How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Oregon?

31 days. The landlord must refund what is due and give a written accounting stating the basis for any claim against the deposit. The clock runs from termination of the tenancy plus delivery of possession, not from a tenant request or a forwarding address.

What happens if a landlord does not return the deposit on time in Oregon?

If the landlord fails to comply, the tenant may recover twice the amount withheld without a written accounting or withheld in bad faith (ORS 90.300).

Do landlords have to pay interest on security deposits in Oregon?

No — Oregon does not require interest on the security deposit to be paid to the tenant. No interest is owed to the tenant. ORS 90.300 contains no trust or escrow account requirement and no obligation to hold deposits separately or to pay interest.

Can a landlord charge a non-refundable fee in Oregon?

No — non-refundable fees are not allowed in Oregon.

What are the security deposit rules in Oregon?

Verified July 9, 2026 All Oregon topics →

Oregon sets no cap on how much a landlord can charge for a security deposit, but the deposit and a written accounting for every deduction must be returned within 31 days after the tenancy ends and the tenant hands back possession.

Cited to ORS 90.300 and 2 more Oregon statutes · Verified July 9, 2026

A landlord who withholds money in bad faith or without the written accounting owes the tenant twice the amount wrongfully withheld. The fine print favors tenants: a receipt is required for every deposit, the deposit cannot be raised during the first year of the tenancy (and needs three months' written notice afterward), carpet-cleaning charges are allowed only if the carpet was professionally machine-cleaned or replaced before move-in, repair labor must be billed at a reasonable hourly rate, and no pet deposit may ever be charged for a disability-related service or companion animal. Oregon also effectively bans nonrefundable move-in fees: under ORS 90.302 a landlord may not collect any fee at the start of a tenancy for anticipated expenses, so up-front charges beyond rent and lawful screening charges must be treated as refundable deposit money.

Oregon security deposits at a glance

Maximum deposit	No statutory cap
Return deadline	31 days
Deadline conditions	The landlord must refund what is due and give a written accounting stating the basis for any claim against the deposit. The clock runs from termination of the tenancy plus delivery of possession, not from a tenant request or a forwarding address. Within 31 days after the tenancy terminates AND the tenant delivers possession to the landlord, the landlord must both refund the amount due and give that written accounting, with separate accountings for the security deposit and any prepaid rent (ORS 90.300).
Itemization required	Yes
Itemization rules	A written accounting stating the basis of any claim is mandatory within the same 31 days; deposit and prepaid (last month's) rent must be accounted for separately. Deductions are limited to amounts reasonably necessary for unpaid rent and to repair damage or clean beyond ordinary wear and tear. Carpet cleaning may be charged only if the cleaning uses a machine specifically designed for cleaning or shampooing carpets, the carpet was cleaned or replaced before the tenancy began, and the rental agreement authorizes the deduction. Labor costs charged against a deposit — including the landlord's own labor — must be based on a reasonable hourly rate (ORS 90.300).
Separate account required	No
Interest owed to tenant	No
Account & interest rules	No interest is owed to the tenant. ORS 90.300 contains no trust or escrow account requirement and no obligation to hold deposits separately or to pay interest. The landlord must, however, give the tenant a receipt for any security deposit paid.
Pet deposits	Pet deposits are permitted and uncapped, but a landlord may not charge any pet security deposit for a service animal or companion animal that a tenant with a disability requires as a reasonable accommodation under fair housing laws (ORS 90.300). Nonrefundable pet FEES are effectively barred by ORS 90.302's closed fee list; a fee for violation of a written pet agreement is separately permitted (ORS 90.302, cross-referencing ORS 90.530).
Non-refundable fees allowed	No
Penalty for violation	If the landlord fails to comply, the tenant may recover twice the amount withheld without a written accounting or withheld in bad faith (ORS 90.300).
Tenant forwarding-address duty	Not addressed by statute

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Oregon Security Deposit Laws (verified July 9, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/security-deposits/oregon/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the Oregon statute in the citations section below.

Generate a Oregon security-deposit return letter — free, no signup, built on the same verified Oregon rules as this page.

Notes and caveats

No cap on deposit size — ORS 90.300 sets no limit on how much a landlord may collect, which is why the maximum-deposit figure is blank rather than zero.
Nonrefundable move-in fees are closed out by a statutory list — ORS 90.302 provides that a landlord "may not charge a fee at the beginning of the tenancy for an anticipated landlord expense and may not require the payment of any fee except as provided in this section." The permitted fees are limited to late rent (ORS 90.260), dishonored checks, smoke- or CO-alarm tampering (up to $250), violation of a written pet agreement, fixed-term abandonment (up to 1.5 times rent), and repeat rule noncompliance ($50, then $50 plus 5% of rent).
Screening charges are governed elsewhere — applicant screening charges are regulated separately by ORS 90.295, not by the deposit or fee rules described here.
No statutory forwarding-address duty — Oregon's deposit statute imposes no tenant duty to give the landlord a forwarding address, so the answer is left blank to record statutory silence rather than a rule in either direction.
A 2025 amendment on habitability walk-aways — not yet confirmed — a 2025 session law effective January 1, 2026 reportedly amended ORS 90.300 to require return of the deposit when a tenant declines to proceed into the tenancy because of ORS 90.320 habitability defects. That change is sourced only to Portland.gov's summary.
The bill number circulating for that change is wrong — HB 3251 (2025), which earlier appeared here, is not the measure — OLIS shows 2025R1 HB 3251 is a Clatsop/Tillamook cell-tower leasing bill that died in committee. As of the July 10, 2026 check the correct measure behind the Portland.gov summary was still unidentified, so the claim should be treated as unconfirmed.
The first-year lock comes straight from the statute — the official statute text carries both the first-year lock on raising a deposit and the three months' written notice required afterward.

Common questions: Oregon security deposits

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit in Oregon?: No statutory cap.
How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Oregon?: 31 days. The landlord must refund what is due and give a written accounting stating the basis for any claim against the deposit. The clock runs from termination of the tenancy plus delivery of possession, not from a tenant request or a forwarding address.
What happens if a landlord does not return the deposit on time in Oregon?: If the landlord fails to comply, the tenant may recover twice the amount withheld without a written accounting or withheld in bad faith (ORS 90.300).
Do landlords have to pay interest on security deposits in Oregon?: No — Oregon does not require interest on the security deposit to be paid to the tenant. No interest is owed to the tenant. ORS 90.300 contains no trust or escrow account requirement and no obligation to hold deposits separately or to pay interest.
Can a landlord charge a non-refundable fee in Oregon?: No — non-refundable fees are not allowed in Oregon.

Statute citations

ORS 90.300 (verified 2026) Official source
ORS 90.300 (section text on OregonLaws mirror) (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
ORS 90.302 (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror

How this record was verified: Dual-host reads of statute text: official Oregon Legislature ORS chapter pages (oregonlegislature.gov ors090.html and ors091.html) plus the oregon.public.law mirror (current through the 2023 ORS edition and 2024 session), with verbatim re-reads of ORS 90.323(2)-(6) and 90.324(1)-(2). Every key number (31-day deposit return, 2x penalty, 4th-day late-fee grace, 6%/day and 5%/5-day fee caps, 24 hours' actual notice, 90-day increase notice, first-year bar, once-per-12-months limit, 15-year exemption, 3-months-rent penalty, lesser-of-10%-or-7%+CPI formula) was read on both hosts. The annually-published cap figure was verified on the official DAS Office of Economic Analysis rent-stabilization page (read twice independently) and cross-confirmed against the DAS newsroom press releases of 2025-09-30 and the 2025-10-01 correction: 9.5% for calendar 2026 (CPI-U West Region September 12-month average of 2.5%). 2026 short-session sweep via the Oregon Real Estate Agency's official 2026 Legislative Update: SB 1523, HB 4120, HB 4123 all enacted, none changes a v1 field.