Landlord Atlas

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.

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 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 a written accounting stating the basis for any claim against the deposit, with separate accountings for the security deposit and any prepaid rent (ORS 90.300). The clock runs from termination plus delivery of possession — not from a tenant request or forwarding-address delivery.
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 ORS 90.300 contains no trust/escrow account requirement and no obligation to hold deposits separately or pay interest to the tenant — verified by absence across full-section reads on both hosts. 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

Notes and caveats

max_deposit is null because ORS 90.300 imposes no amount cap — say so on-page. nonrefundable_fees_allowed is false on the strength of ORS 90.302's closed list ('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'); permitted fees are limited to late rent (90.260), dishonored checks, smoke/CO-alarm tampering (up to $250), written-pet-agreement violations, fixed-term abandonment (up to 1.5x rent), and repeat rule noncompliance ($50, then $50 + 5% of rent). Screening charges are separately regulated by ORS 90.295 (not fetched this pass — context only). tenant_forwarding_address_duty is null: no statutory tenant duty surfaced in either full-section read; refund/accounting delivery mechanics (personal delivery vs first-class mail to last-known address) were not captured verbatim — carry-forward. HB 3251 (2025), effective 2026-01-01, amended ORS 90.300 to require deposit return when a tenant declines to proceed into the tenancy over ORS 90.320 habitability defects (verified only via Portland.gov's summary — verify session-law text next sweep). First-year deposit-increase lock and 3-months-notice rule verified on the official host.

Statute citations

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 load-bearing 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 (fetched twice with different prompts) 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.