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29 days of sending it to the tenant.93 Such reporting requirements allow proactive outreach by city government to share information and resources that may allow tenants to avoid eviction and displacement. They also allow enable real-time data collection to better understand where and why evictions are happening. Other ordinances connect just cause to relocation benefits. For example, San Francisco’s ordinance requires landlords to provide relocation benefits when they evict tenants for a subset of the just causes.94 Uniquely, Portland allows no-cause evictions and non-renewals but only when landlords pay relocation fees.95 Challenges to Just Cause Protections There are many critics of extending just cause protections. The primary arguments for not passing just cause ordinances revolve around two issues – first, that just cause is not needed; and secondly, that it is an undue burden for housing providers. Critics argue that just cause protections, particularly in a state that does not allow rent control, is not needed nor effective in reducing displacement of low income tenants. Opponents point to the fact that the majority of evictions are filed because of nonpayment of rent, a “just cause” for termination of tenancy, rather than retaliation or other issues that just cause protection would attempt to eradicate. However, as mentioned above, just cause protections are not directed at formal evictions, but are targeted at the “informal” lease termination or nonrenewal, the cases where court is not implicated. These are the cases where retaliation is most prevalent, and they are unlikely to make it to a courtroom. It is hard to estimate how many households this would affect, since it is hard to collect data on private housing provider notices of termination; however, the qualitative data from legal service providers demonstrates that the fact that a housing provider can give notice to tenants of a termination of lease without the requirement of a reason has a chilling effect on tenants asserting such rights as contacting inspections or making repair requests. The second issue that opponents raise is that requiring good cause to end a lease may have the effect of housing providers taking less risks in renting to tenants that may not meet all screening standards. Providers argue that the ability to give a notice to terminate or not renew a lease without a reason allows an “out” when a tenant is not working out well, there are personality conflicts, or there are other issues that may not rise to the level of “good cause,” but that make it a difficult working relationship. If a city opts to create a just cause protection ordinance, there may be additional incentives that cities can provide to encourage housing 93 The Boston City Council approved the ordinance in 2017 after removing the just cause requirements. A home-rule petition, the ordinance failed to get the required State approval in 2018. Meghna Chakrabarti & Jamie Bologna, How Boston’s Big Attempt at Rental Law Reform Failed, WBUR, May 16, 2018, http://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2018/05/16/jim-brooks- housing-act-recap. 94 CAREY LUCIA DUNFEY, WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED: ADVOCACY AND POLICY IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING BOSTON 45 (2017). https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/111387/1003291719-MIT.pdf?sequence=1 95 Portland Housing Bureau, Mandatory Renter Relocation Assistance, CITY OF PORTLAND OREGON, https://www.portlandoregon.gov/phb/74544.