Oregon HOA laws live primarily in two chapters of the Oregon Revised Statutes: ORS Chapter 94, the Oregon Planned Community Act, and ORS Chapter 100, the Oregon Condominium Act. Together with your community’s Declaration, Articles of Incorporation, and Bylaws, these statutes decide what your board can do, what you can demand, and what happens when the two collide. When a board policy conflicts with the statute, the statute wins.
Which Statute Governs Your Community
If you own a lot in a traditional subdivision with shared common areas, ORS Chapter 94 is your law.1Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 94 – Real Property Development If you own a unit inside a larger structure with an undivided interest in the building, ORS Chapter 100 applies.2Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 100 – Condominiums Many of the owner-protection rules run parallel between the two chapters, but the citations differ, so quote the one that fits your community when you write to your board.
Your Governing Documents and How They Change
Under the statutes sit three community-level documents. The Declaration, also called the CC&Rs, is recorded against the land and sets property-use rules, maintenance duties, and community boundaries. The Articles of Incorporation, filed with the Oregon Secretary of State, establish the association as a nonprofit corporation.3Oregon Secretary of State. Articles of Incorporation – Nonprofit The Bylaws handle internal procedure: how directors are elected, how long they serve, what officers do. All three must be consistent with ORS 94 or 100 to be enforceable.
Amending the Declaration is intentionally hard. ORS 94.590 requires approval from owners holding at least 75 percent of the total votes, and the Declaration itself can require more.4Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 94.590 – Amendment of Declaration by Owners Changes that alter lot boundaries, restrict how a lot can be used, or shift how common expenses are split require unanimous consent from every affected owner. You don’t need the board to start the process: a majority of the board can propose an amendment, but so can any group of owners holding at least 30 percent of the votes.
Board Meetings and What You Can Attend
Board meetings are open to owners by default. You have the right to be in the room, though not automatically the right to speak unless the governing documents or the board grants it.5Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 94.644 – Meetings of Board of Directors, Notice, Executive Sessions In communities where most lots are owner-occupied primary residences, the board must post notice at least three days before the meeting or deliver it another way reasonably calculated to reach owners, including email. Condominiums follow parallel rules under ORS 100.420.6Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 100.420 – Board Meetings, Executive Sessions
Boards can close part of a meeting only for a narrow list of topics: consulting with the association’s attorney, personnel matters like salary and discipline, contract negotiations, and collection of unpaid assessments. Anything else discussed behind closed doors is outside what ORS 94.644 authorizes. Records generated for or considered in executive session are also exempt from owner inspection.
Owners vote on major decisions at annual or special meetings. Unless the Declaration or Bylaws say otherwise, any action available at a meeting can also be handled by written ballot sent to every eligible owner.7Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 94.647 – Use of Written Ballot for Approving or Rejecting Matters Subject to Meeting of Association Members, Procedures, Exceptions If at least 10 percent of owners petition the board at least three days before ballots go out, the vote must use a secrecy procedure with a secrecy envelope and a separate signed identification envelope.
One quirk to know: ORS 94.640 authorizes virtual board meetings only in emergencies.8Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 94.640 – Association Board of Directors, Powers and Duties, Removal of Director Board members who attend an emergency meeting by phone or video count as present in person. For routine meetings, the statute doesn’t authorize remote participation, though your Bylaws may. Practice in many Oregon communities has run ahead of what the statute expressly allows, so check your documents before relying on it.
Removing a Director
ORS 94.640(6) lets owners remove a director with or without cause. At any meeting where a quorum of owners is present, a simple majority of those voting can vote a director out. Three procedural safeguards apply:
- The director facing removal must have a chance to speak at the meeting before the vote.
- If more than one director is up for removal, each must be voted on separately.
- Removal has to appear on the agenda in the meeting notice. A surprise vote does not count.
A removed director keeps the seat until a successor is elected or the vacancy is filled under the association’s procedures. Directors appointed by the original developer cannot be removed through this process.
Budgets, Assessments, Reserves, and Liens
The board adopts an annual budget for common expenses and must send owners a summary within 30 days of adoption.9Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 94.645 – Adoption of Annual Budget If the board fails to adopt a new budget, the previous year’s stays in effect. Every owner is personally liable for the assessments tied to their lot; withholding payment is not a viable protest.
Special assessments during the developer’s control period need at least 50 percent of the voting rights, calculated without any weighted advantage the developer holds, to fund capital improvements.10Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 94.704 – Assessment and Payment of Common Expenses The Declaration can require more. Once developer control ends, your documents govern.
Reserves are a genuine legal obligation, not an optional prudence. The board must review the reserve account annually, either by conducting a new reserve study or updating an existing one using remaining useful life and replacement cost of major common components.11Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 94.595 – Reserve Account for Maintaining, Repairing and Replacing Common Property, Reserve Study, Maintenance Plan If reserves look thin, ask when the last full study was done and what assumptions drive the funding level.
When an owner falls behind, the association automatically has a lien against the lot for the unpaid amount plus interest, late charges, and attorney fees.12Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 94.709 – Liens Against Lots, Priority, Duration, Record Notice of Claim of Unpaid Assessment, Foreclosure Procedure In condominiums, ORS 100.450 creates the same mechanism against individual units.13Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 100.450 – Association Lien Against Individual Unit The association can foreclose using procedures modeled on construction-lien foreclosures and has up to six years from the due date to enforce. The statute imposes no fixed waiting period before foreclosure begins; timing depends on the association’s own collection policy. Association liens take priority over nearly all other encumbrances except tax liens and, in most cases, a first mortgage.
Fines and the Process Before You Owe One
Under ORS 94.630, an association cannot simply issue a fine.14Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 94.630 – Powers of Association The board must first give written notice of the alleged violation and an opportunity to be heard. The fine amount must come from a schedule that was either written into the Declaration or Bylaws or adopted by board resolution and distributed to every lot. A fine with no distributed schedule behind it is vulnerable to challenge. The statute also requires fines to be reasonable, without setting a dollar cap.
ORS Chapter 94 does not require any pre-litigation mediation or arbitration process, but your Declaration or Bylaws might. Check the internal dispute-resolution provisions in your own documents before filing anything in court.
Getting Records From Your Association
Under ORS 94.670, owners and mortgagees can examine association records if the request is made in good faith and for a proper purpose.15Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 94.670 – Association Duty to Keep Documents and Records You don’t need to justify the request in detail, but requests aimed at harassment or unconnected to your interests as an owner can be denied.
The association must keep financial records in enough detail for proper accounting and make them, along with governing documents and other association records, reasonably available for examination. On written request, the association must also provide copies. One specific request has a hard deadline: the status of your own assessment account must be answered within 10 business days of a written request. Other record types fall under the broader “reasonably available” standard.
Some records are exempt: personnel matters involving identified individuals, contracts under negotiation, attorney communications about litigation or the other exempt topics, other owners’ individual files, and anything considered in or prepared for executive session. Putting your request in writing with specific date ranges and document types tends to reduce both friction and copying costs.
Solar Panels and EV Charging
Oregon law overrides HOA bans on both. Under ORS 94.778, any Declaration or Bylaws provision that flatly prohibits solar panel installation is void.16Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 94.778 – Prohibition Against Installation of Solar Panels Void The association can impose reasonable size, placement, and aesthetic restrictions, but only if they don’t significantly increase system cost or reduce efficiency. If your Declaration still contains a blanket solar ban, ORS 93.272 provides a process to strike that language.
Owners in both planned communities and condominiums can apply to install an EV charging station in a parking space or other area subject to their exclusive use. A complete application must be approved within 60 days, under ORS 94.762 for planned communities and ORS 100.627 for condominiums.17Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 94.762 – Electric Vehicle Charging Stations18Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 100.627 – Electric Vehicle Charging Stations The installing owner pays for installation, electricity, and any damage to common property. Work must be done by at least a journeyman electrician. When you sell, you must disclose the station and its associated responsibilities to the buyer. If cumulative EV charging strains the community’s electrical supply, the association can assess upgrade costs against every owner who has installed a station. The station is your personal property unless you and the association agree otherwise, and any architectural restrictions the board imposes cannot significantly raise the cost or reduce the performance.
Fair Housing and Assistance Animals
Oregon HOAs are subject to the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, and disability. Disability accommodations are where associations most often stumble. If an owner or resident has a disability-related need for an assistance animal, the association must grant a reasonable accommodation even in a no-pets community. The board can ask for supporting documentation from a licensed health professional when the disability is not readily apparent, but it cannot charge pet fees or deposits for an assistance animal, apply breed or size restrictions, or deny based on assumptions rather than an individualized assessment. A request can be denied only if the specific animal poses a direct threat to safety that cannot be reduced, or the accommodation would create an undue financial or administrative burden.
Fair housing rules reach every part of association governance: rule enforcement, architectural approvals, amenity access, and assessment collection. Selective enforcement of rules against members of a protected class is one of the faster routes to a federal complaint. Boards that haven’t had fair housing training recently should schedule it.