Property Management Laws And Regulations In Oregon

Oregon regulates third-party property management through several authorities at once, and the rules that matter most to a management company are the ones covering your license, your client trust accounts, and the money you hold on behalf of owners and tenants. This guide covers those rules for professional managers, with the statute or agency regulation behind each one.

Everything below is sourced to Oregon's own statutes, agency rules, and court materials rather than to secondhand summaries. Specific dollar amounts and deadlines do change; the citations do not, so you can always open the authority and confirm the current text before you act on it.

Licensing Requirements For Property Managers

Oregon is one of the few states with a distinct real estate property manager license, separate from (but administered alongside) the real estate broker license, and either credential authorizes managing rental property for others for compensation. Narrow exemptions cover an owner's own regular full-time employees and certain limited, delegated leasing tasks.

• Property management is defined to include representing owners in rental and leasing activity, such as advertising for tenants, procuring tenants, negotiating rental agreements, collecting rent, and holding and accounting for trust funds on the owner's behalf. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 696.010(14))
• A real estate broker, principal real estate broker, or a licensed real estate property manager is bound by and subject to the real estate license law while engaging in the management of rental real estate for others. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 696.020(4))
• A regular full-time employee of a property owner who manages the owner's real estate, but does not engage in real estate sales or exchanges, is exempt from license requirements for that management activity. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 696.030)
• An owner may delegate limited, specific functions, such as negotiating leases, screening applicants, arranging maintenance, collecting rent, and receiving or disbursing trust funds, to an employee under a narrow statutory exemption rather than requiring that employee to be licensed. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 696.030(9))

Client Trust Account Rules

Oregon property managers and brokers must place client trust funds in a dedicated, federally insured clients' trust account immediately after receipt, may not commingle those funds with their own except for earned interest or already-earned compensation, must notify their bank and the Real Estate Agency when opening the account, are personally liable for deposits and disbursements they control, and must retain records for at least six years.

• A property manager or broker who receives trust funds must immediately place them in a clients' trust account maintained at a federally insured depository, held under a written property management agreement. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 696.241(2)-(3))
• Funds in a clients' trust account may not be commingled with the licensee's own funds, except for interest earned on the account or compensation the licensee has actually earned. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 696.241(5))
• A property manager who controls a clients' trust account is liable for all deposits into, and disbursements from, that account. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 696.241(4))
• A licensee must notify the depository bank and the Real Estate Agency within 10 business days of opening a clients' trust account. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 696.245)
• Complete transaction records, including trust account records, must be maintained for at least six years from the date of the transaction. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 696.280)

Trust account rules are where Oregon management companies get into trouble fastest, because a shortage is a licensing problem and not just a bookkeeping problem. The habits that keep you clean are the boring ones: deposit on time, never let operating money and client money mix, reconcile every account every month, and keep a per, property record you could hand to an auditor without preparing it first. Our guide to preparing for a trust account audit walks through what examiners actually ask for.

Security Deposit Rules

Oregon does not cap the size of a security deposit, but it requires a written, itemized accounting of any claim against the deposit, sets a 31-day return deadline after the tenancy ends, and doubles the landlord's exposure for bad-faith or unaccounted withholding.

• A landlord must give the tenant a written accounting that specifically states the basis for any claim against the security deposit or prepaid rent. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.300(12))
• The landlord must return the security deposit or prepaid rent to the tenant no later than 31 days after the tenancy terminates and the tenant delivers possession. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.300(13))
• A landlord who fails to provide the required written accounting, or who withholds a deposit in bad faith, is liable for up to twice the amount wrongfully withheld. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.300(16))

Lease Agreements And Required Disclosures

Oregon requires disclosure of flood-plain location in the rental agreement, disclosure of certain pending legal proceedings affecting the property, and carbon monoxide alarm compliance, among other statutory landlord notices.

• If a dwelling unit is located within a flood plain, the landlord must state that fact in the rental agreement. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.228(2))
• Landlords must disclose certain pending legal proceedings affecting the rental property to prospective and current tenants. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.310)
• Landlords must provide and maintain carbon monoxide alarms in dwelling units where required by statute. (Or. Rev. Stat. §§ 90.316-90.317)

Entry Notice And Tenant Privacy

Oregon requires at least 24 hours' actual notice before a landlord or agent enters the premises, unless the parties agree otherwise for a specific entry, and entry may occur only at reasonable times; tenants have statutory remedies for improper entry. (ORS 90.322)

• Oregon law includes a dedicated statute on landlord or agent access to the premises and the remedies available to a tenant when that access is abused. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.322)

Rent, Late Fees, And Other Charges

Oregon caps most annual rent increases at the lesser of 10% or 7% plus the change in the Consumer Price Index, published each year by the Department of Administrative Services (this mechanism traces to 2019's SB 608 as later amended by SB 611); increases are barred in a tenant's first year, limited to once every 12 months, and require 90 days' notice, with an exemption for buildings first occupied within the last 15 years. Late fees are also capped by statute.

• The Department of Administrative Services must calculate, by September 30 each year, the maximum annual rent increase percentage as the lesser of 10%, or 7% plus the 12-month average change (through September) in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, West Region. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.324)
• For calendar year 2026, the published maximum rent increase percentage for ordinary residential tenancies under ORS 90.323 is 9.5%; the 2025 published maximum was 10.0%. (Or. Rev. Stat. §§ 90.323-90.324)
• A landlord may not raise rent during the first year of a tenancy, may not raise it more than once in any 12-month period, and must give at least 90 days' written notice before a rent increase for other than week-to-week tenancies (7 days' notice for week-to-week tenancies). (Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.323)
• The statutory rent-increase percentage cap does not apply if the first certificate of occupancy for the dwelling unit was issued less than 15 years before the date of the rent-increase notice. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.323)
• A landlord may impose a late charge only if rent is not received by the fourth day of the rental period, and the late charge must take one of three statutory forms: a single reasonable flat fee per period, a daily charge not exceeding 6% of that flat fee, or 5% of the periodic rent charged once for each succeeding five-day period rent remains unpaid. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.260)

Fee income is also taxable income, and how you record management fees, late fees, and pass, through charges affects both your compliance position and your books. See our guide to Oregon property management tax deductions for the reporting side.

Fair Housing Obligations

The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) Civil Rights Division enforces Oregon's fair housing law, which is broader than the federal Fair Housing Act, expressly recognizing housing free from discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, and age as protected civil rights in addition to the federal classes.

• The opportunity to obtain housing without unlawful discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, age, or disability is recognized and declared to be a civil right in Oregon. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 659A.006(2))
• Oregon has a dedicated statute prohibiting discrimination in selling, renting, or leasing real property, enforced by the Bureau of Labor and Industries. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 659A.421)

Habitability And Safety Duties

Oregon landlords have a statutory duty to maintain rental units in habitable condition, covering essential services such as heat, plumbing, and hot and cold water, and the law separately prohibits retaliation against tenants who exercise their legal rights.

• A landlord must maintain the dwelling unit in habitable condition, including providing heat, plumbing, hot and cold running water, electricity, and other essential services as defined by statute. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.320)
• Oregon law prohibits retaliatory conduct by a landlord against a tenant for exercising rights under the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, and provides tenant remedies and defenses against such retaliation. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.385)

Eviction Basics

Oregon evictions proceed as a Forcible Entry and Detainer (FED) action in circuit court, with notice periods that vary by cause, for example 72 hours for nonpayment of rent and 30 days for a no-cause termination of a month-to-month tenancy.

• A landlord may terminate a tenancy for nonpayment of rent by giving the tenant at least 72 hours' written notice before pursuing possession. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.394)
• A landlord may terminate a month-to-month tenancy by giving 30 days' written notice, and a week-to-week tenancy by giving 10 days' written notice. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.427)
• The court action to recover possession of real property from a tenant who wrongfully holds over is a forcible entry and detainer (FED) proceeding, brought in circuit court. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 105.110)

Staying Compliant Without Guessing

Most Oregon compliance failures are not decisions, they are drift: a deposit that sat too long, a reconciliation that got skipped in a busy month, a lease template that never got updated after a statute changed. Build the calendar first. Monthly trust reconciliations, an annual review of your lease and disclosure packet against current statutes, and a documented process for deposits and refunds cover the large majority of what an examiner will ask about.

This guide is a starting point for professional managers, not legal advice. For a specific dispute, a novel fact pattern, or anything with real money at stake, work with a Oregon attorney, and confirm the current text of any statute cited above with the Oregon Real Estate Agency (OREA) or the Oregon legislature.

Sources

Every fact above is drawn from one of the official sources below.

• Or. Rev. Stat. § 696.010(14), Oregon Revised Statutes, Oregon State Legislature
• Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.300(12), Oregon Revised Statutes, Oregon State Legislature
• Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.324, Oregon Department of Administrative Services, Office of Economic Analysis
• Or. Rev. Stat. § 659A.006(2), Oregon Revised Statutes, Oregon State Legislature
• Or. Rev. Stat. § 105.110, Oregon Revised Statutes, Oregon State Legislature
• ORS 90.322, Oregon Legislature, ORS Chapter 90