Oregon Landlord-Tenant Law for DIY Landlords (2026)

Security deposits, late fees, the 9.5 percent 2026 rent cap, notice periods, the 10-day nonpayment notice and the FED eviction timeline in Oregon, in plain English for landlords who manage their own rentals.

Last updated September 23, 2026

Oregon runs one of the tighter rulebooks in the country for small landlords. A statewide cap on rent increases, a 90-day notice before most of them, and a first year of tenancy that ends your ability to hand over a plain no-cause notice.

Here is what a small Oregon landlord has to get right, with the code section behind each rule.

Security deposits

There is no cap on the amount. Oregon sets no dollar limit and no number-of-months limit on a security deposit. A last month's rent deposit counts as a security deposit for these rules (ORS 90.300).

You can't raise it in the first year. A landlord may not change the rental agreement to require a new or increased deposit during the first year after the tenancy begins. After that, you have to give the tenant at least three months to pay the increase (ORS 90.300).

You have 31 days to account and return. The clock starts when the tenancy terminates and the tenant delivers possession. If you keep any of it, send a written accounting stating the basis of each claim (ORS 90.300).

What you can deduct. Unpaid rent and other tenant defaults, damage beyond normal wear and tear, and loss of use during repairs the tenant caused. Carpet cleaning comes out of the deposit only when the job uses a machine built for cleaning carpets and the carpet was professionally cleaned before the tenant moved in (ORS 90.300).

No separate account is required of you. Oregon does not make an ordinary landlord park deposits in a trust or escrow account. Licensed property managers carry that duty, owners do not (ORS 696.241). Keep deposits in their own account anyway.

The penalty is double. Miss the deadline, or withhold in bad faith, and the tenant can recover twice the amount (ORS 90.300).

No pet deposit for an assistance animal. You may not charge a pet security deposit for a service animal or companion animal that a tenant with a disability requires (ORS 90.300).

Late fees and other charges

Nothing before the fifth day. You can charge a late fee only when rent has not been received by the fourth day of the rental period (ORS 90.260). That is a four-day grace period written into the statute.

Three shapes are allowed, pick one. A reasonable flat amount charged once per rental period, meaning what is customary in that rental market. A daily charge starting on day five that cannot exceed 6 percent of the flat amount. Or 5 percent of the periodic rent, charged once for each succeeding five-day period (ORS 90.260).

It has to be in a written rental agreement. The agreement states the obligation, the type and amount of the charge, and when rent is due. You cannot pull a late charge out of a later rent payment, and a late fee on its own is not grounds for eviction (ORS 90.260).

Other fees are capped. No fee at the start of a tenancy for an anticipated landlord expense. Charge a fee the statute does not allow and the tenant recovers twice actual damages or $300, whichever is greater (ORS 90.302).

Rent increases and the statewide cap

There is a hard percentage ceiling. You may not raise rent above the published maximum in any 12-month period, and not more than once every 12 months (ORS 90.323).

The 2026 maximum is 9.5 percent. The Department of Administrative Services published it on September 30, 2025 for the 2026 calendar year. The formula is the lesser of 10 percent, or 7 percent plus the September annual 12-month average change in the CPI for All Urban Consumers, West Region (ORS 90.324). The 2025 figure was 10.0 percent. The number for 2027 lands by September 30, 2026, so check it before you send a January notice.

No increase during the first year. Rent stays put for the first year of occupancy (ORS 90.323).

90 days' written notice. Week-to-week tenancies get 7 days. The notice has to state the increase amount, the new rent, the effective date, and the facts behind any exemption you are claiming (ORS 90.323).

Two exemptions. Units with a certificate of occupancy issued within the last 15 years, and certain regulated affordable housing (ORS 90.323).

Getting it wrong is expensive. A landlord who violates the cap is liable for three months' rent plus the tenant's actual damages (ORS 90.323).

Cities can't add their own rent control. Local rent regulation is preempted, with narrow carve-outs for subsidized housing, condominium conversions and post-disaster orders (ORS 91.225).

Entering the unit

Give at least 24 hours' actual notice and enter at reasonable times (ORS 90.322). An emergency, meaning a repair problem likely to cause serious damage if it waits, lets you in right away, with written notice to the tenant within 24 hours after.

When a tenant asks for a repair in writing, you can enter to make that repair within seven days without fresh notice. A tenant can refuse entry, and may not unreasonably withhold consent. An unlawful entry or repeated harassing demands cost you actual damages or one month's rent, whichever is greater.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

During the first year, 30 days, no cause needed. Week-to-week tenancies take 10 days (ORS 90.427).

After the first year, the no-cause notice is gone. You need tenant cause, or one of four qualifying landlord reasons with 90 days' written notice (ORS 90.427). The four reasons are intent to demolish or convert the unit to non-residential use, repairs or renovations that make the unit unsafe to occupy during the work, the landlord or immediate family moving in as a primary residence, and an accepted good-faith purchase offer from a buyer who will live there.

A relocation payment comes with it. You pay the tenant one month's periodic rent when the notice goes out. A landlord with an ownership interest in four or fewer residential dwelling units is exempt (ORS 90.427).

Owner-occupied duplex, 60 days. A landlord living in one of two units on the same property has a 60-day path (ORS 90.427).

The penalty is three months' rent plus actual damages (ORS 90.427).

Portland and Milwaukie layer their own rules on top, including a longer first-year notice and relocation assistance. Check your city before you serve anything.

When rent isn't paid

Oregon retired the old 72-hour notice in 2023 under HB 2001. For a month-to-month or fixed-term tenancy you now serve either a 10-day notice, no earlier than the eighth day of the rental period, or a 13-day notice, no earlier than the fifth day (ORS 90.394). Week-to-week tenancies still use a 72-hour notice from the fifth day.

The notice states the amount of rent owed and the date and time by which the tenant must pay to cure. An amount that is wrong sinks the notice, so add it up twice.

The eviction (FED) process

File. You file a forcible entry and detainer complaint in the circuit court for the county. The clerk sets a first appearance seven days out, or 15 days out in a nonpayment case (ORS 105.135).
Service. The clerk mails the summons and complaint first class to the tenant at the premises. A server delivers a copy personally or attaches it to the main entrance (ORS 105.135).
First appearance. If you show and the tenant does not, the court can enter a default judgment on your sworn testimony or affidavit that you believe the tenant still holds possession (ORS 105.137).
Trial. Nonpayment cases go to trial no earlier than 15 days and no later than 30 days after the appearance. Other claims are set no later than 15 days after (ORS 105.137).
Restitution. On a judgment for you, the clerk issues a notice of restitution giving the tenant four days to move out with their belongings. After that the clerk issues a writ of execution and the sheriff removes them (ORS 105.151).

Stay away from retaliation. You cannot raise rent, cut services, serve a termination notice or start a possession action in response to a code complaint, a good-faith complaint to you, or a tenant joining a tenants' union (ORS 90.385).

Repairs and habitability

Every Oregon rental has to be habitable (ORS 90.320). That covers a weatherproof roof and exterior walls, plumbing in good working order, hot and cold running water, working heat, electrical to code, a building free of debris and vermin, sound floors, walls, ceilings and railings, working smoke alarms at the start of the tenancy, carbon monoxide alarms where there is a CO source, working locks on entrance doors and latches on windows, and adequate cooling for units in buildings permitted after April 1, 2024.

A tenant who gives you written notice of a defect starts a clock. You get 30 days to fix it, or seven days when heat, water or power is out (ORS 90.360). Miss it and the tenant can recover damages and ask a court to order the repair.

The short version

No deposit cap, no increase in the first year, 31 days to account and return
Double damages for a late or bad-faith deposit withholding
No late fee before the fifth day, and the fee has to be in a written agreement
2026 rent cap of 9.5 percent, one increase per 12 months, 90 days' notice, none in year one
24 hours' notice to enter
30 days to end a month-to-month in year one, then cause or a qualifying reason with 90 days
10-day or 13-day nonpayment notice, no more 72-hour notices
FED first appearance at 7 days, 15 for nonpayment, then a 4-day notice of restitution

Let Taz handle the paperwork

Taz is an AI property manager for landlords who would rather not live in the code books. It tracks the 31-day deposit clock, watches the rent-cap notice window, sends rent reminders, takes maintenance requests day and night, and keeps the records an Oregon judge would ask for. 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. Laws change, and your city or county may add rules. Talk to an Oregon attorney before acting on a specific situation. Last checked September 2026.