Oregon landlord-tenant laws live in ORS Chapter 90, the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, which governs almost every residential rental in the state — apartments, houses, manufactured homes, and RVs where a landlord-tenant relationship exists.1Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 90 – Residential Landlord and Tenant Compared with most states, Oregon’s rules tilt noticeably toward tenants: a statewide cap on rent increases, mandatory relocation payments in many no-cause terminations, and one of the broadest retaliation statutes in the country. Here is what both sides need to know.
How Much Rent Can Go Up Each Year
Oregon caps annual rent increases at the lesser of 10% or 7% plus the September change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, West Region.2Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.324 – Calculation of Maximum Rent Increase For 2026, that works out to 9.5%.3State of Oregon. Rent Stabilization The 10% ceiling holds even in high-inflation years.
Rent cannot go up without at least 90 days’ written notice. Two carve-outs matter. The cap does not apply to buildings whose first certificate of occupancy was issued less than 15 years before the increase notice, which exempts most newer construction. Week-to-week tenancies are also outside the cap.4Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.323 – Maximum Rent Increase
Security Deposits and Getting Yours Back
Oregon does not limit how much a landlord can collect up front. What the law controls is what happens after move-out. Within 31 days of the tenant surrendering possession, the landlord must send a written, itemized accounting of anything withheld and return the balance.5Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.300 – Security Deposits; Prepaid Rent
Deductions are allowed for unpaid rent and damage beyond normal wear and tear. Routine cleaning cannot be deducted unless the tenant left the unit in worse condition than when they moved in. If the landlord blows the 31-day deadline or withholds money in bad faith, the tenant can sue for twice the amount wrongfully kept. Documenting the unit’s condition at move-in and move-out with photos and a signed checklist is the single most effective way to avoid a fight later.
Pet Deposits and Assistance Animals
Landlords can require a pet deposit or pet rent for regular pets. They cannot charge any pet-specific fee or deposit for an assistance animal, which covers both service animals and emotional support animals. The regular security deposit still applies, and if the assistance animal causes damage, the cost of repair comes out of that deposit the same as damage from any other source.
Late Fees and the Four-Day Grace Period
Rent is late once the fourth day of the rental period passes. Only then can a late fee be charged, and only if the lease spells out which of three structures applies.6Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 90.260 – Late Rent Payment Charge or Fee; Restrictions; Calculation The options are a flat per-period fee reasonable for the local market, a daily fee starting the fifth day that cannot exceed 6% of the flat fee, or a 5%-of-rent charge for each five-day block the payment stays overdue. If the lease is silent on the structure and the exact amount, no late fee is enforceable.
Habitability and What Tenants Can Do About Problems
The landlord must keep the unit habitable throughout the tenancy. Under ORS 90.320, a unit falls short if it substantially lacks weatherproofing, working plumbing connected to approved sewage, adequate heating, or safe electrical systems.7Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.320 – Landlord to Maintain Premises in Habitable Condition State law requires “adequate” heat but does not fix a minimum temperature; some local codes do, such as Portland’s 68°F standard.
When heat, water, or electricity goes out because the landlord acted intentionally or negligently, the tenant has stronger options. After written notice and a reasonable period to fix the problem, the tenant can arrange the service and deduct the actual cost from rent, recover damages based on the reduced value of the unit, or move to substitute housing and stop paying rent entirely while the unit is unsafe.8Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.365 – Failure of Landlord to Supply Essential Services; Remedies
Repair-and-Deduct Up to $300
For smaller habitability issues that do not knock out an essential service, ORS 90.368 lets the tenant handle the repair. First comes written notice describing the defect and stating that the tenant will fix it if the landlord does not act within at least seven days. If the landlord still has not acted, the tenant can hire someone, pay for competent work that meets code, and deduct up to $300 from a future rent payment with a written statement from the person who did the work showing actual cost.9Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.368 – Repair of Minor Habitability Defect
When a Landlord Can Enter
Entry for inspections, repairs, showings, and similar legitimate reasons requires at least 24 hours’ actual notice, and the entry must happen at a reasonable time.10Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.322 – Landlord or Agent Access to Premises The statute does not fix specific hours, so what counts as reasonable depends on the circumstances. Repeated or harassing entries violate the law.
Two exceptions change the rule. A genuine emergency involving danger to life or property allows entry with no notice. And when a tenant requests repairs in writing, the landlord can enter to do that specific work without separate 24-hour notice, though that standing authorization expires after seven days unless the work is ongoing and the landlord is actively trying to finish.
Ending a Tenancy
How a tenancy ends depends on who is ending it, why, and how long the tenant has been there. Using the wrong notice period can void the termination.
For a Lease Violation
If a tenant violates the lease in some way other than nonpayment, the landlord issues a 30-day written notice describing the violation, and the tenant has at least 14 days to cure. Cure within that window and the tenancy continues. Repeat substantially the same violation within six months and the landlord can issue a 10-day notice with no right to cure.11Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.392 – Termination of Tenancy for Cause; Tenant Right to Cure Violation
For Nonpayment of Rent
Month-to-month and fixed-term tenancies get one of two notice forms under ORS 90.394: a 10-day notice that cannot issue until the eighth day of the rental period, or a 13-day notice that can issue starting the fifth day. Week-to-week tenancies get a 72-hour notice, available starting the fifth day.12Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.394 – Termination of Tenancy for Failure to Pay Rent
No-Cause Terminations and Relocation Pay
During the first year of occupancy, a landlord can end a month-to-month tenancy with 30 days’ written notice and no stated reason. After the first year, no-cause termination is essentially gone. The landlord can end the tenancy only for specific qualifying reasons: plans to demolish or substantially renovate, converting the unit to non-residential use, or moving in the landlord or an immediate family member.13Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.427 – Termination of Tenancy Without Tenant Cause
Those qualifying-reason terminations require 90 days’ written notice and payment to the tenant of one month’s rent as a relocation fee at the time notice is delivered. Landlords who own four or fewer residential rental units are exempt from the relocation payment, but still must give the full 90 days.
Retaliation Is Off-Limits
After a tenant takes certain protected actions, the landlord cannot raise rent, cut services, serve a termination notice, or threaten eviction.14Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.385 – Retaliatory Conduct by Landlord Protected actions include:
- Complaining to the landlord in good faith about a tenancy issue
- Reporting housing, health, or building code violations to a government agency
- Joining or organizing a tenants’ union
- Testifying against the landlord in a legal or administrative proceeding
- Using the unit as a licensed family child care home
- Exercising any right protected by federal, state, or local law
The tenant does not have to prove the landlord meant any harm. It is enough to show the landlord acted because of the protected activity. “Decreasing services” is read broadly and reaches things like cutting off access to common areas used for tenant meetings.
Disclosures the Landlord Owes You
Several written disclosures must be in place at or before the start of a tenancy. Missing one can create real liability.
- Any utility the tenant pays that also benefits other tenants or the landlord, such as shared water or common-area electricity, has to be disclosed in writing before the tenancy begins.15Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 90.315 – Utility or Service Payments; Additional Charges; Responsibility for Utility or Service; Remedies
- The smoking policy must be stated in the rental agreement itself.16Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.220 – Terms and Conditions of Rental Agreement; Smoking Policy; Rent Obligation, Increases and Payment
- In buildings with four or fewer units, pending foreclosure notices, foreclosure suits, and tax lien proceedings must be disclosed in writing before signing.17Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.310 – Disclosure of Legal Proceedings
- A unit with a carbon monoxide source cannot be rented without working CO alarms, and the landlord must provide written testing instructions at move-in.18Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 90.316 – Carbon Monoxide Alarm
- If the unit sits within a FEMA-designated 100-year floodplain, that fact goes in the rental agreement.19Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.228 – Notice of Location in 100-Year Flood Plain
- For any unit built before 1978, federal law requires a lead-based paint disclosure and the EPA lead hazards pamphlet.
The penalty for failing to disclose a pending legal proceeding is steep. A tenant who moves because of the undisclosed circumstance can recover twice the actual damages or twice the monthly rent, whichever is greater, plus all prepaid rent.17Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.310 – Disclosure of Legal Proceedings
Breaking a Lease After Domestic Violence
A tenant who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or a bias crime can end the lease with 14 days’ written notice. The notice names any immediate family members being released and must be accompanied by verification — a protective order, police report, criminal conviction, or signed statement from the tenant together with a qualified third party such as a law enforcement officer, attorney, or licensed health professional.20Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.453 – Release of Victim From Tenancy
Once released, the tenant and listed family members owe no rent or damages after the release date, and no early-termination fee can be charged. The qualifying incident must have happened within 90 days before the notice, though time the perpetrator spent incarcerated or living more than 100 miles away does not count against that window.
Belongings Left Behind
If a tenant leaves property behind after move-out, the landlord cannot just throw it out. ORS 90.425 requires written notice to the tenant by personal delivery or first-class mail to the unit, any known P.O. box, and the most recent forwarding address on file.21Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.425 – Disposition of Personal Property Abandoned by Tenant After the notice process runs, the landlord can donate or discard the items. One rule often catches landlords out: they cannot keep abandoned property for their own personal use.