How to Fire Your Property Manager in Oregon

A step-by-step guide for Oregon landlords switching property managers, covering the 60-day handover rule, clients' trust accounts, tenant deposits and what to collect before you cut ties.

Last updated September 23, 2026

Repairs that sit for weeks, calls that go nowhere, a monthly statement that never quite adds up. Most owners wait too long to make the call.

Oregon gives you more structure than most states when you do. Your manager is licensed, their trust accounts are regulated, and the Real Estate Agency sets a hard deadline for handing your money and your records back.

Here is how to make the switch without losing a deposit, a tenant or a month of rent.

Step 1. Read your management agreement

Oregon requires the agreement to be in writing, and it has to spell out the term and the method for termination, the fees, the monthly accounting statement, and what happens to your records after the agreement ends (OAR 863-025-0020). A manager cannot legally manage your rental without a current signed one.

Look for four things.

Notice period. Thirty days is common, but your agreement controls.
Termination fee. Some charge one, some do not.
Leasing fee clawbacks. Check what you owe for tenants the manager placed.
Record disposition. The agreement already names who keeps what.

Any change to the agreement has to be in writing and signed by the manager and every original owner (OAR 863-025-0020). A verbal promise from your manager is worth nothing here.

Step 2. Send written notice

Put it in writing, by email and by whatever method the agreement names. State the end date, ask for a full handover by that date, and list what you expect back (see Step 4).

Keep the tone flat. You want your records, not an argument. Oregon requires written proof of transmittal or receipt for the documents they send you, so create a paper trail from day one.

Step 3. Know the 60-day handover rule

Within 60 days of termination, an Oregon property manager has to give you a final accounting of your ledger, all of your funds, a full accounting of tenant security deposits and fees, the deposits and fees themselves, copies of current rental agreements, and notice that they may destroy their records after six years (OAR 863-025-0070).

They can direct funds elsewhere only if you tell them to in writing. They may not spend tenant security deposits on expenses on the way out.

If the deadline passes and you are still waiting, file a complaint with the Oregon Real Estate Agency. Trust account handling is one of the things the Agency regulates most closely.

Step 4. Collect everything

Ask for all of this before the end date.

Security deposits for every tenant, with the amount held for each one
The trust account ledger showing rents collected, fees taken and what is still owed to you
Signed rental agreements, renewals and addenda
Move-in condition reports and any photos
Tenant contact details and payment history
Rent increase history, with the date and percentage of the last increase for each unit
Open maintenance requests, vendor contacts, invoices and warranties
Keys, fobs, garage remotes and codes
Year-to-date income and expense reports for your taxes

That rent increase history matters more in Oregon than almost anywhere. You cannot raise rent more than once every 12 months, and the 2026 ceiling is 9.5 percent (ORS 90.323, ORS 90.324). You need the last increase date for each unit to know when your next window opens.

Step 5. Move the security deposits

A licensed Oregon manager holds your money in designated clients' trust accounts at a federally insured bank, with tenant security deposits in a separate account from owner funds. Commingling is barred, the manager is the only authorized signer, and deposits go in within five banking days of receipt (ORS 696.241, OAR 863-025-0025).

Once the deposits come back to you, the trust account rules stop applying. Oregon does not require an owner who self-manages to hold deposits in an escrow or trust account. What does apply is ORS 90.300. You now owe each tenant a written accounting and their money within 31 days after the tenancy ends and they hand back possession, and a wrongful or late withholding costs you twice the amount.

Open one account that holds nothing but deposits. It is not required of you, and it is the single easiest way to survive a deposit dispute.

Step 6. Tell your tenants

Your outgoing manager has to notify each tenant where the security deposit is going no later than the next calendar day after the termination takes effect (OAR 863-025-0070). Do not rely on it landing well.

Send your own message the same week. Tenants care about three things. Where to pay rent, who to call for repairs, and whether their deposit is safe. Cover all three, dated, with the day the change takes effect.

Step 7. Take over the day-to-day

Line up vendors, set up rent collection, and get a maintenance line that picks up at 2am. Diary the Oregon deadlines that used to be someone else's problem. The 31-day deposit clock, the 90-day rent increase notice, the 24-hour entry notice, and the 10-day or 13-day nonpayment notice.

This is where owners end up back where they started, holding a phone that never stops ringing.

Who can manage property for pay in Oregon

Managing rental real estate for another person, for compensation, is professional real estate activity under Oregon law (ORS 696.010). Doing it takes an active license as a real estate property manager, a principal broker, or a broker supervised by a principal broker (ORS 696.020).

Owners managing their own property are exempt, and so are full-time employees whose work involves only their employer's real estate (ORS 696.030). Managing your own rentals needs no license.

If you hire a new manager, check the license on the Oregon Real Estate Agency site first, and confirm they will sign a written management agreement that meets OAR 863-025-0020 before you hand over a key.

Your switching checklist

Read the agreement for notice, fees, clawbacks and record disposition
Send written notice with an end date
Hold the manager to the 60-day handover under OAR 863-025-0070
Collect deposits, trust ledgers, leases, rent increase dates and keys
Move deposits into an account that holds only deposits
Tell tenants where to pay and who to call
Diary the 31-day deposit deadline and the 90-day rent increase notice

Switch to Taz

Taz is an AI property manager built for owners who have been let down before. It answers tenants day and night, routes repairs to vendors, sends rent reminders and keeps every record in one place, for a flat monthly price per door instead of a cut of your rent. See how Taz works.

Where this guide says a state has no rule on something, that means we found no statute setting one, which is not the same as none existing. Local ordinances and court practice can add requirements. Confirm anything you plan to rely on.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Your management agreement and your specific facts matter. Talk to an Oregon attorney before ending a contract. Last checked September 2026.