Security Deposit Law
What Oregon landlords must do with security deposits — the cap, interest, return deadline, account rules, and penalties — with citations to the statute itself.
Verified as of June 11, 2026
This page is general information, not legal advice. Statutes change — verify with the cited sources or an attorney.
Deposit cap
No statewide cap, but mid-tenancy increases are restricted and Portland and Eugene cap deposits by ordinance.
Interest
No interest required by Oregon statute; Portland requires pass-through of any interest actually earned.
Return deadline
Written accounting and refund within 31 days after the tenancy terminates and the tenant delivers possession.
ORS 90.300 sets no maximum deposit amount, but it bars new or increased deposits during the first year of tenancy, requires at least three months for the tenant to pay any later increase, and prohibits pet deposits for service or companion animals required as a disability accommodation. Portland caps deposits at one month's rent (or an additional half month where last month's rent is collected), and Eugene caps them at two months' rent.
ORS 90.300(4), (5) (2025 Edition) · Portland City Code 30.01.087.A · Eugene Code 8.425(15) (unofficial mirror — Wayback capture of the official Eugene Code codification at eugene.municipal.codes, which is the citation of record; the live site blocks automated access)
ORS 90.300 contains no requirement to pay interest on security deposits. In Portland, however, if the deposit account bears interest, the interest accrues to the tenant and must be paid out minus an optional five percent deduction for administrative costs.
To claim any of the deposit you must give a written accounting stating the specific basis of each claim within 31 days, with separate accountings for the security deposit and any prepaid rent; the unclaimed balance must be refunded within the same 31 days. The accounting and refund must go by personal delivery or first class mail. Two distinct opt-ins can modernize this: email delivery of the accounting requires its own ORS 90.155(1)(d) email-notice addendum (specifying both parties' email addresses, executed after the tenancy begins and the tenant has occupied, with a three-days'-notice termination right and the statutory warning form), while electronic refund to the tenant's bank account requires a separate ORS 90.300(13) addendum executed after the tenancy begins and the tenant has occupied. One addendum does not cover both.
ORS 90.300(12)-(14) (2025 Edition) · ORS 90.155(1)(d) (2025 Edition)
Oregon statute does not require a separate or segregated bank account. ORS 90.300(2)(a) requires the landlord to hold the deposit for the tenant and gives the tenant's claim priority over the landlord's creditors, including a bankruptcy trustee — but it imposes no account-segregation rule. Portland is different: city code requires deposits to go into a segregated account within two weeks of receipt.
ORS 90.300(2)(a) (2025 Edition) · Portland City Code 30.01.087.B
If you miss the 31-day refund requirement, or withhold any of the deposit or prepaid rent in bad faith, the tenant can recover twice the amount withheld without a written accounting or withheld in bad faith. The section also preserves other damages under the chapter. Portland layers on its own remedy of up to $250 per violation plus actual damages, reasonable attorney fees and costs.
ORS 90.300(16), (18) (2025 Edition) · Portland City Code 30.01.087.G
Portland (PCC 30.01.087, verified against ordinance text): deposits capped at one month's rent, or an additional half month where last month's rent is collected, plus a conditional-approval half month payable in installments over up to three months; deposits must be placed in a segregated account within two weeks; interest on an interest-bearing account belongs to the tenant minus an optional five percent administrative deduction; a signed condition report is required and "the landlord must take pictures of the items noted in the condition report and share those photographs with the tenant"; flooring deductions are limited to the "discrete impacted area" and interior-painting deductions are barred except for specific tenant damage or unauthorized painting; rent payment history must be provided within five business days of request; violations carry up to $250 per violation plus actual damages, attorney fees and costs. Eugene (EC 8.425(15), verified against an archived copy of the official codification): deposits may not exceed two months' rent, with a limited additional deposit (up to one month's rent) allowed for agreed rental-agreement modifications such as pets. Other Oregon cities should be checked individually before relying on the state-law defaults alone.
You must provide a receipt for any security deposit paid, and a written rental agreement must list the deposit. "Security deposit" includes any last month's rent deposit.
Claims against the deposit are limited to amounts reasonably necessary to remedy tenant defaults (like unpaid rent) and to repair damage beyond ordinary wear and tear. Labor costs must be based on a reasonable hourly rate, and you may charge a reasonable hourly rate for your own cleaning or repair work — you don't have to actually perform the repair to claim its cost.
You can charge for professional-style carpet cleaning only if it's done with a machine designed for cleaning or shampooing carpets, the carpet was cleaned or replaced before the tenant moved in, and your written rental agreement says you may deduct carpet cleaning regardless of whether the tenant cleans before moving out.
You can't amend the rental agreement to require a new or increased deposit during the first year of tenancy (except by agreement tied to a modification, like adding a pet). After the first year, the tenant gets at least three months to pay any increase. And no pet deposit may be charged for a service or companion animal required as a disability accommodation.
A last month's rent deposit must be applied to the final month's rent once a termination notice is given, the parties agree to end the tenancy, or a fixed term ends. Any unapplied portion must be accounted for and refunded under the same 31-day rules as security deposits.
Emailing the final deposit accounting requires an ORS 90.155(1)(d) email-notice addendum with mandatory contents: both parties' specified email addresses, execution after the tenancy begins and the tenant has occupied, a right to terminate email service on three days' notice, and the statutory warning form. Refunding the deposit electronically to the tenant's bank account requires a different addendum under ORS 90.300(13), also executed after the tenancy begins and the tenant has occupied. Signing one does not satisfy the other.
ORS 90.155(1)(d); ORS 90.300(13)-(14) (2025 Edition) · Enrolled SB 1069 (2023), Or. Laws 2023, ch. 296
The tenant can recover twice the amount withheld without a written accounting or withheld in bad faith under ORS 90.300(16) — on a $2,000 deposit that's up to $4,000, before attorney involvement.
ORS 90.300(7)(a)(B) excludes ordinary wear and tear entirely, and in Portland the city code limits flooring deductions to the "discrete impacted area" and bars interior-painting deductions except for specific tenant-caused damage or unauthorized painting. Overreaching deductions invite the double-damages claim plus Portland's $250-per-violation remedy.
ORS 90.300(7)(a)(B) (2025 Edition) · Portland City Code 30.01.087.C.4-5
Email is a permitted delivery method for the accounting only "if allowed under ORS 90.155 (1)(d)." Without that addendum, delivery is non-compliant, and amounts claimed are exposed as "withheld without a written accounting" — the double-damages trigger.
ORS 90.300(14); ORS 90.155(1)(d); ORS 90.300(16) (2025 Edition)
Both the ORS 90.155(1)(d) email-notice addendum and the ORS 90.300(13) electronic-refund addendum must be executed after the tenancy begins and the tenant has occupied the premises. A move-in-day signature doesn't qualify, so the email delivery or electronic refund made under it doesn't either.
31 days after the tenancy terminates and the tenant delivers possession. Within that same window you must give a written accounting that specifically states the basis of any amount you're claiming (with separate accountings for the deposit and any prepaid rent). Miss it and the tenant can recover double the amount withheld without an accounting or withheld in bad faith.
Not statewide — ORS 90.300 sets no dollar or month cap. But city ordinances do: Portland caps deposits at one month's rent (or an extra half month where last month's rent is collected, plus a conditional-approval half month payable in installments), and Eugene caps them at two months' rent. Statewide, you also can't add or increase a deposit during the first year of the tenancy.
Carpet cleaning, yes — but only if all three statutory conditions are met: machine cleaning (not just vacuuming), carpet cleaned or replaced before the tenant moved in, and a written rental agreement clause allowing the deduction. Repainting generally fails the "ordinary wear and tear" exclusion unless the tenant caused specific damage; in Portland, interior-painting deductions are expressly barred except for specific tenant damage or unauthorized painting.
No — ORS 90.300 has no interest requirement and no separate-account requirement statewide. Portland landlords are the exception: deposits must go into a segregated account within two weeks, and if that account earns interest, the interest belongs to the tenant and must be paid out minus an optional five percent deduction for administrative costs.
Not during the first year, except by mutual agreement tied to a change in the rental agreement (like permitting a pet). After the first year, you may require a new or increased deposit, but you must give the tenant at least three months to pay it. You can never charge a pet deposit for a service or companion animal required as a disability accommodation.
Yes — since January 1, 2024, when SB 1069 (Or. Laws 2023, ch. 296) took effect under ORS 171.022's default effective date (the act has no emergency clause). But each step needs its own addendum. Emailing the written accounting requires an ORS 90.155(1)(d) email-notice addendum that specifies both parties' email addresses, is executed after the tenancy begins and the tenant has occupied, allows termination on three days' notice, and includes the statutory warning form. Refunding electronically to the tenant's bank account requires a separate ORS 90.300(13) addendum, also executed after the tenancy begins and the tenant has occupied. One addendum does not cover both.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Statutes change — verify with the cited sources or an attorney.
Statute facts on this page were verified against the cited official sources on June 11, 2026.
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