On February 28, 2019, Senate Bill 608 (“SB 608”) was signed into law. Due to an emergency clause, the law became effective when signed, and Oregon became the first state in the Nation to implement statewide rent control. The law affects all fixed-term tenancies.
Eviction Standards
- Eliminates no-cause eviction standard after the first year of occupancy.
- Landlords can continue to evict for a tenant-based cause (current law – i.e., non-payment, violation of the rental agreement, outrageous conduct, etc.).
- Adds new landlord-based for-cause reasons to evict a tenant:
- Sale to a person who will move in;
- Landlord or family member move-in;
- Significant repair or renovation of the unit;
- Removal of the unit from residential use.
- If the landlord uses one of these four landlord-based reasons, they must provide the tenant with 90-day notice and relocation expenses in the amount of 1 month’s rent.
Exceptions
- Landlords with an ownership interest in four or fewer residential dwelling units are exempt from payment of the relocation fee.
- Landlords who live on the same property as their tenant (owner-occupied, 2 units or less) may still use a no-cause eviction at any time.
Landlords who occupy one of two units on the same tax lot as their primary residence may continue to use a 60-days’ written notice of termination for no cause for the tenant-occupied property, even after the first year of occupancy, and can terminate the tenancy with 30-days’ written notice if the landlord has accepted an offer to purchase from a buyer who intends to occupy the tenant’s unit as their primary residence. The landlord must provide the notice to the tenant along with written evidence of the offer to purchase the unit not more than 120 days after accepting the offer.
