MHCO Columns

Phil Querin Q&A: Resident Convicted of Sex Crime Is Released From Jail. What Can Be Done To Prevent This?

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Phil Querin

Answer: I assume when he was first accepted as a resident he did not have a criminal record for any sex offenses. The statute that comes into play is ORS 90.630 (Termination by landlord; causes; notice; cure; repeated nonpayment of rent.) It provides, in part: " ... the landlord may terminate a rental agreement that is a month-to-month or fixed term tenancy for space for a manufactured dwelling or floating home by giving to the tenant not less than 30 days' notice in writing before the date designated in the notice for termination if the tenant: (c) Is determined to be a predatory sex offender under ORS 181.585 to 181.587;" This statute has only been in existence for a few years. As I read it, assuming that at the commencement of the tenancy, a landlord ran a criminal background check on a prospective resident and nothing showed him to be a sex offender - and they he later committed a sexual offence - you can evict them at as soon as you find out. In this case, it would seem that you can exclude him on that basis alone. Had this law been on the books when he committed the crime, and he didn'tgo to jail, you could have evicted him at the time. Now that it's on the books, I think you have the same right to keep him out, i.e. to protect the residents' visiting grandchildren. The only issue is whether he is '_a predatory sex offender under ORS 181.585 to 181.587." Here is what those statutes say, and I imagine you will have to verify whether he falls into one of the categories. 181.585 "Predatory sex offender" defined; determination. (1) For purposes of ORS 181.585 to 181.587, a person is a predatory sex offender if the person exhibits characteristics showing a tendency to victimize or injure others and has been convicted of a sex crime listed in ORS 181.594 (5)(a) to (d), has been convicted of attempting to commit one of those crimes or has been found guilty except for insanity of one of those crimes. (2) In determining whether a person is a predatory sex offender, an agency shall use a sex offender risk assessment scale approved by the Department of Corrections or a community corrections agency. [Formerly 181.507; 1997 c.538 _10; 2005 c.567 _16; 2009 c.713 _14] 81.586 Notice to appropriate persons of supervised predatory sex offender; content; additional duties of supervising agency. (1)(a) If the State Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision for a person on parole or post-prison supervision or the Department of Corrections or a community corrections agency for a person on probation makes a determination that the person under its supervision is a predatory sex offender, the agency supervising the person shall notify: (A) Anyone whom the agency determines is appropriate that the person is a predatory sex offender; and (B) A long term care facility, as defined in ORS 442.015, or a residential care facility, as defined in ORS 443.400, that the person is a predatory sex offender if the agency knows that the person is seeking admission to the facility. (b) When a predatory sex offender has been subsequently convicted of another crime and is on supervision for that crime, the agency supervising the person, regardless of the nature of the crime for which the person is being supervised: (A) May notify anyone whom the agency determines is appropriate that the person is a predatory sex offender; and (B) Shall notify a long term care facility, as defined in ORS 442.015, or a residential care facility, as defined in ORS 443.400, that the person is a predatory sex offender if the agency knows that the person is seeking admission to the facility. (2) In making a determination under subsection (1) of this section, the agency shall consider notifying: (a) The person's family; (b) The person's sponsor; (c) Residential neighbors and churches, community parks, schools, convenience stores, businesses and other places that children or other potential victims may frequent; and (d) Any prior victim of the offender. (3) When an agency determines that notification is necessary, the agency may use any method of communication that the agency determines is appropriate. The notification: (a) May include, but is not limited to, distribution of the following information: (A) The person's name and address; (B) A physical description of the person including, but not limited to, the person's age, height, weight and eye and hair color; (C) The type of vehicle that the person is known to drive; (D) Any conditions or restrictions upon the person's probation, parole, post-prison supervision or conditional release; (E) A description of the person's primary and secondary targets; (F) A description of the person's method of offense; (G) A current photograph of the person; and (H) The name or telephone number of the person's parole and probation officer. (b) Shall include, if the notification is required under subsection (1)(a)(B) or (b)(B) of this section, the information described in paragraph (a)(D), (F) and (H) of this subsection. (4) Not later than 10 days after making its determination that a person is a predatory sex offender, the agency supervising the person shall: (a) Notify the Department of State Police of the person's status as a predatory sex offender; (b) Enter into the Law Enforcement Data System the fact that the person is a predatory sex offender; and (c) Send to the Department of State Police, by electronic or other means, all of the information listed in subsection (3) of this section that is available. (5) When the Department of State Police receives information regarding a person under subsection (4) of this section, the Department of State Police, upon request, may make the information available to the public. (6) Upon termination of its supervision of a person determined to be a predatory sex offender, the agency supervising the person shall: (a) Notify the Department of State Police: (A) Of the person's status as a predatory sex offender; (B) Whether the agency made a notification regarding the person under this section; and (C) Of the person's level of supervision immediately prior to termination of supervision; and (b) Send to the Department of State Police, by electronic or other means, the documents relied upon in determining that the person is a predatory sex offender and in establishing the person's level of supervision. (7) The agency supervising a person determined to be a predatory sex offender shall verify the residence address of the person every 90 days. [Formerly 181.508; 1997 c.538 _11; 1999 c.626 _10; 1999 c.843 _2; amendments by 1999 c.626 _33 and 1999 c.843 _3 repealed by 2001 c.884 _1; 2001 c.884 _11; 2005 c.671 _11] 181.587 Availability of information on supervised predatory sex offender. (1) Unless the agency determines that release of the information would substantially interfere with the treatment or rehabilitation of the supervised person, an agency that supervises a predatory sex offender shall make any information regarding the person that the agency determines is appropriate, including, but not limited to, the information listed in ORS 181.586 (3), available to any other person upon request. (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, the agency shall make the information listed in ORS 181.586 (3), or any other information regarding the supervised person that the agency determines is appropriate, available to any other person upon request if the person under supervision: (a) Is a predatory sex offender; and (b) Is neglecting to take treatment or participate in rehabilitation. [Formerly 181.509] MHCO Note: The law regarding the eviction of sexual predators was championed by MHCO several years ago. Through MHCO's efforts in the Landlord-Tenant Coalition, MHCO was able to change Oregon Statutes to give Landlords in manufactured home communities the right to evict an existing resident in a community who is discovered to be a predatory sex offender.