Oregon Renters Rights Laws and Tenant Protections

Oregon renters’ rights are set by the state’s Residential Landlord and Tenant Act in ORS Chapter 90, and most of them cannot be signed away in a lease. A landlord who deliberately writes prohibited terms into a rental agreement can owe the tenant up to one year’s rent on top of actual damages.¹ The protections cover rent increases, habitability, privacy, security deposits, discrimination, retaliation, and eviction, and several of them go beyond the federal baseline.

How Much Can Rent Go Up

Oregon caps annual rent increases for most residential tenancies. The maximum for 2026 is 9.5%.² The Department of Administrative Services publishes a new figure by September 30 each year, calculated as the lesser of 10% or 7% plus the 12-month average change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, West Region.³

A landlord can raise rent only once in any 12-month period and must give at least 90 days’ written notice stating the new amount and the effective date.⁴ An increase that exceeds the cap or skips the required notice is unenforceable.

One exemption worth knowing: buildings whose first certificate of occupancy was issued less than 15 years before the date of the rent increase notice are not subject to the cap.⁴ Newer buildings can see larger jumps.

Habitability and Repairs

Every Oregon landlord must keep the unit livable for the entire tenancy. The statute names specific systems: a weather-tight roof and exterior walls, working plumbing, heating that actually warms the unit, and safe electrical wiring. Floors, walls, and ceilings must be in good repair, and the building must be free of accumulated garbage and pests.⁵ Reporting a problem starts with written notice to the landlord describing what’s wrong. What you can do next depends on how serious it is.

When Essential Services Fail

If the landlord intentionally or negligently fails to supply an essential service such as heat, running water, or electricity, you have options after giving written notice and allowing a reasonable time to fix it. You can arrange the service yourself and deduct the actual, reasonable cost from your next rent payment. You can pursue a rent reduction reflecting the diminished value of the unit. In severe cases you can find substitute housing while the landlord pays the reasonable cost.⁶

Minor Repairs

For smaller issues like a leaky faucet, a clogged toilet, or a faulty light switch, Oregon has a separate repair-and-deduct remedy capped at $300. You give the landlord written notice describing the defect and stating that you intend to have it repaired. The landlord gets at least seven days. If nothing happens by the deadline, you can hire someone and deduct up to $300 from your next rent. You cannot do the work yourself, and the landlord may reasonably specify who performs it.⁷

Protections Against Eviction

Oregon’s eviction rules are among the strongest in the country. After the first year of occupancy, a landlord cannot end your tenancy without a specific reason recognized by law.⁸ This for-cause requirement gives long-term tenants real security.

Nonpayment Notices

If rent is unpaid, the notice period depends on tenancy type:

Week-to-week tenancies get a 72-hour notice, issued no sooner than the fifth day of the rental period.
All other tenancies get either a 10-day notice (issued no sooner than the eighth day) or a 13-day notice (issued no sooner than the fifth day).⁹

The 72-hour notice is reserved for week-to-week tenancies. If your landlord serves one on a month-to-month or fixed-term lease, that is a defense to the eviction.

No-Cause Terminations With Relocation Pay

A landlord can end a tenancy for qualifying landlord reasons such as moving a family member into the unit or performing major renovations. These require a 90-day written notice, and the landlord must pay the tenant relocation assistance equal to one month’s rent at the time the notice is delivered. Landlords who own four or fewer rental units are exempt from the relocation payment.⁸

Federally Backed Properties

If your building has a federally backed mortgage or participates in federal programs like public housing, Housing Choice Vouchers, or the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, the CARES Act requires at least 30 days’ notice before you can be required to vacate. This requirement has no expiration date and applies on top of any state notice.¹⁰

Survivors of Domestic Violence

Victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or a bias crime can break a lease early by giving at least 14 days’ written notice. The notice must state the release date and include verification such as a protective order, a police report, a criminal conviction, or a qualifying written statement. After the release date, you owe no further rent or damages, and no early termination fee applies.¹¹

Active-Duty Military

Under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, Permanent Change of Station orders or deployment orders of more than 90 days let you terminate the lease early. Deliver written notice and a copy of your orders to the landlord at least 30 days before the intended termination; the lease ends 30 days after the next rent payment is due.¹² If military service materially affects your ability to pay rent, you can also ask a court to halt eviction proceedings for up to 90 days. Be careful about signing any document labeled as an SCRA waiver at lease signing.

Security Deposit Returns

After you move out and hand over possession, the landlord has 31 days to either return the full deposit or send a written accounting of every deduction. The accounting must separate security deposit withholdings from any prepaid rent withholdings.¹³

Deductions are limited to damage beyond normal wear and tear, and to cleaning that returns the unit to move-in condition. Scuffed paint from hanging pictures and worn carpet from everyday use are wear and tear. Holes in drywall and pet stains are not.

If the landlord misses the 31-day deadline or withholds any portion in bad faith, you can sue for twice the amount wrongfully withheld.¹³ The double-damage rule applies both when the landlord skips the accounting entirely and when the accounting is provided but the deductions are made in bad faith.

Discrimination and Source of Income

Oregon’s fair housing law reaches further than federal law. On top of the federal categories (race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability), state law bars discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, and source of income.¹⁴ A landlord cannot reject you because your rent would be paid through a housing voucher, Social Security, or another assistance program. Discrimination can also look like quoting different lease terms to different applicants, steering applicants to specific units, or claiming a unit is unavailable when it isn’t.

Under the federal Fair Housing Act, landlords must allow assistance animals as a reasonable accommodation for tenants with disabilities, even in buildings with no-pet policies, and cannot charge a pet deposit or pet rent for the animal.¹⁵

Entry and Privacy

A landlord can enter for repairs, inspections, agreed services, or showings, but must give at least 24 hours’ actual notice and enter at a reasonable time.¹⁶ True emergencies, where immediate access is needed to prevent damage or protect safety, are the exception. You can refuse entry when the landlord shows up without proper notice and it isn’t an emergency, and repeated violations support a claim for interference with your right to quiet enjoyment.

Late Fees and Application Charges

Late fees are tightly limited. A landlord cannot charge one unless rent is at least four days past due, and the lease must spell out both the amount and when it applies. The fee itself can be a reasonable flat amount for the rental period, a daily charge starting on the fifth day capped at 6% of the flat fee amount per day, or 5% of monthly rent charged once for each five-day period the payment stays overdue.¹⁷

A landlord cannot deduct an old late fee from your current rent and then treat that payment as short to trigger a new late fee or nonpayment notice. Failing to pay a late fee by itself is not grounds for a nonpayment eviction, though it can support a separate lease-violation notice.¹⁷

Screening charges cannot exceed the landlord’s actual average screening cost or the customary amount charged by screening companies for comparable screening. Before accepting payment, the landlord must give you written notice of the fee, the screening criteria and process, and your right to dispute inaccurate information. Only one screening fee can be charged within any 60-day period, no matter how many of that landlord’s units you apply for.¹⁸

Protection From Retaliation

Retaliation is what makes the other rights usable. After you complain in good faith to the landlord, file a complaint with a government agency, join a tenants’ union, or otherwise exercise a legal right as a tenant, the landlord cannot respond by raising your rent, cutting services, or serving a termination notice.¹⁹ Retaliation gives you a defense to any resulting eviction action and supports remedies for unlawful ouster. The landlord keeps the right to proceed in limited situations, such as when you were already behind on rent before you complained or when you caused the code violation yourself.

Lead Paint in Older Buildings

If your rental was built before 1978, federal law requires the landlord to disclose any known lead-based paint hazards, provide any available reports, include a lead warning statement in the lease, and give you the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home.” Signed copies must be kept for at least three years.²⁰ The rule does not apply to housing built after 1977, to leases of 100 days or less, to senior housing where no children under six live or are expected to live, or to units where professional testing has confirmed no lead paint is present.

1
Oregon Revised Statutes. Oregon Code ORS Chapter 90 – Residential Landlord and Tenant
2
State of Oregon. Rent Stabilization – Office of Economic Analysis
3
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.324 – Calculation of Maximum Rent Increase
4
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.323 – Maximum Rent Increase
5
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 90.320 – Landlord to Maintain Premises in Habitable Condition
6
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.365 – Failure of Landlord to Supply Essential Services
7
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 90.368 – Repair of Minor Habitability Defect
8
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.427 – Termination of Tenancy Without Tenant Cause
9
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.394 – Termination of Tenancy for Failure to Pay Rent
10
National Housing Law Project. Enforcing the CARES Act 30-Day Eviction Notice Requirement
11
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.453 – Release of Victim From Tenancy
12
Military OneSource. Military Clause – Terminate Your Lease Due to Deployment or PCS
13
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 90.300 – Security Deposits
14
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 659A.421 – Discrimination in Selling, Renting or Leasing Real Property Prohibited
15
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Assistance Animals
16
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 90.322 – Landlord or Agent Access to Premises
17
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.260 – Late Rent Payment Charge or Fee
18
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.295 – Applicant Screening Charges
19
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.385 – Retaliatory Conduct by Landlord
20
US EPA. Real Estate Disclosures About Potential Lead Hazards