Public Records

Public records requests of Home Forward must be made in writing. You may either:

1. Submit the form directly using the Records Request Online Form
2. Download the form and e-mail Martha.Calhoon@homeforward.org
3. Download the form and mail or deliver in person to:

Once a public records request is received via the appropriate channel, Home Forward will acknowledge receipt of the request within five business days,[1] unless the request is fulfilled before then.[2]

After acknowledging the request, Home Forward will complete the request as soon as practicable and without unreasonable delay.[3] If Home Forward is not able to complete the request in 15-days, Home Forward will inform the requestor within 15 days of the original request and provide an estimate of the time it will take to complete the request. If Home Forward is not able to complete the request within the estimated time, Home Forward will let the requestor know as soon as reasonably possible and provide an updated estimate.

Home Forward will provide a copy of the public record in the form requested, if available, or in the form in which Home Forward maintains the public record,[4] but will not create new records in new formats in order to satisfy a request.

If Home Forward determines, based on the nature of the request, that it will charge a fee for fulfilling a public records request, Home Forward will provide the requestor with a written cost and time estimate for providing the document within one week of the initial response to the requestor. No staff time shall be expended to respond to the request prior to receipt of the requestor’s written authorization to proceed and agreement to pay the costs incurred.  The documents shall not be released without the requestor’s payment of the applicable fee. If the fee estimate exceeds $25 and no fee waiver is granted, a 50% deposit may be required to begin work.

If the request includes copies, Home Forward will charge copy fees in accordance with the City of Portland’s most recently adopted fee schedule.

If the request requires more than three hours of staff time, research, or attorney review, additional labor fees may be charged for any time spent, including time spent locating, reviewing, redacting, copying, and supervising a person’s inspection of original records in order to protect them, research time to locate and analyze the requested records, even if no records are located or if the requested records are determined to be exempt from disclosure, and any time spent notifying public employees of requests for employee personal information.

The fee for staff time expended responding to public records requests will be calculated as: Individual staff hourly pay rate plus 59% health and benefits charge (Fee = hourly pay rate x 1.59 x time spent).

Home Forward will charge labor fees if Home Forward determines that a request requires review by an attorney. The fee for attorney review will reflect actual costs to Home Forward and may include time spent by an attorney to review, redact, or segregate records for possible exemptions. 

Home Forward may provide copies of public records without charge or at a substantially reduced fee if we determine that the waiver or reduction of fees is in the public interest because making the record available primarily benefits the general public.[5]

Home Forward will determine whether to waive or reduce fees on a case-by-case basis and will consider criteria recommended by the Oregon Attorney General when making those decisions[6].