The Oregon tenant rights hotline most renters want is the Community Alliance of Tenants Renters’ Rights Hotline at (503) 288-0130, a free callback line staffed by trained counselors who know Oregon landlord-tenant law.1Oregon Law Help. Community Alliance of Tenants If you need a licensed attorney’s opinion, call the Oregon State Bar Lawyer Referral Service at 503-684-3763 for a 30-minute consultation capped at $50.2Oregon State Bar. Lawyer Referral Service Online Form If you cannot afford any fee, Legal Aid Services of Oregon and the Oregon Law Center’s Eviction Defense Project provide free representation to qualifying renters. Which number you dial depends on whether you need information, advice, or someone to walk into court with you.
Which Number Fits Your Situation
The Community Alliance of Tenants (CAT) runs the most widely used free hotline for Oregon renters. Call (503) 288-0130 during callback hours, leave a message with your city, membership status, and the best time to reach you, and a counselor will return your call.1Oregon Law Help. Community Alliance of Tenants CAT counselors are not attorneys, but they can walk you through your options on rent increases, termination notices, repair problems, security deposits, and most of the everyday disputes that come up between renters and landlords. Callback hours shift, so check the CAT website before you leave a message.
The Oregon State Bar Lawyer Referral Service is the right call when you need an attorney’s judgment rather than general guidance. For up to 30 minutes and a maximum fee of $50, a landlord-tenant lawyer will review your specific problem.2Oregon State Bar. Lawyer Referral Service Online Form Dial 503-684-3763, or 1-800-452-7636 toll-free. This is the number to use when a notice looks suspicious, a court date is approaching, or the dispute involves money large enough that you want a professional eye on it.
Legal Aid Services of Oregon (LASO) provides free civil legal help to renters with household incomes at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty level, which in 2026 is roughly $19,950 for a single person or $41,250 for a family of four.3Oregon Law Help. Legal Aid Services of Oregon Portland Regional Office LASO handles illegal lockouts, habitability failures, security deposit disputes, and other housing problems. In some cases they can help people slightly above the income threshold. If your income is too high for LASO, use the Oregon State Bar referral line instead.
The Oregon Law Center’s Eviction Defense Project is for one situation only: you have been served with eviction court papers and have an active case. They provide advice and full representation to low-income renters facing eviction.4Oregon Law Help. Oregon Law Center Eviction Defense Project Contact them the same day you receive the summons. Court deadlines move fast, and missing your first appearance produces an automatic judgment against you.
What to Have Ready Before You Call
A hotline call goes much faster when you have your documents within reach. Pull together your signed rental agreement so the counselor can check the exact terms on rent due dates, late fees, utility responsibilities, and notice provisions. If you never received a written agreement or can’t find yours, say so at the start of the call. That fact changes the advice.
Gather any written notices from your landlord in the order you received them. Termination notices, rent increase letters, and inspection notifications all have strict formatting and timing rules under Oregon law, and a counselor needs the actual dates and language to tell you whether the notice was done properly. Bring informal communications too. Text messages, emails, and voicemails that show your landlord threatening you, refusing repairs, or acknowledging a problem can matter enormously.
Finally, collect proof of your rent payments and any money you spent on repairs the landlord refused to handle. Bank statements, canceled checks, receipts, and contractor invoices help a counselor confirm whether you’re current on rent and whether you have a claim for reimbursement. Organize everything in one folder or one email thread so you’re not searching while the clock ticks on a callback.
What a Counselor Will Check First
Three things come up on almost every hotline call, and knowing what a counselor is looking for helps you frame your question.
Whether the Notice Was Delivered Properly
A termination or other formal notice from your landlord is only valid if it was delivered through a method the law allows. Oregon permits personal delivery and first-class mail. A third option, attaching a copy to your door and mailing another copy, is allowed only if your written rental agreement specifically provides for that method and gives you the same right to serve notices on the landlord the same way.
Any notice sent by mail automatically gets three extra days added to the notice period. A 30-day termination notice sent by first-class mail effectively requires 33 days. If your landlord served the notice improperly, the entire termination may be invalid. This is one of the most productive things a counselor can help you check on a first call.
Whether a Rent Increase Exceeds the Legal Cap
Oregon caps most annual rent increases at 7 percent plus the change in the Consumer Price Index, with a hard ceiling of 10 percent. For 2026, that formula produces a maximum allowable increase of 9.5 percent.5Oregon.gov. Rent Stabilization – Office of Economic Analysis Your landlord must give you at least 90 days’ written notice before any increase takes effect and can only raise the rent once every 12 months.6Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 90.323 – Maximum Rent Increase Landlords also cannot raise rent at all during your first year of occupancy.
Buildings first issued a certificate of occupancy less than 15 years before the notice date are exempt, and so are units regulated as affordable housing where the rent change doesn’t increase the tenant’s share. If your increase exceeds the legal maximum, you can recover three months’ rent plus your actual damages, so call the hotline before you pay.6Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 90.323 – Maximum Rent Increase
Whether the Landlord’s Action Looks Retaliatory
Oregon law prohibits your landlord from raising rent, cutting services, or threatening eviction because you exercised a legal right. Protected activities include complaining to a government agency about code violations, making a good-faith complaint to the landlord, joining a tenants’ union, testifying against the landlord in a proceeding, or successfully defending a prior eviction case.7Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.385 – Retaliatory Conduct by Landlord
Oregon courts apply a presumption that action taken against you within six months of a protected activity is retaliatory. If your landlord sends a termination notice two months after you reported a broken heater to code enforcement, the landlord has to prove the timing was a coincidence. The counselor will ask about the sequence of events for this reason, so have a rough timeline ready.
Eviction Cases Have Their Own Timeline
If you receive an eviction summons and complaint, do not wait to work through the hotline queue. The court schedules a first appearance seven days after the landlord files. For nonpayment cases, the first appearance is set 15 days out.8Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 105 – Property Rights – Section 105.135 Missing that date produces an automatic judgment against you.
Call the Eviction Defense Project the same day you receive the summons.4Oregon Law Help. Oregon Law Center Eviction Defense Project They will review the court documents, identify procedural errors in the landlord’s filings, and can represent you at hearings to negotiate a settlement or seek dismissal. Bring the summons, complaint, your lease, and any notices that led up to the filing. Keep every appointment, and tell the legal team right away if your phone number or address changes, because missed communication during an eviction case can cost you your housing.
Where the Hotlines Cannot Help
Two categories fall outside what a tenant hotline counselor typically handles. Mold, radon, asbestos, and lead-based paint are serious health hazards handled through legal channels separate from the standard repair-and-deduct process.9Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 90.368 – Repair of Minor Habitability Defect A counselor can point you to the right resource, but the case itself needs specialized help. Housing discrimination complaints based on race, disability, source of income, sexual orientation, or the other protected categories under state and federal law go through the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries Civil Rights Division or HUD, not through a tenant hotline.10Oregon.gov. Housing Discrimination Complaint – Civil Rights – BOLI Both routes are free and neither requires an attorney to begin.