Landlord Compliance with Extended Moratorium on Evictions in Oregon

The Oregon Legislature passed a new law on June 26, 2020, which took effect immediately and expires on March 31, 2021. The new law extends the eviction ban through September 30, 2020, and provides a 6-month grace period for tenants to pay back rent, charges, and utility and services fees owing from April 1, 2020, to September 30, 2020.

The new law applies to both residential and commercial tenancies. In both cases:

• Interference with Tenancy. A landlord cannot issue notices terminating a tenancy, pursue eviction proceedings, nor assess late fees due to nonpayment of rent, charges, or utility and services fees arising between April 1, 2020, and September 30, 2020.
• For-cause Eviction. For-cause evictions are still permitted.
• Notice Requirements. Landlords and tenants are not required to send each other notices under this new law, but there are certain phrases and terms that a notice must include, if issued. After September 30, 2020, a landlord may send a tenant a notice totaling unpaid rental amounts and requesting payment so long as the notice also includes certain additional statutory notices. The tenant must respond to this notice and request for payment.
• Voluntary Repayment Plan. A landlord and tenant have the option to enter into a voluntary repayment plan after September 30, 2020.
• Penalty. The penalty for a landlord’s violation of the new law is up to 3 months’ periodic rent, plus actual damages. The tenant may also obtain an injunction. The penalty for a tenant’s failure to respond to a landlord’s post-September 30th notice regarding unpaid amounts, is 50% of one month’s rent.

For residential landlords, some no-cause evictions are still permitted.

The above information provides a brief synopsis of the new law, but does not detail all requirements for landlords and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Call 503-620-8900 regarding any questions you may have in complying with this new law.