Oregon Rent Increase & Notice Rules: How Much Warning a Landlord Must Give

Oregon is one of the few states with statewide rent stabilization. Under the 2019 law commonly known as Senate Bill 608 (now folded into ORS Chapter 90, Oregon's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act), a landlord generally must give 90 days' written notice before raising rent on a month-to-month tenancy, cannot raise rent at all during the first year of a tenancy, and cannot raise it by more than a yearly cap set by the state. Eviction cases (called forcible entry and detainer, or FED, actions) are heard in the Oregon Circuit Court for the county where the rental is located. Because these rules change and a few cities add their own protections, confirm the current figures before you rely on them.

How much notice to raise the rent

For a month-to-month tenancy, Oregon's 90-day rule is unusually long compared with most states, which often allow just 30 days. Key points:

• 90 days' advance written notice is required for any rent increase on a month-to-month tenancy.
• No increase during the first year of a month-to-month tenancy. The earliest a rent increase can take effect is after the tenant has lived there for 12 months.
• The notice must state the amount of the increase, the new rent, and the date it takes effect.

Oregon's statewide rent cap

Oregon limits how much rent can go up in a 12-month period. The cap is tied to inflation: it is set at a percentage equal to 7% plus the regional Consumer Price Index, but with a hard ceiling so the total can never exceed a maximum (the 2023 update under SB 611 set that ceiling at 10%). Each year by September 30, Oregon's Department of Administrative Services publishes the maximum allowable percentage for the following calendar year, and in recent years it has landed at or near the 10% ceiling. Always check the current published figure, because it changes annually.

• The cap applies to month-to-month tenancies and to increases at the renewal of a fixed-term lease.
• Newer buildings are exempt: housing whose first certificate of occupancy was issued less than 15 years ago is not subject to the percentage cap.
• Certain regulated affordable or subsidized housing may follow different rules.

Mid-lease increases on a fixed-term lease

If you signed a fixed-term lease (say, a 12-month lease), the landlord generally cannot raise the rent during the term unless the lease itself spells out a scheduled increase. The rent you agreed to is locked in until the lease ends. At renewal, any increase still has to fit within the statewide cap, and converting you to month-to-month does not let a landlord skip the cap or the 90-day notice rule.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

Notice to end the tenancy depends on who is ending it and how long the tenant has lived there:

• Tenant ending the tenancy: generally 30 days' written notice before the next rent due date.
• Landlord, during the first year: may end a month-to-month tenancy with a 30-day no-cause notice (in some cities a longer period applies).
• Landlord, after the first year: Oregon largely ended no-cause evictions. The landlord must have a tenant-based cause (such as nonpayment or a lease violation) or a qualifying landlord reason, such as the owner or a family member moving in, a sale to a buyer who will live there, demolition or conversion, or major repairs that make the unit unlivable during the work.
• A qualifying landlord-reason termination after the first year generally requires 90 days' written notice, and landlords above a certain size often must pay the tenant one month's rent in relocation assistance.

Local exceptions and where to get help

Oregon sets the floor statewide, but some cities add their own rules. Portland, for example, has its own relocation-assistance ordinance that can require sizable payments to tenants for many no-cause terminations and certain large rent increases, and it has additional screening and notice requirements. Check your city and county rules in addition to state law.

It is worth talking to a lawyer or a tenant/landlord legal aid program if you receive a termination notice you think is improper, if a rent increase looks larger than the state cap, if you did not get the full 90 days' notice, or if relocation assistance may be owed. These cases move quickly in circuit court once an eviction is filed, so getting advice early matters.

This is general legal information, not legal advice. Oregon landlord-tenant law changes, the annual rent cap is recalculated every year, and local ordinances can add protections, so confirm the current rules for your situation or consult an Oregon tenant or landlord attorney before acting.