Oregon Late Fees, Termination for Nonpayment of Rent, and Other Rent Rules

Your lease or rental agreement should spell out your landlord's key rent rules, including:

• the amount of rent (there are no limits to how much a landlord can charge in Oregon since there are no communities with rent control in the state)
• where rent is due (such as by mail to the landlord's business address)
• when rent is due (including what happens if the rent due date falls on a weekend date or holiday)
• how rent should be paid (usually check, money order, cash, and/or credit card)
• the amount of notice landlords must provide to increase rent
• the amount of any extra fee if your rent check bounces, and
• the consequences of paying rent late, including late fees and termination of the tenancy.

State laws in Oregon cover several of these rent-related issues, including limits on late fees, the amount of notice a landlord must provide to increase rent under a month-to-month tenancy, and how much time a tenant has to pay rent or move before a landlord can file for eviction.

Oregon Rules on Late Fees

Rent is legally due on the date specified in your lease or rental agreement (usually the first of the month). If you don't pay rent when it is due, the landlord may begin charging you a late fee. Under Oregon law, a landlord must wait four days after the rent due date before imposing a late fee, and must disclose the late fee policy in the rental agreement. A flat fee must be "reasonable." A daily late fee may not be more than 6% of a reasonable flat fee, and cannot add up to more than 5% of the monthly rate.

Amount of Notice Oregon Landlords Must Give Tenants to Increase Rent

Oregon does not have a state statute on the amount of notice the landlord must provide tenants in order to increase the rent or change other terms of a month-to-month rental agreement. Unless your rental agreement specifies otherwise, the landlord must typically provide the same amount of notice to change the rent or another term of the tenancy as state law requires the landlord to provide when ending the tenancy—in this case 30 days (60 days for occupancies of more than one year). Keep in mind that if you have a long-term lease, the landlord may not increase the rent until the lease ends and a new tenancy begins—unless the lease itself provides for an increase.

Rent Increases as Retaliation or Discrimination

Oregon landlords may not raise the rent in a discriminatory manner—for example, only for members of a certain race. Also, Oregon landlords may not use a rent increase in retaliation against you for exercising a legal right—for example, in response to your legitimate complaint to a local housing agency about a broken heater.

Oregon State Laws on Termination for Nonpayment of Rent

States set specific rules and procedures for ending a tenancy when a tenant has not paid the rent. Oregon landlords have a choice: They may serve a pay or quit notice after rent is eight days late, giving the tenant 72 hours (three days) to pay rent or quit; or, they may serve the notice earlier, after rent is overdue five days (in which case, the tenant has longer—144 hours (six days)—to pay or quit).

Oregon Guide to Tenant Rights

For an overview of tenant rights when it comes to paying rent under Oregon landlord-tenant law, see http://www.osbar.org/public/legalinfo/1246_RightsDutiesTenants.htm.

Oregon State Laws on Late Fees, Termination for Nonpayment of Rent, and Other Rent-Related Issues

For state rent rules and procedures on issues such as raising rent, see Ore. Rev. Stat. §§ 90.220, 90.260, 91.070, and 90.427.

For Oregon laws on termination for nonpayment of rent, see Ore. Rev. Stat. § 90.394(2).

See the Laws and Legal Research section of Nolo for advice on finding and reading statutes and court decisions.