Oregon tenant screening laws

You may charge an applicant screening charge only to cover the cost of screening, no more than your average actual cost or the customary amount screening companies charge, and only one charge in any 60-day period no matter how many of your units the applicant applies for. Before accepting it, adopt written screening criteria and tell the applicant in writing the amount, your criteria and process, the rent and deposits, any renter's insurance requirement, the applicant's dispute and refund rights, and your nondiscrimination policy (ORS 90.295; ORS 90.297; ORS 90.303; ORS 90.304).

• Give a receipt for the charge, and promptly after a screening company or credit agency screens the applicant, give confirmation with a copy of its receipt (ORS 90.295(1)(a)).
• Refund the charge within 30 days if you fill the unit before screening the applicant, or if the applicant withdraws in writing before you screen. Do not take a charge when you know no unit is or soon will be available. A violation costs twice the charge plus $250 (ORS 90.295(4); ORS 90.295(5); ORS 90.295(6)).
• A deposit to hold a unit may be taken only after you approve the applicant and before the rental agreement is signed, with a written statement of the terms. If the agreement is not signed because of your failure or because of habitability defects, return it within five business days (ORS 90.297).
• When evaluating an applicant you may not consider an eviction case that was dismissed or won by the applicant, or a judgment against the applicant entered five or more years earlier; criminal history is limited to convictions and certain pending charges in listed categories, and marijuana possession convictions and medical marijuana status are off limits (ORS 90.303).
• If you deny an application after screening, give a written statement of reasons within 14 days. Before denying for criminal history, let the applicant submit supplemental evidence and make an individualized assessment. A violation costs $100. The statement must identify reporting companies not already disclosed, explain why any supplemental evidence considered did not overcome the reasons for rejection, and describe any available appeal right. The state statement does not replace applicable federal consumer-report notices (ORS 90.304).
• You may not ask about immigration or citizenship status, and if you verify identity you must accept the documents the statute lists, including expired government identification (ORS 90.306; ORS 90.303(6)).
• Since June 5, 2026, a landlord who takes applications through a tenant portal must also offer a printable application, process applications made outside the portal, and not force an applicant who asks in writing to use the portal alone to verify identity or sign documents (Or. Laws 2026, ch. 23, § 2).
• Through January 1, 2028, the current version of ORS 90.303 also excludes possession judgments on claims arising April 1, 2020 through February 28, 2022, and unpaid rent accrued during that period, including collection referrals and judgments. Check the accrual or claim date rather than treating every collection entry alike. The Legislature publishes a different version operative January 2, 2028; do not apply that future version early (ORS 90.303(1), (5) and operative-date note).
• For a covered Portland application, first identify whether the landlord uses low-barrier criteria or more restrictive criteria. The low-barrier criminal criteria include three-year misdemeanor and seven-year felony sentencing windows and exclude the listed juvenile, invalidated and other records. These are not universal permission to reject everything within those windows. More restrictive criteria require the city individual assessment before denial on any proposed basis, alongside the state protections. Check the section G exemptions and any conflicting funding requirements for the actual tenancy (Portland City Code 30.01.086(D)-(G)).
• Portland requires a 30-day opportunity to appeal a covered application denial and to correct, refute or explain negative information. If the appeal is approved, the city rule provides three months of prequalification for the landlord's Portland properties and a screening-fee waiver for that period, subject to the permitted self-certification that conditions have not materially changed. Keep the appeal route and decision record separate from a reporting company's dispute process (Portland City Code 30.01.086(D)(8)).
• Licensed property managers and managing principal brokers have a separate professional-record duty under ORS 696.280. Covered rental-management records must be kept for at least six years after expiration, replacement, termination or otherwise ceasing to be in effect; other record categories have different starting dates. Identify the applicable record category and licensing rules. This provision does not by itself establish a six-year rule for every private owner's rejected application (ORS 696.280(1), (4)).

Oregon bars refusing to rent, setting different terms, discouraging applicants or advertising a preference because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, familial status or source of income. Source of income includes federal rent subsidy payments and other local, state or federal housing assistance. Discrimination because of a disability is barred by a separate statute (ORS 659A.421; ORS 90.390; ORS 659A.145).

• You may still refuse based on an applicant's past conduct, or inability to pay rent after counting the value of their housing assistance, if that is consistent with fair housing law (ORS 659A.421(2)(a)).
• Renting space within your own home, where you live and share common space, is exempt from the sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and familial status rules, except for advertising (ORS 659A.421(8)).
• You may not discriminate against a tenant or applicant for being a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, bias crime or stalking. A violation costs up to two months' rent or twice actual damages, whichever is greater (ORS 90.449).
• You may not ask about immigration or citizenship status or discriminate based on it (ORS 90.306).
• A tenant who proves discrimination has a defense to eviction unless behind on rent, and may prove it through a neutral policy's disparate impact (ORS 90.390).
• Since June 5, 2026, you may not disclose a tenant's or applicant's confidential information, such as date of birth, Social Security number, contact details, income or immigration status, except as the statute allows; a knowing violation costs twice the monthly rent (Or. Laws 2026, ch. 61, § 2).