What a Landlord Cannot Do in Oregon
The main limits Oregon law puts on landlords — lockouts and utility shutoffs, entering without notice, retaliation, deposits, fees and discrimination — each with the statute or official source.
In short: a Oregon landlord cannot evict without a court order, cannot punish a tenant for asserting legal rights where state law protects them, and must follow the state's rules on entry, deposits and fees shown below.
| 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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| 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 |
| 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 |
| Security deposit limit | No statutory cap on the amount of a security deposit. ORS 90.300 (2025 Edition) regulates deposits but sets no maximum. 2025 HB 3251 (eff. 1/1/2026, per Portland Housing Bureau summary) requires return of a deposit when a tenant does not enter the rental agreement due to habitability defects - not independently verified in the statute text. Source: ORS 90.300 |
| Penalty for withholding | Twice the amount withheld without a written accounting, or twice the amount withheld in bad faith. Source: ORS 90.300(16) |
| Late fees | Allowed only if a written rental agreement provides for it and rent is not received by the 4th day of the rental period (fees begin on day 5). Cap: either (a) a reasonable flat fee once per period (customary amount in the market), (b) a reasonable daily fee not exceeding 6% of that flat amount, or (c) 5% of the periodic rent for each succeeding 5-day period. Simple interest may accrue on an unpaid late charge at the judgment rate. Source: ORS 90.260 |
| Rent control / increase limits | Statewide rent stabilization. After the first year, no more than one increase per 12 months, with at least 90 days' written notice; increase capped at the lesser of 10% or 7% + CPI (West Region CPI-U), published annually by DAS/Office of Economic Analysis. Max increase: 10.0% for 2025; 9.5% for 2026; 10% for 2027. Exempt: buildings whose first certificate of occupancy was issued less than 15 years before the notice date, and certain regulated affordable housing. Local rent control is otherwise preempted. 2026 figure confirmed in DAS correction release of Oct. 1, 2025 (https://apps.oregon.gov/oregon-newsroom/OR/DAS/Posts/Post/Correction-2026-Rent-Stabilization-Percentages). 2027 figure: OEA page states 10% 'for tenancies subject to ORS 90.324(b)'. Penalty for exceeding cap: 3 months' rent plus actual damages (ORS 90.323(6)). Manufactured-home facilities with >30 spaces capped at 6% (2025 HB 3054). Week-to-week tenancies: 7 days' notice of increase. |
| 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 |
| 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) |
| Other rental fees | Landlord may not charge a move-in fee for anticipated landlord expenses and may not charge any fee except those listed in ORS 90.302, each of which must be described in the written rental agreement: late fee (ORS 90.260), dishonored check fee, smoke/CO alarm tampering (up to $250), pet-agreement violation, early abandonment of a fixed term (max 1.5x monthly rent; not for DV or military releases), and capped fees for repeated written-rule violations after a written warning ($50, then $50 + 5% of rent; $250 for smoking/unauthorized pet). Liquidated damages are barred. Since June 5, 2026, processing fees for card, tenant-portal or other electronic payments may be passed through only if the payment processor allows it, the landlord lets the tenant pay by check or another non-electronic method, and records of the fees are given to the tenant on written request. A landlord may not require electronic payment, and may not charge a late fee or terminate for nonpayment if it refused a payment offered by check or another commercially reasonable method. Exclusions in ORS 90.302(7) (tenant-requested services such as lost keys, renter's insurance requirement, utility charges under other sections). The 2026 changes (SB 1523, effective June 5, 2026) apply to rental agreements entered into before, on or after that date; enrolled bill text: https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2026R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB1523/Enrolled |
Can I sue my landlord in Oregon? · All Oregon tenant rights
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.