Oregon Late Fee Laws: The Landlord and Tenant Guide
Four-Day Grace Period · Three Permitted Fee Methods · The Five Percent Rule · Written-Lease Requirement · Nonpayment-Notice Interplay
Oregon is one of the most precisely written states in the country for late rent fees, because the legislature did not leave the question to a vague reasonableness test. Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.260 sets out an exact structure: a landlord may not charge a late fee at all unless rent is still unpaid on the fourth day of the rental period, the fee must take one of only three permitted forms, and it must be stated in the written rental agreement. That statute drives everything on this page. Get the day wrong, use a method the statute does not recognize, or leave the fee out of the lease, and a late charge that looks routine is simply not owed.
This guide walks the full framework in plain English: the four-day grace period that every tenant gets by statute, the three permitted methods of calculating the fee and the numbers that bound each one, why the fee must be in the written rental agreement, the separate dishonored-check rule, and the critical point that a late charge can never be part of the rent a tenant must pay to cure a nonpayment notice. It also covers the special cases — manufactured-dwelling facilities, subsidized housing — local ordinances, how a tenant contests an unlawful fee, a practical playbook for both sides, real scenarios, and an Oregon-specific FAQ.
Because Oregon gives clear numbers and a clear trigger, the safest posture for a landlord is a fee that fits one of the three methods, charged no earlier than the fifth day and stated in the lease, and the strongest position for a tenant is to count the days and check the method against the statute. Treat every figure here as a starting point and verify the current statute before you charge, pay, or dispute a fee.
Oregon Late Fees at a Glance
Grace Period
Four days; fee earliest on the fifth day
Permitted Fees
Flat, per-day (max six percent), or five percent
Governing Law
Revised Statutes section 90.260
NSF Fee
Up to thirty-five dollars plus bank charge
Late Fees: The Narrow Legal Question
Before diving into the numbers, it helps to see exactly what Oregon law does and does not control. A late fee is not rent. It is a contractual charge the landlord seeks to add when rent arrives late, and Oregon treats that charge as something the legislature chose to define precisely rather than leave to argument. Many states either pick no number at all, forcing courts to test whether a fee is reasonable, or pick a single cap. Oregon did something more detailed: it wrote a menu of exactly three fee methods, attached a firm grace period, and required the fee to be disclosed in the lease.
So the narrow legal question in Oregon is never “was this fee reasonable in the abstract?” It is a set of concrete questions: Is the fee one of the three methods the statute allows? Was it charged no earlier than the fifth day? Is it in the written rental agreement, with the type, amount, and due dates stated? If the answer to all three is yes, the fee is enforceable. If any answer is no, the fee is not owed, no matter how modest it looks. Everything else on this page — the dishonored-check rule, the nonpayment-notice interplay, the special cases — orbits that statutory checklist.
This makes Oregon unusually predictable. A landlord does not have to guess whether a fee will survive a challenge; the landlord can read section 90.260 and comply by matching one of the three methods and honoring the four-day floor. A tenant does not have to prove a fee is excessive in some fuzzy way; the tenant can point to a specific requirement the fee misses. The precision cuts both ways, and it rewards whoever reads the statute carefully.
Takeaway
Oregon does not ask whether a late fee is vaguely reasonable. It asks three concrete questions under section 90.260: is the fee one of the three permitted methods, was it charged no earlier than the fifth day, and is it in the written rental agreement? Miss any one and the fee is not owed. The statute is a checklist, not a judgment call.
Is There a Statutory Grace Period?
Here Oregon is emphatic, and it favors tenants. The answer is yes: Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.260 gives every residential tenant a statutory four-day grace period before a late fee can attach. The statute says a landlord may not impose a late charge unless the rent payment is not received by the fourth day of the weekly or monthly rental period for which rent is payable. In plain terms, rent that is due on the first cannot draw a late fee on the first, second, third, or fourth; the earliest a late fee can attach is the fifth day.
This is a statewide floor, not a lease option. It applies even if the written rental agreement says nothing about a grace period, and a lease cannot shorten it — a clause purporting to charge a late fee on the second day is unenforceable to that extent, because it collides with the statute. A landlord is free to be more generous and wait longer, but never less. So unlike states where any cushion depends entirely on the lease, in Oregon the four-day grace period is guaranteed by law.
How the Days Are Counted
The grace period is measured against the day rent is due for that rental period. For an ordinary month-to-month tenancy with rent due on the first, the fourth day is the fourth of the month, and a late fee may first attach on the fifth. Because the statute keys the fee to the fifth day, the per-day and percentage methods also begin on the fifth day, not before. A landlord who starts the clock on day one, or who treats the due date itself as the trigger, is charging the fee too early, and the tenant does not owe it.
The fee cannot attach before the fifth day
The single most common Oregon late-fee error is charging the fee too early. Section 90.260 forbids any late charge unless rent is still unpaid on the fourth day, so the fee first attaches on the fifth day at the earliest. A landlord who bills a late fee on the second or third day is charging it in violation of the statute, and a tenant who is billed early should point to the four-day floor and decline the charge.
Takeaway
Oregon guarantees a four-day grace period by statute. A late fee may not attach unless rent is still unpaid on the fourth day, so the earliest it can be charged is the fifth day. This floor applies even when the lease is silent, and a lease cannot shorten it. Count the days from the due date before accepting any late fee.
The Three Permitted Fee Methods: Oregon’s Anchor
This is the heart of Oregon late-fee law. Under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.260, a late fee is lawful only if it takes one of exactly three permitted forms. The landlord must pick one method, state it in the written rental agreement, and stay within its limits. There is no fourth option, and the methods cannot be stacked or blended. This is what makes Oregon a structured-cap state rather than a reasonableness state: the ceiling is the method itself.
Method One: A Reasonable Flat Amount
The first method is a reasonable flat amount, charged once per rental period. The statute defines the reasonable amount as the customary amount charged by landlords for that rental market — not a figure the landlord invents, but the going rate for comparable rentals in the area. A flat fee is charged one time for the period, no matter how many days the rent stays late, and it cannot be re-charged again and again within the same month.
Method Two: A Per-Day Amount, Capped at Six Percent
The second method is a per-day amount, charged for each day the rent is late, beginning on the fifth day of the rental period. The daily amount is bounded: it may not exceed six percent of the reasonable flat amount the landlord could otherwise charge under the first method. That six percent ceiling is what keeps a daily fee from compounding into an unlimited penalty — the daily charge is a small fraction of the flat fee, accruing only from the fifth day forward.
Method Three: Five Percent of the Periodic Rent
The third method is five percent of the periodic rent payment, charged once for each succeeding five-day period, or portion of one, that the rent remains unpaid, beginning on the fifth day. So a landlord using this method charges five percent when rent reaches the fifth day, another five percent if it is still unpaid five days after that, and so on for each additional five-day block. The percentage is fixed at five — not four, not ten — and it, too, cannot start before the fifth day.
Pick one method and disclose it
The three methods are alternatives, not a toolkit to combine. A landlord may not charge a flat fee and a per-day fee, or a percentage fee on top of a flat fee, for the same late rent. Whichever method the landlord chooses must be the one written into the rental agreement, with the amount and the due dates stated. A fee that mixes methods, or that uses a method the lease never disclosed, falls outside the statute.
| Fee method | How Oregon bounds it |
|---|---|
| Reasonable flat amount | Charged once per rental period; must equal the customary amount charged by landlords for that rental market |
| Per-day amount | Begins on the fifth day; each day may not exceed six percent of the reasonable flat amount |
| Five percent of periodic rent | Five percent of the rent for each succeeding five-day period, or portion of one, beginning on the fifth day |
| Any other design | Not permitted — a fourth method, a stacked combination, or a fee before the fifth day is unenforceable |
Takeaway
Under section 90.260 an Oregon late fee must be one of three methods: a reasonable flat amount once per period at the market-customary figure, a per-day amount capped at six percent of that flat amount from the fifth day, or five percent of the periodic rent per five-day period from the fifth day. Pick one, disclose it, and never stack them.
When a Fee May Be Charged and the Written-Lease Requirement
A late fee cannot appear out of thin air in Oregon. To be enforceable at all, the fee must be disclosed in the written rental agreement. Section 90.260 is specific about what the agreement has to state: the tenant’s obligation to pay a late charge on delinquent rent, the type and amount of the late charge, and the date on which rent is due together with the date the late charge becomes due. All three pieces have to be there. If the agreement is silent on late fees, there is simply no late fee to collect, and the three-method analysis never even begins.
Assuming the agreement does provide for a fee, the timing follows the four-day floor. Because a fee may not attach until rent is unpaid on the fourth day, the earliest charge date is the fifth day, regardless of what the lease says — a lease cannot pull the trigger earlier. But writing the fee into the agreement is only the first hurdle. The clause opens the door; the fee still has to match one of the three statutory methods and stay within its limits. A rental agreement that authorizes a fee charged on day two, or a hybrid method the statute does not recognize, does not become valid just because it is in writing — it is a clause the statute overrides.
A lease clause is necessary, not sufficient
The written-disclosure requirement and the three-method structure are two separate gates, and a fee must pass both. A late fee with no lease clause fails at the first gate. A late fee with a clause but a method or timing the statute forbids fails at the second. Landlords sometimes assume that because the tenant signed the lease the fee is locked in; it is not, if the fee itself breaks section 90.260. Tenants sometimes assume any signed fee is owed; it is not, if the fee misses the statute.
Takeaway
An Oregon late fee is enforceable only if the written rental agreement states the obligation, the type and amount, and the due dates, and the fee fits one of the three methods and the fifth-day floor. No disclosure means no fee; a disclosed fee that breaks the statute is still unenforceable. The lease opens the door, but the statutory structure decides the outcome.
NSF and Returned-Check Fees
A bounced rent check is governed by its own statutes in Oregon, separate from the late-fee rule — and this is a point where a common assumption is wrong: the dishonored-check fee is not found in section 90.260 at all. The late-fee statute says nothing about returned checks. Instead, a landlord’s authority to charge for a dishonored check comes from Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.302, which allows a fee for a dishonored check that does not exceed the amount described in Oregon Revised Statutes section 30.701 plus any amount a bank charged the landlord to process the returned check.
The section 30.701 handling fee is capped at thirty-five dollars. So the landlord’s dishonored-check charge is that thirty-five-dollar figure plus the actual bank processing charge, and no more. Section 30.701 also carries a sharper remedy for a payee who follows the statute’s written-demand procedure: the payee can recover statutory damages of at least one hundred dollars, up to three times the amount of the check, but the statutory damages may not exceed the amount of the check by more than five hundred dollars. That treble-damages path is separate from the modest handling fee and requires the formal written demand.
Keep the returned-check charge and the late fee distinct
A bounced check can trigger both a late fee (because the rent is now late) and a dishonored-check charge (because the check was returned), but they rest on different statutes and different limits. The returned-check charge is fixed by sections 90.302 and 30.701 at up to thirty-five dollars plus the bank charge; the late fee still has to fit one of the three methods in section 90.260. Do not blend them into a single inflated charge — each has its own ceiling and its own statutory basis.
Takeaway
A dishonored rent check is governed by sections 90.302 and 30.701, not by the late-fee statute. The landlord may charge up to the section 30.701 handling fee — capped at thirty-five dollars — plus the actual bank charge, and, after a written demand, may pursue statutory damages. This returned-check charge is separate from any late fee, and the two cannot be merged.
Can a Late Fee Lead to Eviction? The Nonpayment-Notice Interplay
This is where late-fee mistakes can become eviction mistakes. An Oregon landlord who wants to end a tenancy for unpaid rent serves a termination notice for nonpayment of rent under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.394. Depending on the tenancy, that notice runs seventy-two hours for a week-to-week tenancy given no sooner than the fifth day, or, for other tenancies, either ten days given no sooner than the eighth day or thirteen days given no sooner than the fifth day. The critical point for late fees is what the tenant must pay to cure and keep the home.
A landlord may note a late charge on the notice, but section 90.260 requires that the notice make clear the tenant can cure by paying the delinquent rent alone, without the late charge, within the notice period. The rent needed to cure never includes the late fee. And the statute goes further: nonpayment of a late charge by itself is not grounds for a nonpayment eviction under section 90.394. At most, an unpaid late charge can support a for-cause termination under section 90.392, or, at a manufactured-dwelling facility, under section 90.630 — a different and slower path than a nonpayment notice.
That does not mean a valid late fee is uncollectible. It means the collection path is different. A landlord may pursue an unpaid, enforceable late fee as an ordinary debt — in small claims court, for example, or by a lawful deduction consistent with the Oregon security deposit laws at move-out. What a landlord may not do is treat the late fee as part of the rent a tenant must pay to avoid eviction. A tenant, in turn, does not lose the home merely for declining to pay a disputed late fee, and our Oregon eviction notice laws guide covers the nonpayment notice in depth.
Never bundle the late fee into the cure amount
The most damaging Oregon late-fee error in an eviction is demanding the late charge as part of the rent needed to cure. Section 90.394 lets a tenant cure by paying only the delinquent rent; a notice that folds a late fee into the cure amount, or that suggests the tenant must pay the late fee to stay, is defective. State the exact past-due rent as the cure amount, note any late charge separately if at all, and pursue an unpaid valid fee as its own debt.
Takeaway
A section 90.394 nonpayment notice lets a tenant cure by paying only the delinquent rent, never the late fee. A late charge may be noted but can never be part of the cure amount, and nonpayment of a late fee alone cannot drive a nonpayment eviction — at most a for-cause termination. A valid late fee is collectible as a separate debt, not through the cure amount.
Special Cases: Manufactured Dwellings and Subsidized Units
The three-method structure is the baseline, but several categories of housing carry their own layered rules, and the ordinary analysis is not the whole story for them.
Manufactured-Dwelling and Floating-Home Facilities
A tenancy in a manufactured-dwelling or floating-home facility — where the resident owns the home and rents the space — is governed by the facility provisions of Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 90, and Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.302 governs the fees a facility landlord may charge. A facility late fee still has to fit one of the three section 90.260 methods, honor the four-day floor, and appear in the written rental agreement, but facility charges are read against the additional fee rules that chapter 90 imposes on facilities. And as noted above, at a facility an unpaid late charge can support only a for-cause termination under section 90.630, not a nonpayment eviction.
Subsidized Housing
In the Housing Choice Voucher program and similar subsidized tenancies, a late fee generally applies only to the tenant’s own share of the rent, not to the portion the housing authority pays, and the program contract or lease rider may cap or bar the fee entirely. A landlord who accepts a voucher agrees to the program’s terms for the term of the contract, so the program rules ride on top of state law. The section 90.260 structure still governs the fee’s form and timing, but it operates within the narrower band the program allows.
Week-to-Week Tenancies
Because section 90.260 keys the grace period to the rental period for which rent is payable, a week-to-week tenancy is measured against its weekly period, and the same four-day floor and three-method structure apply. The nonpayment path differs — a week-to-week tenancy uses the seventy-two-hour notice — but the late-fee rules themselves do not change form. A landlord cannot use a shorter rental period to escape the four-day grace period or the three permitted methods.
Takeaway
Manufactured-dwelling facilities follow the facility fee rules of chapter 90 and section 90.302 on top of the three-method structure, subsidized tenancies limit a late fee to the tenant’s share and may bar it, and week-to-week tenancies still get the four-day floor. Section 90.260 governs the fee’s form in every case; these categories layer extra limits on top.
Local Ordinances
Oregon’s late-fee rules are set almost entirely at the state level in section 90.260, which is more uniform than the patchwork some states leave to cities. Because the statutory structure — the four-day floor and the three methods — applies statewide, a landlord in Portland, Eugene, Salem, Gresham, or Bend starts from the same late-fee framework. That statewide consistency is one of the practical advantages of Oregon’s approach.
That said, some Oregon cities have adopted their own tenant-protection ordinances that touch fees, relocation assistance, and notice requirements — Portland in particular has a detailed local code layered on top of state law. Where a local ordinance adds a protection that state law does not, and it is consistent with the statute, the more protective rule can apply. Because coverage varies by city and sometimes by building type, the reliable step is to check the ordinance for the specific address. A landlord should confirm whether the property sits inside a city with extra tenant rules before charging fees, and a tenant should check whether the local rules give more protection than the state baseline.
Check the ordinance for the exact address
Oregon’s late-fee structure is statewide, but a city like Portland can add local requirements on fees, notices, or relocation help. Before charging or paying a late fee on a unit in a city with a tenant-protection ordinance, confirm the local rules for that exact address alongside section 90.260. When a local ordinance is stricter than state law and consistent with it, the more protective rule can control.
Takeaway
Oregon sets its late-fee rules statewide in section 90.260, so the four-day floor and three methods apply the same in Portland, Eugene, and Salem. Some cities, notably Portland, add tenant-protection ordinances on fees and notices, so check the rules for the property’s exact address, and the more protective rule can control.
How a Tenant Contests an Unlawful or Excessive Late Fee
Because Oregon writes the late-fee structure into statute, a tenant challenging a fee has a concrete checklist rather than a vague argument. The tenant does not have to prove a fee “felt” excessive; the tenant can point to a specific requirement of section 90.260 that the fee missed — the wrong day, a method the statute does not allow, a percentage other than five, a per-day charge above six percent, or no disclosure in the lease. That precision shapes every step below.
Check the lease and the days first
Confirm the rental agreement actually states a late fee, its type, amount, and due dates, and count the days: a fee charged before the fifth day violates the four-day floor and is not owed.
Match the fee to the three methods
Check whether the fee is a lawful flat amount, a per-day amount at or under six percent of that flat figure, or five percent per five-day period. A method the statute does not list is unenforceable.
Ask the landlord to justify or remove it
Request, in writing, that the landlord either show the fee fits section 90.260 or drop it. Cite the specific requirement the fee misses, whether timing, method, or disclosure.
Raise it against a defective notice
If a nonpayment notice folded the late charge into the cure amount, that is improper, because a tenant may cure by paying only the delinquent rent. Point this out in response to the notice.
Dispute a deposit deduction or use small claims
Challenge an unlawful late fee taken from the security deposit, and sue in small claims court to recover an overcharge. Keep written records of every payment and demand throughout.
Takeaway
An Oregon tenant contesting a late fee has a statutory checklist, not a guess: check the disclosure and the days, match the fee to the three methods, ask the landlord to justify or drop it, challenge a notice that bundles the fee into the cure amount, and use the deposit dispute or small claims to recover an overcharge.
The Oregon Landlord and Tenant Playbook
The statutory structure rewards discipline on both sides. For landlords, a fee that matches a method, honors the fifth-day floor, and is disclosed in the lease holds up; for tenants, knowing the exact requirements keeps you from paying a fee you do not owe.
Pick one method and put it in the lease
Landlords: choose a flat amount at the market-customary figure, a per-day amount at or under six percent of that flat amount, or five percent per five-day period, and state the type, amount, and due dates in the written rental agreement.
Never charge before the fifth day
Honor the four-day grace period. Do not bill any late fee, per-day charge, or percentage until rent is still unpaid on the fourth day, so the fee first attaches on the fifth day of the rental period.
Do not stack methods or exceed the caps
Use only the one method the lease states. Do not combine a flat fee with a per-day fee, exceed six percent on the daily method, or use a percentage other than five. Keep a flat fee tied to the market custom.
Keep the fee out of the cure amount
In a nonpayment notice, state only the delinquent rent as the cure amount. Note any late charge separately if at all, and pursue a valid unpaid fee as an ordinary debt in small claims, not through the notice.
Tenants: verify before you pay
Check that the fee is in the lease, count the days, and match it to the three methods and their limits. Watch for manufactured-dwelling, subsidized, or local rules, and dispute in writing anything that misses the statute.
Need the nonpayment notice itself?
If a tenant is genuinely behind on rent, the correct tool is a rent-only cure notice, not a late-fee demand. See our Oregon eviction notice laws guide for how the nonpayment notice works. State only the delinquent rent as the cure amount, and pursue any valid late fee separately. Always verify current law before serving.
Lawful Versus Unlawful: Common Scenarios
✓ Usually Lawful
- Flat fee from the fifth day. A reasonable flat late fee at the market-customary amount, stated in the lease, charged once and no earlier than the fifth day of the rental period.
- Five percent per five-day period. Five percent of the periodic rent for each succeeding five-day period the rent stays unpaid, beginning on the fifth day and disclosed in the lease.
- Per-day fee within six percent. A daily charge that begins on the fifth day and stays at or under six percent of the reasonable flat amount, used alone.
- Separate returned-check charge. A dishonored-check fee up to the thirty-five-dollar handling amount plus the bank charge under sections 90.302 and 30.701, kept distinct from the late fee.
✕ Likely Unlawful
- Fee before the fifth day. Any late charge billed on the first through fourth day, in violation of the statutory four-day grace period.
- A method the statute omits. A fee that is not a flat amount, a per-day amount within six percent, or five percent per five-day period — or two methods stacked together.
- Fee not in the rental agreement. A late fee the written agreement never states, or one missing the required type, amount, or due dates.
- Late fee in the cure amount. Demanding the late charge as part of the rent a tenant must pay to cure a nonpayment notice, which the tenant may cure with rent alone.
The Best Late Payment Is the One That Never Happens
Most late-rent and bounced-check problems trace back to a tenant whose payment history showed red flags before move-in. Comprehensive credit, income, and eviction-history reports surface prior payment problems before you ever sign a lease.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a legal limit on late fees in Oregon?
Yes. Unlike states that leave late fees to a vague reasonableness test, Oregon writes the structure into statute. Under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.260, a late fee must be one of exactly three permitted forms: a reasonable flat amount charged once per rental period, a per-day amount that may not exceed six percent of that flat amount, or five percent of the periodic rent charged once for each five-day period the rent stays unpaid. A flat fee must be the customary amount charged by landlords in that rental market. Any late fee outside these three methods, or one not stated in the written rental agreement, is not enforceable. Always verify the current statute before charging or paying a fee.
Does Oregon have a grace period for late rent?
Yes. Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.260 gives every residential tenant a statutory four-day grace period. A landlord may not impose a late charge unless the rent payment is still unpaid on the fourth day of the rental period for which rent is due, which means the earliest a late fee can attach is the fifth day. This is a statewide floor that applies even if the lease says nothing about a grace period, and a lease cannot shorten it. A landlord who charges a late fee on the first, second, third, or fourth day is charging it too early, and the fee is not owed.
How much can an Oregon landlord charge as a late fee?
It depends on which of the three statutory methods the lease uses. A flat fee must be a reasonable amount, defined by statute as the customary amount charged by landlords for that rental market, charged once per rental period. A per-day fee begins on the fifth day and may not exceed six percent of the reasonable flat amount for each day. A percentage fee is five percent of the periodic rent, charged once for each succeeding five-day period, or portion of one, that the rent remains unpaid, also beginning on the fifth day. The landlord must pick one method and state it in the written rental agreement; the landlord cannot stack methods or invent a fourth.
Does a late fee have to be in the written lease in Oregon?
Yes. Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.260 requires that the written rental agreement specify the tenant’s obligation to pay a late charge, the type and amount of the late charge, and the date on which rent is due and the date on which the late charge becomes due. If the rental agreement does not state a late fee, there is no late fee to collect. A landlord cannot charge a late fee that the lease never mentions, add one in the middle of a tenancy without a proper agreement, or charge a different amount or method than the one the lease sets out. The written disclosure is a precondition, not a formality.
What is the returned-check or NSF fee in Oregon?
A dishonored rent check is governed by its own statutes, not by the late-fee rule. Under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.302, a landlord may charge a fee for a dishonored check that does not exceed the amount described in Oregon Revised Statutes section 30.701 plus any amount a bank charged the landlord to process the returned check. The section 30.701 handling fee is capped at thirty-five dollars. Separately, section 30.701 lets a payee who follows the written-demand procedure recover statutory damages of at least one hundred dollars, up to three times the amount of the check but not more than five hundred dollars over that amount. This returned-check charge is separate from any late fee and rests on its own statute.
Can a landlord include a late fee in an Oregon nonpayment notice?
A landlord may note a late charge on a termination notice for nonpayment of rent under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.394, but only if the notice makes clear that the tenant can cure by paying the delinquent rent alone, without the late charge, within the notice period. The rent needed to cure and stay in the home never includes the late fee. Nonpayment of a late charge by itself is not grounds for a nonpayment eviction under section 90.394; at most it can support a for-cause termination under section 90.392 or, for a manufactured-dwelling facility, section 90.630. So a tenant does not lose the home simply for declining to pay a disputed late fee, and a notice that demands the late fee as part of the cure amount is defective.
Are late fees enforceable on Oregon manufactured-dwelling or subsidized units?
They can be, but with extra rules. A manufactured-dwelling or floating-home facility is governed by the facility provisions of Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 90, and the section 90.302 fee limits apply to facility charges; a facility late fee still has to fit one of the three section 90.260 methods and be in the written rental agreement. In a subsidized tenancy such as the Housing Choice Voucher program, a late fee generally applies only to the tenant’s own share of the rent, not the portion the housing authority pays, and the program contract may cap or bar the fee. The section 90.260 structure still governs on top of these program and facility rules, so the fee must fit both.
Can unpaid late fees lead to eviction in Oregon?
Not through a nonpayment notice. Because the rent a tenant must pay to cure a section 90.394 nonpayment notice never includes a late charge, unpaid late fees cannot drive a nonpayment eviction and cannot be counted toward the cure amount. Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.260 states directly that nonpayment of a late charge alone is not grounds for termination for nonpayment of rent, though it can be grounds for a for-cause termination under section 90.392 or, at a manufactured-dwelling facility, section 90.630. A landlord may also pursue a valid late fee as an ordinary debt in small claims court. But a tenant does not lose the home merely for refusing to pay a disputed late fee.
Is a five percent late fee legal in Oregon?
Yes, when it is charged the way the statute allows. Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.260 expressly permits a percentage method: five percent of the periodic rent payment, charged once for each succeeding five-day period, or portion of one, that the rent stays unpaid, beginning on the fifth day of the rental period. So a landlord using this method charges five percent when rent hits the fifth day, another five percent if it is still unpaid five days later, and so on. What the statute does not allow is a percentage other than five, a percentage charged before the fifth day, or a percentage method combined with the flat or per-day method. The five percent method must also be the one stated in the written rental agreement.
How does an Oregon tenant fight an unlawful or excessive late fee?
Start by checking the lease and the statute together. If the fee is not in the written rental agreement, is charged before the fifth day, uses a method other than the three that section 90.260 permits, or exceeds the five percent or six percent limits, it is not enforceable, and the tenant can say so in writing and ask the landlord to remove it. If the landlord folded the late charge into the cure amount of a nonpayment notice, that notice is defective. A tenant can dispute a wrongful deduction from the security deposit, raise the improper fee as a defense in an eviction, or sue in small claims court to recover an overcharge. Keep written records of every payment and demand.
Can an Oregon landlord charge a daily late fee that keeps growing?
Only within the statutory limit. Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.260 permits a per-day late fee, but it must begin on the fifth day of the rental period and each day’s charge may not exceed six percent of the reasonable flat amount the landlord could otherwise charge once per period. That six percent ceiling keeps a daily fee from compounding into an unlimited penalty. A landlord cannot run a daily fee from the first day, cannot exceed six percent of the flat amount per day, and cannot combine the per-day method with the flat or percentage method. A daily fee that ignores the fifth-day start or the six percent cap is charged unlawfully.
Does a lease clause automatically make an Oregon late fee valid?
A written clause is required, but it is not enough on its own. The clause must set out a late fee that actually fits one of the three methods in Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.260, respects the four-day grace period, and, for a flat fee, sets a reasonable amount equal to the customary charge in that rental market. A lease clause that authorizes a fee charged on the second day, or a flat penalty far above the market custom, or a hybrid method the statute does not recognize, is not saved by being in writing. The clause is one of two gates: the lease must provide for the fee, and the fee itself must match the statutory structure.
What is the safest way for an Oregon landlord to charge a late fee?
Pick one of the three statutory methods, state it clearly in the written rental agreement along with the due date and the date the late charge becomes due, and never charge the fee before the fifth day of the rental period. Keep a flat amount at or near the customary charge for the local market, keep a per-day amount at or under six percent of that flat figure, or use the plain five percent per five-day-period method. Do not fold the late charge into the cure amount of a nonpayment notice, and pursue any valid unpaid fee as a separate debt. Watch for manufactured-dwelling, subsidized-housing, and local rules, and verify the current statute before charging.
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A Private Eye Reports™ service trusted by landlords, property managers, and attorneys.
