Tenants

With all of the confusion over the new Oregon Landlord Tenant Act, we wanted to help you by outlining 15 of the most important issues surrounding the new laws in effect for Portland and Milwaukie area Landlords.

Owning Rental Property is never going to be the same again in Oregon. 

If you are not familiar with it we highly recommend you study up on at least these few key points to focus on:

• No Cause Notice of termination
• Rent increases & and modification notices- how often and how much?
• What triggers the landlord to pay relocation costs for tenants (up to $4,500.00 for each tenant)
• Leases or month-to-month rentals – which is better now and why?
• Annual leases converting to a month-to-month
• Rental applications/questionnaires-what questions can you not ask?
• Notices- do you know the statutes and how long for each type and how to serve them properly?
• Access to your property- how can you legally get inside?
• Legal ways residents can refuse you access/entry and your consequences
• Fair Housing discrimination- federal and Oregon Laws
• Transfer of Ownership- what your responsibilities are.
• Security deposits, tenants’ rights to them, and timeframes.
• Terminating the tenancy landlord -vs- the tenant
• Advertising and showing your rental unit
• Final walk-through and final accounting- needs you must know.

It’s also important to understand that local ordinances in Portland and Milwaukie have additional requirements that can be complicated. 

These ordinances impose the same notice requirements on increases in “associated housing costs,” not just rent increases. “Associated housing costs” include things like parking, storage, and flat-fee utility charges. 

If an associated housing cost is being increased by 5% or more in a 12-month period, then all of the same notice requirements apply. 

So far only Portland and Milwaukie have enacted these ordinances, but other localities may follow. For reference purposes, the 2015 City of Portland Ordinance is 30.01.085 Portland Renter Additional Protections, and the City of Milwaukie Ordinance is Ordinance No. 2118.