Kurt Lane
Kurt Lane is the owner of Chroma Property Management in Portland. Prior to starting Chroma in late 2019 he was a rental property owner in Portland and Detroit, Michigan for the better part of a decade. Chroma offers full-service property management for single-family and multi-unit properties as well as a suite of services for ADU owners including tenant screening, application processing, and lease preparation. His area of expertise includes state and local regulations impacting the ADU community.
Questions Asked and Answered
Tell us briefly about your personal background with real estate and property management.
Let’s talk in broad strokes about trends in terms of landlord tenant laws in west coast cities that are facing an affordable housing crisis, which is largely where we are seeing the most ADU activity.
ADUs are largely developed by amateur homeowner developers. Many of these homeowners become landlords for the first time when they finish their ADU, and rent out the ADU or the primary house. What are some best practices to convey for first time landlords?
Does renters living on the same property with owner occupied properties provide any separate legal protections to landlords or tenants that are not afforded to non-owner occupied, investment properties? Describe these protections?
Can you briefly describe some of the recent changes that have occured in local Portland rental regulations in terms of screening laws?
I’m generally concerned about how more restrictive rental regulations could adversely impact housing production in the ADU space, especially in CA. As a policy matter, I’d generally like to see some carve legal exemptions for screening and lease duration flexibility for owner occupied properties, so that owners have a bit more control over who they’re living with. What do you think about this idea as it would apply to ADUs and middle housing (owner occupied triplexes/fourplexes) generally?
Despite the seemingly complicated set of rules for being a landlord, my experience has been that it is easy, and only rarely do situations present a problem, especially when the owner is living on the property. What are some reasons that an owner-occupied ADU owner would want to consider giving up 8-10% of their monthly income to use a property manager? Or, do you agree that it’s not really needed?
One motivation of why many build ADUs is to have flexible housing arrangements, yet there’s a tension here with STRs. Let’s talk about fixed term or other alternative lease structures as an option for providing mid-term lease arrangements. What are some considerations here?
What are some other business innovations that could help make the landlording process better? Any predictions around how COVID is going to impact the rental market for ADUs?
You describe that a buyer is considering an owner occupied duplex, or a property with an ADU or duplex, and is concerned about the new rules. This buyer is EXEMPT from Rental Relocation Assistance. Let’s dive into this, as an illustration of the complexity of this type of regulation. Will it apply to middle housing? As a policy measure, what are your thoughts about this type of easing up on regulations?