Oregon Landlord-Tenant Law PDF: Rent Caps, Deposits, and Notice

The full text of Oregon’s landlord-tenant law lives in ORS Chapter 90, “Residential Landlord and Tenant,” maintained by the Oregon Legislative Counsel and available at no cost on the Legislature’s website; if you want an Oregon landlord tenant law PDF, that is the source to download from, because it is the only version guaranteed to reflect the current session’s amendments.1Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 90 – Residential Landlord and Tenant

Before you rely on any copy, check the publication date on the file itself. Oregon updates Chapter 90 regularly, and a document from even two years ago could be missing significant changes to rent caps, eviction rules, or disclosure requirements. The Oregon State Bar publishes plain-language handbooks that organize the statutes by topic, and those are useful for orientation, but they are summaries. If a handbook and the statute ever seem to contradict each other, the statute controls.

Disclosures a Landlord Must Provide at Move-In

ORS 90.305 requires the landlord to give you, in writing, the name and address of the property manager and of an owner or authorized agent who can accept legal notices on the owner’s behalf.2Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code ORS 90.305 – Disclosure of Certain Matters The rental agreement must also state the smoking policy: whether smoking is banned entirely, allowed everywhere, or restricted to certain areas.3Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 479.305 – Smoking Policy Disclosure

ORS 90.228 requires written notice if the dwelling sits within a 100-year flood plain. Standard renter’s insurance rarely covers flood damage, so a tenant who does not receive this notice can face an uninsured loss without knowing the risk was there.

For housing built before 1978, federal law adds a lead-based paint disclosure. Before you sign, the landlord must give you the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home” and disclose any known lead-based paint hazards.4US EPA. Real Estate Disclosures About Potential Lead Hazards A signed copy must be kept for at least three years.

Habitability Standards

Under ORS 90.320, the landlord must keep the dwelling habitable throughout the tenancy, not just at move-in.5Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 90.320 – Landlord to Maintain Premises in Habitable Condition A unit is unhabitable if it substantially lacks any of these:

  • Weatherproofing on the roof, exterior walls, windows, and doors.
  • Hot and cold running water, safe drinking water, and a working connection to an approved sewage system.
  • Heating that conforms to applicable law and remains in good working order. The state statute does not set a specific temperature floor, though some Oregon cities, Portland for example, require heating capable of maintaining at least 68°F.
  • Lighting, wiring, and electrical equipment that complied with the building code when installed and are kept in safe working order.
  • A working smoke alarm with functioning batteries, provided at the start of each new tenancy.
  • Carbon monoxide alarms, required when the unit contains or is connected to a carbon monoxide source such as a gas furnace or attached garage.
  • Working locks on all entrance doors and latches on all accessible windows. Deadbolts are not specifically required, though many landlords install them voluntarily.
  • Premises free of garbage, rodents, and insect infestations at the start of the tenancy.

Tenants share some responsibility after move-in: keep the unit clean, dispose of garbage properly, use fixtures and appliances as intended, avoid deliberate damage, and test the smoke alarm batteries after the landlord provides working alarms at the start.

What You Can Do When Repairs Aren’t Made

If the landlord intentionally or negligently fails to supply an essential service like heat, water, or electricity, ORS 90.365 lets you send written notice describing the problem and stating that you intend to seek a remedy.6Oregon Public Law. ORS 90.365 – Failure of Landlord to Supply Essential Services After giving the landlord a reasonable amount of time to fix it, you have three options:

  • Repair and deduct. Arrange the essential service yourself and subtract the actual, reasonable cost from your rent.
  • Diminished value. Recover damages based on how much the missing service reduced the unit’s fair rental value.
  • Substitute housing. If the unit is unsafe or unfit to live in, move to comparable housing temporarily. You stop owing rent for the period you’re displaced and can recover the cost of substitute housing that exceeds your normal rent.

For non-essential habitability failures, ORS 90.360 uses a different clock. You give written notice specifying the problem and stating that the lease will terminate if it isn’t fixed within seven days for essential services or 30 days for everything else.1Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 90 – Residential Landlord and Tenant If the landlord fixes it in that window, the tenancy continues. If not, you can treat the lease as terminated and move out.

When a Landlord Can Enter the Unit

ORS 90.322 requires at least 24 hours of actual notice before entry, and entry only at reasonable times.7Oregon Public Law. ORS 90.322 – Landlord or Agent Access to Premises Even with proper notice, the landlord cannot enter if you deny consent, and you can assert that denial either directly or by posting a written denial on your main entrance door.

Exceptions are narrow. In a genuine emergency such as a burst pipe or gas leak, the landlord can enter without notice at any time, and must notify you within 24 hours afterward if the entry happened while you were away. When you request repairs in writing, the landlord can enter without additional notice to complete those specific repairs, but that authorization expires after seven days unless the work is still in progress.

Rent Increase Caps and Notice

Oregon caps annual rent increases for most residential tenancies. The formula is 7% plus the Consumer Price Index, with an absolute ceiling of 10%. For 2026, the maximum allowable increase is 9.5%.8Oregon.gov. Rent Stabilization – Office of Economic Analysis The cap sits in ORS 90.323, which covers most residential rentals. New construction is exempt during its first 15 years, and certain subsidized housing arrangements are also exempt.

Timing rules matter as much as the cap. The landlord cannot raise the rent at all during the first year of a tenancy. After the first year, any increase requires at least 90 days of written notice before it takes effect, and only one increase is allowed per 12-month period.9Oregon Public Law. ORS 90.323 – Maximum Rent Increase; Exceptions The notice must state both the dollar amount of the increase and the new total rent. A rent increase that skips any of these steps is unenforceable.

Late Fees

Under ORS 90.260, a landlord cannot impose a late fee unless rent remains unpaid by the fourth day of the rental period, so you effectively have three days after the due date before a penalty applies.10Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code ORS 90.260 – Late Rent Payment Charge or Fee The fee must be reasonable, and three things have to appear in the written rental agreement for the charge to be enforceable: the obligation to pay a late charge, the type and amount of the charge, and the specific dates when rent is due and when the late fee begins.

Security Deposits

Your claim to the deposit is protected. The landlord holds it for you during the tenancy, and your claim comes ahead of any creditor of the landlord, including in bankruptcy.

After you move out and return possession, the landlord has 31 days to either return the full deposit or provide a written, itemized accounting of any deductions.11Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 90.300 – Security Deposits Deductions are limited to actual damages beyond normal wear and tear. A scuffed floor from years of ordinary use is wear and tear; a hole punched in a wall is not. Landlords cannot charge for routine cleaning or maintenance that would be needed between any two tenancies regardless of how the departing tenant left the unit.

If the landlord fails to return the deposit within 31 days, withholds money in bad faith, or withholds funds without providing the required written accounting, you can recover twice the amount that was improperly withheld. In practice, a landlord who never sends an accounting is exposed to more liability than the deposit itself.

Ending a Tenancy

How a tenancy ends depends on who is leaving, how long you have been there, and what kind of lease you have.

During the First Year

For month-to-month tenancies in the first year, either party can terminate with 30 days’ written notice, and no reason is required.12Oregon Public Law. ORS 90.427 – Termination of Tenancy Without Tenant Cause Week-to-week tenancies require 10 days’ notice.

After the First Year

Once you have been in the unit more than a year, the landlord’s ability to end the tenancy without cause is significantly restricted. Termination for a tenant-caused reason, such as nonpayment of rent or lease violations, is still available. A no-cause termination, though, requires a “qualifying landlord reason.” Those include:

  • Demolishing the unit or converting it to non-residential use.
  • Major renovations that make the unit unsafe or uninhabitable during the work.
  • The landlord or an immediate family member moving in as a primary residence.
  • A buyer who intends to occupy the unit as their primary residence, with written evidence of the purchase offer.

In each of these cases, the landlord must give at least 90 days’ written notice, state the specific reason and supporting facts in the notice, and pay the tenant relocation assistance equal to one month’s rent at the time the notice is delivered. Landlords who own four or fewer residential rental units are not required to pay the relocation assistance.

Fixed-term leases expire on their own terms, but a landlord who does not intend to renew must still follow these notice and relocation rules if the tenancy has lasted beyond the first year.

Retaliation Is Prohibited

Under ORS 90.385, a landlord cannot raise your rent, reduce services, or serve a termination notice in retaliation after you:13Oregon Public Law. ORS 90.385 – Retaliatory Conduct by Landlord

  • Complain to the landlord in good faith about a condition related to the tenancy.
  • Report or threaten to report a building, health, or housing code violation to a government agency.
  • Join or organize a tenants’ union.
  • Testify against the landlord in a legal or administrative proceeding.
  • Use the dwelling as a licensed family child care home.
  • Exercise any other right protected by federal, state, or local law.

These protections come up most often in habitability disputes, where a tenant who reports code violations or invokes repair-and-deduct rights sometimes sees a suspiciously timed rent increase or termination notice. That is the pattern ORS 90.385 is designed to catch.

Fair Housing and Source of Income

Beyond the federal Fair Housing Act’s protections against discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability, ORS 659A.421 adds sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, and source of income.14Oregon State Legislature. ORS 659A – Unlawful Discrimination

The source-of-income protection matters especially for tenants using Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8) or other government assistance. A landlord cannot refuse to rent to you, advertise “No Section 8,” or impose different terms simply because part of the rent is paid by a housing subsidy.15Oregon Public Law. ORS 659A.421 – Discrimination in Selling, Renting or Leasing Real Property The landlord can still reject an applicant who genuinely cannot afford the rent, but the affordability calculation must count the value of any housing assistance the applicant receives. Turning someone down because the money comes from a voucher rather than a paycheck is illegal in Oregon.