord. Especially, because he was very aware of my husband’s deteriorating health and his ongoing fight with cancer. Put simply, he wasn’t playing by Oregon rules.
Too many landlords act as the authority and use their power to take advantage of tenants.
No cause evictions are devastating and senior citizens are often hit the hardest. I know we can’t legislative for morality, but we can pass a fair, no cause eviction policy that protects our communities.