OKPOLICY.ORG
As the gap between housing costs and wages increases, Oklahoma lawmakers should explore all options to increase housing supply and reduce evictions. Bills that make relatively small changes to Oklahoma’s Landlord Tenant Act — the laws that define the rights of landlords and tenants — and the eviction process can improve housing stability for Oklahoma renters. Other bills filed can help close the gap between demand for affordable housing and the number of available rental units. Furthermore, legislators should reject efforts to further criminalize and stigmatize Oklahomans experiencing homelessness and vote against creating more barriers for the shelters trying to serve them.
Legislators can vote to increase housing stability for Oklahoma renters
Lawmakers are trying again to extend the window between when tenants receive notice and when they must appear in court, after Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed a similar bill last year. Senate Bill 1209 by Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, would exclude Sundays and federal holidays from the eviction timeline. This would allow tenants more time to make up back rent, arrange time off work or childcare to attend their court hearing, or simply secure alternate housing to avoid homelessness. A small increase in the eviction timeline could also ease the strain on courts overwhelmed by rising eviction caseloads . SB 1209 passed the Senate and House policy committee and now heads to the House Judiciary and Public Safety Oversight committee.
Legislators can also make it possible for tenants to hold bad actor landlords accountable.
Currently, tenants have little recourse when landlords fail to make needed repairs to their rentals. Tenants can deduct up to one month’s rent to make repairs when landlords fail to take action, but this is not enough to cover larger, more expensive repairs. House Bill 2015 by Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, would allow tenants to recover damages and reasonable attorney’s fees if they take their landlord to court and prevail. This small change can help ensure tenants aren’t faced with a choice between unsafe housing and homelessness. HB 2015 passed the House and heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Lawmakers have the opportunity to keep families with children housed and improve student outcomes by passing HB 3386 by Rep. Amanda Clinton, D-Tulsa, which requires mediation in eviction cases involving families with children. Eviction mediation uses a neutral third-party facilitator to negotiate an agreement between landlord and tenant, with the goal of avoiding eviction. These types of programs have been successful in keeping people housed in other states. HB 3386 passed the House and now heads to the Senate.
Oklahoma needs more housing for low-income families, but legislators passed on several bills to increase supply
Oklahoma has a shortage of about 84,000 affordable, available rental units for extremely low-income households, defined as those making 30 percent of the area median income, or about $20,000. Exclusionary single-family zoning , insufficient infrastructure , and the rising cost of materials make it difficult for developers to build housing for the lowest-income households with the greatest need.
Sen. Kirt filed three bills to address housing supply, but none of these bills were heard in time for the legislative deadline:
- SB 1332 would have created a grant program to help communities cover infrastructure costs.
- SB 1393 would have created an income tax credit for developers to repurpose underutilized structures like unused office buildings into affordable housing; and
- SB 1545 would have allowed faith-based organizations to build affordable housing on their property.
HB 4203 by Rep. Suzanne Schreiber, D-Tulsa, would require updated guidelines on single-exit fire safety to keep housing costs down without compromising safety. HB 4203 passed the House and now heads to the Senate Business and Insurance Committee.
Bills such as these, which can help lower the cost of housing development and remove red tape, would help communities build the housing they need.
Punishing people experiencing homelessness and the communities that are trying to help is not the answer
The Trump administration has led efforts to criminalize homelessness and move away from proven solutions like Housing First — a model that prioritizes getting people into stable housing before addressing other issues like addiction or mental health. Unfortunately, some states, including Oklahoma, are following suit and filing legislation to penalize people experiencing homelessness and the communities that serve them.
The Oklahoma Legislature passed a bill in 2024 prohibiting unauthorized camping on state-owned land. This year, SB 2046 by Sen. Lisa Standridge, R-Norman, would require that homeless encampments — gatherings of people living in tents and similar structures — be inspected by the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Public Safety and be removed if they do not meet environmental and sanitation standards. Thankfully, this bill did not get a vote in time for that last legislative deadline, but another bill that would place additional red tape on homeless shelters continues to advance.
HB 3131 by Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, would create new health, safety, and reporting requirements for homeless shelters. Homeless shelters are already subject to numerous federal and local regulations regarding health, safety, and financial transparency. This bill does nothing but create more work and costs for already stretched shelter staff. The responsibility for creating these new standards would fall to the State Department of Health, but no additional funding would be provided for this work. HB 3131 passed the House and is now before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
None of these bills addresses the root cause of homelessness — lack of affordable housing and low incomes.
More work to address Oklahoma’s housing crisis is needed, but legislators can take a step in the right direction this session
One state legislative session won’t fix our affordable housing shortage. Oklahoma still needs a comprehensive housing plan, sustained public investments to enable developers to build affordable housing for our lowest-income families, and wages that keep pace with rising housing costs. In addition, this session will end with Oklahoma as one of only six states with out a law protecting renters who complain about unsafe conditions from retaliation . Eviction records here also remain publicly available to potential landlords for life — even if the case was dismissed, the tenant won, or it happened decades ago.
However, bills that support communities, help developers build affordable housing by removing barriers, and fund needed infrastructure would benefit Oklahomans. Bills to help tenants avoid eviction and keep them in safe housing build housing stability.
Experience has shown us what doesn’t work: legislation that makes the work of homeless shelters harder and creates even more barriers for Oklahomans experiencing homelessness.
Lawmakers have the tools and opportunities to build a state where every Oklahoman has access to safe, stable housing. The question is whether they’ll use them. This session, hopefully, they will.
