Oregon's statewide rent increase limit for 2026 is 9.5 percent in any rolling 12-month period, set under ORS 90.323 as 7 percent plus the annual change in the CPI-U West Region, published each fall by the Oregon Department of Administrative Services. New construction is exempt from the cap for 15 years after its first certificate of occupancy, manufactured home parks and marinas over 30 spaces are capped separately at 6 percent, and after the first year of tenancy a landlord needs a qualifying reason under ORS 90.427, not just a rent increase or a preference, to end the lease.
This guide is maintained by Home Pros (Balint Holdings, LLC), a veteran-owned cash home buyer that operates in 15 states, including Oregon, and can move on qualifying inventory quickly through its investor network. Every statute and rate figure below comes from the Oregon Department of Administrative Services Office of Economic Analysis, the enrolled text of Senate Bill 611, and the Oregon Revised Statutes, retrieved on September 12, 2026. Every Home Pros figure comes from content/proof.json, the company's single source of truth for its own numbers.
What is Oregon's SB 608, and what does it mean for investors in 2026?
Senate Bill 608, passed in 2019, made Oregon the first state with a statewide rent control and just cause eviction law, and Senate Bill 611 tightened the formula in 2023. Together they do two things that matter for an investor's numbers: they cap how much rent can rise in a 12-month period under ORS 90.323, and they limit when and how a tenancy can be ended under ORS 90.427. Neither law is a rent freeze; both allow meaningful annual increases and a defined set of reasons to remove a tenant, but both require paperwork, notice periods, and, in some cases, a relocation payment that a market-rate underwriting model built for a non-regulated state will miss.
For an investor evaluating an Oregon acquisition in 2026, the practical question is rarely whether the cap prevents raising rent to market. It almost never does, since 9.5 percent is well above what most stabilized rent rolls need in a single year. The real questions are how long a below-market unit takes to reach market rent under an annual cap, how fast a non-performing tenant can actually be removed, and whether the deal's business plan (a renovation, an owner move-in, a resale to an owner-occupant) triggers a notice period or a relocation payment that was not in the pro forma.
How is Oregon's 2026 maximum rent increase calculated?
ORS 90.323 sets the annual limit at 7 percent plus the 12-month average change in the CPI-U West Region, with the total capped at 10 percent regardless of how high inflation runs. The Oregon Department of Administrative Services Office of Economic Analysis calculates and publishes the figure every year by September 30 for the following calendar year. For 2026, the CPI-U West Region component came in at 2.5 percent, so the formula produced 7 percent plus 2.5 percent for a 9.5 percent statewide cap, applying to any rent increase in a rolling 12-month period on a covered unit.
| Housing Type | 2026 Maximum Increase | Statute / Source |
|---|---|---|
| Standard rental unit (14+ years since occupancy certificate) | 9.5% (7% + 2.5% CPI-U West) | ORS 90.323; Oregon DAS Office of Economic Analysis |
| Manufactured dwelling park or marina, more than 30 spaces | 6.0% | Oregon DAS Office of Economic Analysis, 2026 rent stabilization notice |
| Manufactured dwelling park or marina, 30 or fewer spaces | 9.5% (general limit applies) | Oregon DAS Office of Economic Analysis, 2026 rent stabilization notice |
| New construction, within 15 years of first certificate of occupancy | Not capped | ORS 90.323, as amended by Senate Bill 611 (2023) |
An increase that stays at or under the published percentage requires standard notice under Oregon's general rent increase rules; an owner never needs to justify a compliant increase with a reason, only give the required advance written notice. The cap resets annually and is not cumulative across multiple years beyond whatever a landlord has already collected, so a unit that was raised by less than the maximum in one year does not carry forward unused headroom into the next.
Are new construction and manufactured home communities treated differently?
Yes, on two fronts. First, ORS 90.323, as amended by Senate Bill 611, exempts a dwelling unit from the statewide rent cap for 15 years starting from the date its first certificate of occupancy was issued, and that exemption applies to notices of a rent increase delivered on or after July 7, 2023. A unit built in 2020 stays uncapped through 2035; an investor buying a 2011-vintage building in 2026 should already assume the cap applies, since more than 15 years has passed since occupancy.
Second, manufactured dwelling parks and marinas are split by size. For 2026, a park or marina with more than 30 spaces is capped at 6 percent, a lower ceiling than the general 9.5 percent limit, while a park with 30 or fewer spaces follows the standard statewide cap. An investor evaluating a manufactured home community should confirm the space count before assuming which cap applies, since the two figures are not interchangeable and using the wrong one overstates achievable rent growth in a pro forma.
What does just cause eviction require under ORS 90.427?
During the first year of a tenancy, an Oregon landlord can end a month-to-month rental agreement without stating a reason, as long as at least 30 days written notice is given. Once a tenant has occupied the unit for a full year, that option disappears. ORS 90.427 then requires the landlord to state either a tenant-cause reason (nonpayment, lease violation, and similar tenant conduct) or one of a short, closed list of qualifying landlord reasons: demolishing the unit or converting it to nonresidential use, making repairs so extensive the unit is unsafe to occupy during the work, the landlord or an immediate family member moving in as a primary residence with no comparable unit available in the same building, or selling the property to a buyer who intends to occupy it.
A landlord-cause termination after the first year requires 90 days written notice specifying the reason and the supporting facts, not a generic notice to vacate. That 90-day runway is the single biggest scheduling variable investors underestimate: a business plan that assumes a tenant can be out within 30 or 60 days of closing on a value-add acquisition needs to confirm which just cause category applies and whether the notice clock has even started before assuming that timeline holds.
When does an investor owe a tenant relocation assistance?
Two triggers create a relocation assistance obligation for an owner of 5 or more units. The first is a no-fault, landlord-cause termination after the first year of occupancy, such as an owner move-in or a sale to an occupant buyer, which generally requires the landlord to pay the tenant relocation assistance equal to one month's rent alongside the 90-day notice. The second is a rent increase of 10 percent or more within a 12-month period; a tenant who chooses to end the tenancy rather than absorb that increase is generally entitled to the same one-month relocation payment. Owners of 4 or fewer units are generally exempt from this relocation payment requirement, though the underlying notice periods and just cause rules still apply regardless of portfolio size.
For an investor sizing a value-add plan, a potential relocation payment is a line item, not a rounding error. On a $2,000-a-month unit, a single relocation trigger costs roughly $2,000 plus the 90 days of reduced or paused rent during the notice period; across a 20-unit turn strategy, that adds up fast if the plan assumes every unit converts on the same accelerated schedule.
How should investors underwrite an Oregon rental under these rules?
Three adjustments separate an Oregon pro forma that survives diligence from one that gets revised after closing.
- Check the certificate of occupancy date before modeling rent growth. A property inside the 15-year new-construction exemption can be repriced to market immediately; a property outside it is capped at 9.5 percent per year (or 6 percent in a large manufactured home park), so reaching market rent on a deeply below-market unit can take multiple years of compounding increases rather than one reset at turnover.
- Confirm which just cause category actually applies before assuming a vacant delivery date. Owner move-in, a sale to an occupant buyer, and a gut renovation each qualify under ORS 90.427, but each carries its own notice and documentation requirements, and none of them work faster than the 90-day clock once a tenant has been in place a year or more.
- Budget the relocation payment into acquisition costs on any 5-plus unit deal that plans a no-fault turnover or a double-digit rent reset. One month's rent per unit, multiplied across a turnover plan, is a real line item against the deal's return, not a contingency to ignore.
| Deal Type | Key Statute | What to Confirm Before Closing |
|---|---|---|
| Buy and hold, tenant in place | ORS 90.323 | Occupancy certificate date; whether the unit is inside or outside the 15-year exemption window |
| Value-add renovation, vacant delivery needed | ORS 90.427 | Which qualifying landlord reason applies; whether the 90-day notice clock has started |
| Manufactured home community | Oregon DAS 2026 rent stabilization notice | Total space count (over or under 30) to confirm the 6% or 9.5% cap applies |
| Portfolio turnover, 5-plus units | ORS 90.427; Portland City Code 30.01.085 if applicable | Relocation assistance budget per unit; city-level rules on top of the state cap |
Does Portland add rules on top of the statewide cap?
Yes. Portland's own code, Portland City Code 30.01.085, layers a mandatory relocation assistance trigger onto rent increases of 10 percent or more inside city limits, with its own notice and payment mechanics that run alongside, not instead of, the statewide ORS 90.323 and ORS 90.427 rules. An investor buying inside Portland should treat the city code as an additional compliance layer on top of the state law covered in this guide, and confirm current city requirements separately, since city rules can move on a different schedule than the statewide percentage the Oregon DAS publishes each fall.
Oregon's statewide median listing price was $550,000 as of April 2026, while the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro ran higher at $598,950 in June 2026, according to FRED's Realtor.com-sourced housing inventory series. That price gap is one reason Portland-area investors often see rent increases bump against the 10 percent relocation trigger more often than investors in lower-cost Oregon metros, where achievable market rent resets tend to sit further under the statewide cap.
How does Home Pros fit into Oregon investing?
Home Pros buys houses directly from Oregon sellers who want a fast, as-is close instead of listing, and qualifying inventory can be made available to vetted investors through the Home Pros marketplace before it goes through a traditional retail listing. That pipeline matters for the underwriting questions above: a property acquired directly from a motivated seller, rather than from a tenant-occupied retail sale, sidesteps the ORS 90.427 timeline question entirely when it comes to the seller's occupancy, though any existing tenant lease still transfers with the property and remains subject to the same statewide rules.
If you are an investor, register on the buyers page to see qualifying deals as they come in, or use deal submit to bring a contract you already have. Sellers who want to see how a cash offer is built before contacting anyone can start with the cash offer calculator, and anyone verifying Home Pros as a buyer can review the company's citations and sourcing page. Investors underwriting deal fundamentals more broadly may also want our guide to calculating ARV.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Oregon's maximum rent increase for 2026?
For 2026, Oregon's statewide rent increase limit under ORS 90.323 is 9.5 percent in any rolling 12-month period, calculated as 7 percent plus the 2.5 percent annual change in the CPI-U West Region, published by the Oregon Department of Administrative Services Office of Economic Analysis. Manufactured dwelling parks and marinas with more than 30 spaces have a separate, lower cap of 6 percent for 2026.
Are new construction rentals exempt from Oregon's rent cap?
Yes. Under ORS 90.323 as amended by Senate Bill 611, a dwelling unit is exempt from the statewide rent increase limit for 15 years from the date its first certificate of occupancy was issued. The exemption is calculated from the notice date of the increase, so a property built in 2016 became subject to the cap in 2031, not before.
Can an Oregon landlord evict a tenant without cause?
Only during the first year of occupancy, with at least 30 days written notice for a month-to-month tenancy. After the first year, ORS 90.427 requires the landlord to state either a tenant-cause reason or one of a short list of qualifying landlord reasons, such as demolition, unsafe repairs, owner or family occupancy, or a sale to a buyer who intends to occupy the unit, with 90 days written notice.
When does an Oregon investor owe a tenant relocation assistance?
An owner of 5 or more units generally owes relocation assistance equal to one month's rent when ending a tenancy after the first year for a qualifying landlord reason, or when a rent increase of 10 percent or more in a 12-month period leads a tenant to terminate instead of staying. Owners of 4 or fewer units are generally exempt from this relocation payment requirement.
How does Oregon's rent cap compare to a typical market-rate increase?
A 9.5 percent ceiling is high enough that most Oregon landlords never actually hit it; the cap functions as a backstop against sharp increases rather than a routine constraint. The bigger practical issue for investors is usually the just cause eviction rule and the 90-day notice period, which slow down how fast a unit can be repositioned after acquisition.
Does Portland have rent rules beyond the Oregon statewide cap?
Portland adds its own layer on top of state law, including a mandatory relocation assistance trigger for rent increases of 10 percent or more within the city, with its own notice and payment timeline under Portland City Code 30.01.085. Investors buying inside Portland city limits should confirm current city rules in addition to the statewide ORS 90.323 and ORS 90.427 requirements.
Sources
- Oregon Department of Administrative Services, Office of Economic Analysis, Rent Stabilization: the 2026 statewide 9.5 percent rent increase limit, the 6 percent manufactured dwelling park and marina figure, and the underlying CPI-U West Region calculation. (WebSearch retrieval; direct fetch of oregon.gov blocked by network egress this run.)
- Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 90, Residential Landlord and Tenant: ORS 90.323 (rent increase limit) and ORS 90.427 (termination without tenant cause, just cause requirements). (WebSearch retrieval; direct fetch of oregonlegislature.gov blocked by network egress this run.)
- ORS 90.427, Termination of Tenancy Without Tenant Cause: the qualifying landlord reasons, 90-day notice requirement, and relocation assistance trigger for owners of 5 or more units. (WebSearch retrieval; direct fetch of oregon.public.law blocked by network egress this run.)
- Senate Bill 611 (2023), Enrolled: the amendment to ORS 90.323 confirming the 15-year new-construction exemption and its July 7, 2023 effective date. (WebSearch retrieval; direct fetch of olis.oregonlegislature.gov blocked by network egress this run.)
- FRED, Housing Inventory: Median Listing Price in Oregon (MEDLISPRIOR): $550,000 statewide as of April 2026, sourced from Realtor.com. (WebSearch retrieval; direct fetch of fred.stlouisfed.org blocked by network egress this run.)
Rent stabilization percentages, notice periods, and relocation assistance thresholds can change by legislative session or annual DAS notice; confirm current figures with the Oregon Department of Administrative Services or an Oregon landlord-tenant attorney before relying on the illustrative numbers above. This article is educational and not legal or financial advice.
Co-founder and COO of Home Pros (Balint Holdings, LLC) and a licensed Texas real estate agent. Trevor runs the acquisitions and dispositions side of the business, buying houses directly from sellers and placing qualifying deals with investors. More about Trevor →