Oregon Rent Increase Question

[Sam Wilson]

Good afternoon, 

First of all, thank you for taking the time to read my post. I am a newer landlord in the Oregon market. I have one SFR rented out and leased through June 1st 2022. I didn't think about laws regarding rent increases until the renewal came up for discussion. I have a great tenant and am not concerned about them being upset in any way. I would like to verify that I am doing everything I can to follow the letter of the law. I am reading that you need to give a tenant 90 day notice to increase rent if they are on a fixed term lease. In order to change this tenants rent, do I:

1.) Change the lease to month to month at the end of the term (6/1), serve the notice today and wait 90 days to increase rent (more trouble than it's worth for $30 a month?)

2.) Send her the notice now and increase the rent at the end of her lease (6/1) / is there something I am missing?

3.) Leave the rent as is and plan for a larger increase next year following the 90 notice standard 

Thank you for your answers in advance, it is much appreciated!

[Kurt Lane]

Hi @Sam Wilson,

There are a few other Oregon-specific things that you need to keep in mind as you work through your options.

The first is the that notice period is actually 94 days if you plan on mailing the rent increase notice and 91 days if you'll be delivering in person. Make sure to give the full notice period or the rent increase can be invalidated if the tenant challenges it.

The next is that when extending a lease you have to give the tenant the option of extending either month-to-month or for another fixed term. You can't force them to re-sign for another year and they're within their rights to choose to go month-to-month. What a lot of landlords do is offer a slight decrease in rent (say $10-20/mo) if they choose to sign a fixed term lease. 

I would also really recommend using Multifamily NW forms for all of your paperwork.

https://www.multifamilynw.org/...