No. 1 · Tuesday, December 15, 2026 · Oregon · 9 minutes | Two Oregon laws start on Jan 1, and the 2027 rent cap is 10%. The one that reaches the most owners of a unit or two is a permission, not a duty: a landlord may end smoking inside the units and the interior common areas in the middle of a tenancy, without the tenant’s written consent, where the unit shares a wall with another and six conditions are met, 180 days’ written notice among them. | 17 days to Jan 1: 2 Oregon laws. |
| Oregon · HB 4120, Or. Laws 2026, ch. 60 A no-smoking rule mid-tenancy, without written consentStarts Jan 1, 2027 What changed A rule adopted in the middle of a tenancy that works a substantial change to the bargain is valid only with the tenant’s written consent (ORS 90.262(2)). From Jan 1 there is a second route, for smoking only, with no consent, if all six hold: the landlord “is amending a smoking policy described in ORS 479.305 to prohibit smoking within the dwelling units or within interior common areas of the premises”; the unit shares a wall with another unit, or was developed under a development agreement under ORS 94.504 to 94.528; it is not a Type A accessible unit under ORS 197A.421; a fixed-term tenancy waits until the term ends; there is at least one posted, designated smoking area somewhere on the premises; and “The landlord gives written notice at least 180 days before the change in policy.” ORS 479.305 gains a definition of smoking, a lit tobacco product inhaled or possessed; the rental agreement’s smoking-policy disclosure was already required, and its wording does not change. Who it reaches Any landlord under ORS chapter 90 with a tenancy in a unit that shares a wall with another, or in a unit built under those development agreements; no unit count, no owner type. A duplex fits by those words. Outside it: a unit with no shared wall and no such agreement, where written consent stays the only route; Type A accessible units; fixed-term tenancies until the term ends; spaces under ORS 90.505 to 90.850, since the disclosure section does not apply to them (479.305(3)). The trigger A choice, not a duty: the landlord amends the policy, and nothing happens unless the landlord does. The act reaches rental agreements made before, on or after its effective date (ch. 60, s. 3), so tenancies already running are inside. Whether the 180-day notice may be given before Jan 1, the text does not say. The price tag The act names no penalty. The consequence in the section is validity: a mid-tenancy rule that substantially changes the bargain is not valid unless one of the two routes is met. Starts Jan 1, 2027signed Mar 31, 2026, no date clause; an Oregon act takes effect on January 1 of the year after its passage (ORS 171.022). Before it starts Dec 31: count the units that share a wall with another unit; find the smoking-policy line in each rental agreement; check which tenancies are fixed-term, and the date each term ends. The signed text |  | Oregon · HB 3525, Or. Laws 2025, ch. 574 Well water: a first test before Jun 1, in three areasStarts Jan 1, 2027 What changed A new duty, ORS 90.321: “If a dwelling unit has an exempt well or wells as a source of drinking water and is within a ground water quality management area, as defined in ORS 468B.150, the landlord shall collect and test samples of drinking water for the unit.” There are three such areas: the Lower Umatilla Basin, Northern Malheur County and the Southern Willamette Valley. An exempt well is one used for a lawn or garden up to half an acre, or for domestic use up to 15,000 gallons a day (ORS 537.545). The first test, for arsenic, coliform bacteria, lead and nitrates, is due before June 1, 2027 for each unit under the duty on Jan 1; after that, each contaminant at least once a year, a clean first test buying four years. Samples come from the faucet mainly used for drinking and cooking and go to a lab accredited under ORS 438.615, which the landlord asks to report to the Oregon Health Authority; results reach the tenant within 30 days, and a prospective tenant gets written word of the well, the area and the latest result before signing. A failed test (any coliform, or another contaminant over EPA’s maximum) means results to the tenant as soon as practicable, the authority’s handout, and retesting on its schedule; the text requires no treatment. The authority’s rules are proposed, not final: the hearing and the comment deadline both fall on Dec 2, 2026, and the form and handout the statute calls for were not in the notice. Who it reaches The landlord of a unit that meets the test above; no unit count, no owner type, no lease length. The authority’s own high estimate is about 13,051 rental units in the three areas, all owner sizes. Outside it: a unit on city or other non-exempt water; a unit outside the three areas; a unit on premises regulated under ORS 448.119 to 448.285 (90.321(11)). The trigger Being the landlord of such a unit on Jan 1; nothing has to be signed or renewed. The price tag The section names no penalty and no private remedy. The authority’s figure for a lab test of all four contaminants is $100 to $300. Starts Jan 1, 2027an operative-date section (ch. 574, s. 4): the chapter’s stamp reads January 1, 2026, and section 2, the duty, becomes operative a year later. First tests due before Jun 1, 2027. Before it starts Dec 31: check whether the rental’s drinking water comes from a private well; if so, find the address on DEQ’s map of the three areas; find any past water test for the unit, and its date. The signed text The chapter’s stamp says it took effect January 1, 2026. The duty is in section 2, operative a year later by section 4. | | Signed laws found as of Nov 6, 2026 We searched the 2026 session’s table of affected ORS sections for chapters 90, 91, 93, 105 and 479: four chapters touch ORS 90, and only ch. 60 starts Jan 1, 2027; the one ORS 93 row is fire hardening, in force since Jun 5, 2026. The ORS 90 page itself carries one Jan 1, 2027 date, at 90.321. Not checked today: the 2025 session’s table (our Nov 3 read ran the chapter list), the 2026 rows for ORS 659A, whether a special session has been called, regulations, court rules and forms, local ordinances. Missed one? Write to hello@landlorddispatch.com. | | 10% The ORS 90.324 figure for 2027, set by the Department of Administrative Services and published Sep 30, 2026: 10%. The formula is the lesser of ten percent, or seven percent plus CPI, the September 12-month average change in the index for the West Region (90.324(1)(b), (4)); this year’s CPI came out at 3.1156%, so 7% plus CPI was 10.1156% and the ceiling set it. 2026 was 9.5%, the one recent year under the ceiling; 2024 and 2025 were 10%. For any tenancy other than week-to-week: no increase “During the first year after the tenancy begins”, 90 days’ written notice before the increase takes effect, and no more than one increase in any 12-month period (90.323(2)); the notice states the amount, the new rent, the date, and the facts behind any exemption claimed (3). Outside the cap: a unit whose first certificate of occupancy is less than 15 years old at the date of the notice, and affordable housing regulated or certified by a government, when the change does not raise the tenant’s share or is required by program rules (90.323(5)); week-to-week tenancies, which get 7 days’ notice; and spaces under ORS 90.505 to 90.850, which have their own rule. The statute names no unit-count or owner-type exemption. The price tag: an increase in violation costs “three months’ rent plus actual damages suffered by the tenant” (90.323(6)). The state’s page shows the figure, the statute’s sentence and who is exempt: the Oregon page. DAS, the 2027 maximum; ORS 90.323 and 90.324. The next figure is due by Sep 30, 2027. | 31 days, a written accounting, or twice the moneyORS 90.300 gives a landlord 31 days: “within 31 days after the tenancy terminates and the tenant delivers possession the landlord shall give to the tenant a written accounting that states specifically the basis or bases of the claim” (12), and the refund runs on the same clock (13). Money withheld with no written accounting, or in bad faith, lets the tenant recover “an amount equal to twice the amount” (16); fees may go to the prevailing party (90.255). The court story, in roles, from 2004. A tenant rented a dwelling from an individual owner with a $400 deposit, surrendered it, and got no written accounting in time; the owner conceded that. The tenant sued for $800, twice the deposit. The trial judge agreed the accounting was missing and still would not double, reading the statute’s may as a judge’s choice, and awarded costs and fees to the owner. The Court of Appeals reversed: may is the tenant’s choice, and “the trial court must award the double damages that the statute requires.” Judgment of $800 on the deposit claim, plus costs and attorney fees; the tenant’s separate unlawful-entry claim stayed lost. The amount, the court said, citing a 1985 case, does not depend on the landlord’s good or bad faith, or on whether the tenant was harmed at all. The opinion decided the no-accounting branch; today’s (16) covers bad faith too. Citation: Waldvogel v. Jones, 196 Or App 446, 103 P3d 124 (2004), published; the same court relied on it in 2006. Oregon’s opinion archive; text via CourtListener (Free Law Project); ORS 90.300. The same rule in the other seven states, shortest clock first New York: 14 days, itemized, or the landlord forfeits any right to keep any of it. Willful violation: punitive damages up to twice the deposit. N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(e), (g). Florida: 15 days to return it; 30 for a certified-mail or agreed e-mail claim notice. No notice, no claim on it. Loser pays fees. Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3). California: 21 calendar days, itemized. In bad faith, the landlord loses any claim to it and faces up to twice the deposit, plus actual damages. Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(h), (m). Illinois, any building size: itemized list with receipts in 30 days, or all of it back in 45. Refusal or bad faith costs twice the deposit, plus fees. 765 ILCS 710/1(a), (c). Texas: 30 days after surrender and a written forwarding address. Late is presumed bad faith: $100, three times the amount wrongfully withheld, and attorney’s fees. Tex. Prop. Code §§ 92.103, 92.107, 92.109. Washington: 30 days, documented statement, or the full deposit is owed and defenses barred. Intentional refusal: up to twice the deposit. Loser pays fees. RCW 59.18.280. Virginia: 45 days, itemized; 15 more for the itemization if damage tops the deposit and needs a contractor, with notice. Willful failure means the deposit back, plus actual damages and attorney fees. Va. Code § 55.1-1226 A, E. | The 1099 line is $600 $2,000For payments made after Dec 31, 2025, a 1099-MISC (rents) or 1099-NEC (services) is due for anyone paid “$2,000 or more in any calendar year”, not $600 (26 USC 6041(a), 6041A(a)(2); Pub. L. 119-21, sec. 70433), when the payment is in the course of a trade or business; whether a rental is one is not a question this letter answers. For 2026 payments: Mon, Feb 1, 2027 for the 1099-NEC and all recipient copies; the 1099-MISC to the IRS by Mar 1 on paper, Mar 31 electronically. 26 USC 6041; IRS instructions, Dec 2026. | The law that lets a landlord end smoking in the units requires the landlord to keep a place to smoke on the premises, with a sign on it. Know a landlord with an Oregon rental? This is the one to send. Next dispatch: Tuesday, December 29. |  |
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