Can I Sue My Landlord in Oregon?
Yes — in many situations. These are the main claims Oregon tenants bring, what the law lets you recover, and where to file. Each rule links to the statute or official source. Most claims under the small claims limit can be filed without a lawyer.
Before you sue
- Write down what happened, with dates, and keep photos, texts, emails and receipts.
- Send your landlord a written demand (templates below) and give a reasonable deadline.
- Check the deadline to sue and the court's dollar limit (below).
- If the amount is over the small claims limit, or you are facing eviction, talk to a lawyer or legal aid first.
Your security deposit wasn't returned
| Penalty for withholding | Twice the amount withheld without a written accounting, or twice the amount withheld in bad faith. Source: ORS 90.300(16) |
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| Deposit return deadline | 31 days after the tenancy terminates and the tenant delivers possession. Source: ORS 90.300(12)-(13) |
Free Oregon security deposit demand letter
You were locked out or your utilities were cut off
| Lockouts & utility shutoffs | If the landlord unlawfully removes/excludes the tenant or willfully interrupts utilities or essential services, the tenant may obtain an injunction to regain possession, or terminate and recover the greater of 2 months' periodic rent or twice actual damages; deposits and prepaid rent must be returned. Tenant need not terminate to recover damages. Source: ORS 90.375 |
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Your landlord retaliated after you complained
| Landlord retaliation | Landlord may not raise rent, reduce services, serve a termination notice, or sue for possession because the tenant complained to a government agency, made a good-faith complaint to the landlord, joined a tenant organization, testified against the landlord, or successfully defended a possession action within the previous 6 months. Tenant has a defense and the ORS 90.375 remedies. No fixed presumption period in the statute other than the 6-month look-back for a successfully defended possession action. Exceptions include tenant rent default when notice served (ORS 90.385(4)). Source: ORS 90.385 |
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Your landlord won't make repairs
| Repair and deduct | Minor habitability defects repairable for not more than $300: tenant gives written notice with a repair date at least 7 days out; may then have a qualified person repair and deduct up to $300 with a written cost statement. Tenant may not do the work personally. For essential services, tenant may buy substitute services and deduct cost (ORS 90.365). Source: ORS 90.368; ORS 90.365 |
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| Withholding rent | No general rent-withholding statute. Remedies for landlord noncompliance: 30-day termination notice if not cured within 7 days (essential services) or 30 days (other); damages; injunction; for essential-service failures, substitute services/deduct, diminished-rent damages, or substitute housing with rent excused. Tenant may assert habitability counterclaims in an eviction action (ORS 90.370) - not separately verified. Source: ORS 90.360; ORS 90.365 |
| Mold | No mold-specific statute — the general habitability duty applies. A unit is unhabitable if it substantially lacks effective waterproofing and weather protection, plumbing in good working order, or floors, walls and ceilings in good repair, among other items. Mold is expressly excluded from the 'minor habitability defect' repair-and-deduct remedy (repairs up to $300), so tenants must use the other habitability remedies. No state mold disclosure or exposure standard for rentals. Tenant remedies for habitability failures include ORS 90.360 (termination/damages) and 90.365 (essential services). Local housing codes (e.g., Portland) may add rules. Source: ORS 90.320(1); ORS 90.368(1)(b) |
| Pests & bed bugs | No bed-bug-specific statute. At the start of the tenancy the landlord must deliver buildings and grounds free of rodents and vermin, and must keep areas under the landlord's control free of rodents and vermin. The tenant must keep areas under the tenant's control free of rodents and vermin to the extent the tenant caused the problem, and must reasonably cooperate with the landlord's efforts to remedy it. No state bed-bug disclosure or inspection rule. Responsibility for an infestation inside a unit generally turns on who caused it and the habitability duty. |
| Heat | Yes. A unit is unhabitable if it substantially lacks adequate heating facilities that conformed to applicable law when installed and are maintained in good working order. No statewide minimum indoor temperature or heating season. If the landlord deliberately or negligently fails to supply heat or other essential services, the tenant has remedies including procuring heat and deducting the cost, recovering damages, or obtaining substitute housing. Local housing codes may set temperature standards. Source: ORS 90.320(1)(d); ORS 90.365 |
Free Oregon repair request letter to landlord
Your landlord entered without notice or invaded your privacy
| Landlord entry notice | At least 24 hours' actual notice, entry at reasonable times; tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent. Emergency entry allowed without notice, but if tenant absent the landlord must give actual notice within 24 hours after entry. Entry authorized by a tenant's written repair request expires after 7 days unless repairs are in progress. Source: ORS 90.322 |
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| Cameras & privacy | No landlord-specific statute. Knowingly recording a visual image of another person's intimate area without consent where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, or observing a person in a state of nudity for sexual purposes, is invasion of personal privacy (crime). Recording an in-person conversation with a device generally requires that all participants be specifically informed; intercepting a phone or radio communication requires at least one participant's consent. Oregon's conversation-recording rule (all participants informed) is stricter than one-party consent; Landlord entry generally requires 24 hours' notice (ORS 90.322). Source: ORS 163.700; ORS 165.540(1) |
You were refused or treated differently because of Section 8 or other income
| Statewide ban on refusing Section 8 / source of income | Yes, statewide. Refusing to rent, setting different terms, or expelling based on source of income is prohibited; 'source of income' includes Section 8 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) and any other local, state or federal housing assistance (but not income from a specific occupation or illegal income). Landlord may still refuse based on inability to pay rent, counting the value of the housing assistance. Source: ORS 659A.421 |
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Other claims tenants bring in Oregon
| Constructive eviction (conditions forced you out) | No Oregon statute uses the term "constructive eviction," but ORS Chapter 90 lets a tenant move out or stop paying rent in defined situations. For a material lease breach or a failure to keep the unit habitable, the tenant may give written notice that the lease ends at least 30 days later unless the landlord fixes the problem within 7 days (essential services) or 30 days (other problems); 7 days for week-to-week tenancies. If the landlord intentionally or negligently fails to supply an essential service and that makes the unit unsafe or unfit to occupy, the tenant, after written notice and a reasonable time to fix, may move to substitute housing, owe no rent while the problem lasts, and recover the reasonable extra cost of comparable housing. A landlord who unlawfully locks out a tenant, or willfully cuts or seriously threatens to cut heat, water, electricity or other essential services, owes up to two months' rent or twice actual damages, whichever is greater, and the tenant may end the lease (ORS 90.375). Whether Oregon courts also apply a common-law constructive-eviction doctrine is not addressed in the statute. Source: ORS 90.360(1); 90.365(1)(c) |
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| Injuries on the property | The landlord must keep the unit habitable at all times, including weatherproofing, working plumbing, water, heating and electrical systems, and buildings and grounds kept safe and sanitary. A tenant may recover damages and get a court order for the landlord's noncompliance. A lease cannot excuse or limit liability for the other party's willful misconduct or negligence, or make a tenant indemnify the landlord for it. Chapter 90 does not itself set a rule for personal-injury lawsuits; whether a landlord is liable for a particular injury is decided by the courts under negligence law. Talk to a lawyer about any injury claim — filing deadlines apply. |
Where and when to sue
| Small claims limit | $10,000 (including the value of any property claimed). Claims of $750 or less must be filed in small claims (unless a statute allows attorney fees); claims over $750 up to $10,000 may be filed in small claims or the regular civil department. Source: ORS 46.405(2)-(5) |
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| Small claims filing fee | $57 if the amount claimed is $2,500 or less; $102 if more than $2,500. The defendant pays the same fee schedule when requesting a hearing. A fee deferral or waiver can be requested. Fees are adjusted by the Legislature from time to time; check the court's current fee schedule before filing. Source: ORS 46.570 |
| Deadline to sue on a written lease | 6 years for an action on a contract or liability, express or implied — the same period applies to written and oral leases. Source: ORS 12.080(1) |
How small claims court works in Oregon →
Tenant lawyers and free legal aid in Oregon · Oregon tenant rights · Suing a landlord in other states
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.