ORS.90.302
Note:  Information provided by the Community Alliance of Tenants is for general educational use only.  It is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.
This handout does not apply to screening fees (90.295) or utility/service fees (90.315), which are described in our other handouts.
A fee is a payment from a tenant to a landlord that is not refundable.  A fee must be for either:
• an expense that the landlord expects to have, like the cost of cleaning the place after you move out, or
• a penalty to the tenant for going against the rental agreement, like a late rent fee
Landlords have to give you a receipt for the fee. This receipt or the rental agreement must describe:
The landlord’s expense that will be covered by the fee, and that the landlord must first apply the fee before applying any portion of a security deposit to that expense. For example, the landlord cannot apply your deposit to pet damage without first using up a pet fee if you paid one.
A fee must be “related to and designated as being charged for a specific reasonably anticipated landlord expense” (90.302 (1)). This means that they can’t just charge a generic fee; it has to be named what it’s for. Also, there needs to be reason to believe that the landlord will actually need to use this money.
A landlord can only charge a fee to cover an expected expense one time, at the beginning of the tenancy.  Any fee that is a penalty for going against the rental agreement has to be written in the rental agreement. Fees can’t be excessive.

All fees must be described in the rental agreement. This means that if you are on a fixed term lease (like 6 months or a year), a landlord cannot add any new fees during the term of the lease. On a month-to-month rental agreement a landlord can add new fees with a month’s written notice (assuming they follow the rest of the law about fees).

Fees Permitted in Rental Agreements on or After January 1, 2010:  For leases signed on or after January 1, 2010, landlords may not charge a cleaning fee, administrative fee, move-in/move-out fee, or pet fee.  Leases signed prior to January 1, 2010 may include such fees.

Late rent fees: Late rent can be charged any of three ways, and your rental agreement must describe how they are charged.  These ways are spelled out on pages 8-9 of the Legal Aid Services “Landlord-Tenant Law in Oregon” booklet.

Lease break fees: For leases signed on or later than January 1, 2010, a lease break fee may be charged but is limited to 1.5 times the monthly stated rent.  If a lease break fee is assessed, a landlord cannot additionally recover any unpaid rent or recover damages relating to the cost of renting the dwelling unit to a new tenant (ORS 90.302(2)(e)).

Non-compliance fees: Certain fees are permitted when a tenant does not comply with written rules.  However, non-compliance fees are limited to $50, and can only be charged when a tenant:
  -  Is late in paying a utility or service charge that the tenant owes to the landlord; or
  -  Fails to clean up pet waste from the premises; or
  -  Fails to clean up garbage, rubbish, or other waste from premises; or
  -  Violates a parking rule or improperly uses vehicles on the premises.  (ORS 90.302(2)(f)).

If you live in low-income tax credit (Section 42) housing, landlords are not allowed to charge a cleaning fee to clean the apartment after you move out.