Security Deposit Alternative in Oregon
Oregon §90.300 states no dollar cap and restricts first-year increases, with exceptions for agreed modifications and initially agreed unpaid deposits. After the first year, allow at least three months to pay an increase. Account separately for security and prepaid rent and refund the unclaimed balance within 31 days after both termination and possession delivery. The double-amount remedy applies to withholding without the required accounting or in bad faith; manufactured-home or floating-home abandonment has a separate trigger.
What Oregon law says about security deposits
- Can you require it?
- Check the fee rules first
- Oregon closes the list of fees a landlord may charge, and a monthly fee instead of a deposit is not on it. Get an Oregon opinion before you charge one at all.
- Statutory cap
- No cap in §90.300; first-year increases have specified exceptions
- Return deadline
- 31 days after the tenancy ends and the resident hands back possession
- The law
- Oregon's deposit and fee rules
- ORS 90.300 and 90.302
Source baseline: . See the official Oregon source. Deposit rules change, and this is general information rather than legal advice. Confirm the current text with your own counsel before you change a lease.
Can you require it of every Oregon resident?
Oregon's constraint is not about whether the fee is optional. It is about whether a landlord may charge it. ORS 90.302 says a landlord may not charge a fee at the start of a tenancy for an anticipated expense and may not require payment of any fee except as the section provides, and every permitted fee must be described in the written rental agreement. The permitted list is short and specific: late rent, a dishonored check, tampering with a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm, breaching a written pet agreement, abandoning a fixed-term tenancy, and repeat violations of written rules after a warning. A recurring charge in place of a deposit is not among them. Whether a premium paid to a licensed insurer, rather than a fee paid to the landlord, sits outside that section is the question to put to Oregon counsel, and it is not one this page can answer. Section 90.300 ordinarily prohibits new or increased security during the first year, but permits an increase tied to an agreed lease modification, such as permitting a pet, and collection of initially agreed unpaid security. Later increases require at least three months to pay.
Fee-in-lieu provision: ORS 90.302, read on .
Rules differ by state and by city, and subsidized housing is its own question. This is general information for property managers, not legal advice. Get a written opinion before you make the fee a condition of tenancy anywhere.
How the program works in Oregon
Review Beagle's deposit alternative alongside the agreement for your property. Protection, resident responsibilities and claim handling depend on the program terms and applicable state and local requirements.
Explain the options at signing
A qualifying fee arrangement lets a resident pay a monthly charge instead of providing the full cash deposit. Explain the available deposit choice, refundability and continuing resident obligations at signing. The payment’s legal treatment depends on the arrangement and jurisdiction.
Match protection to the lease
Compare the selected program’s covered losses, limit, exclusions and claim requirements with the deposit your lease would require. Payment depends on an eligible claim and the program terms; a fee does not itself guarantee the same recovery as cash security.
Document move-out and give notice
A deposit alternative changes how an eligible claim is paid. Keep move-in and move-out evidence, provide the notices required for the property's jurisdiction, and follow the program's claim process. Claim review and resident disputes can still require your team's involvement.
Agree the program economics
Confirm the resident’s charge and any property administration payment in your quote and agreement. Include permitted fees in the disclosures required for the property; earnings depend on the agreed economics and applicable law.
Security deposit rules in other states
- AlabamaReview the payment’s security function
- AlaskaReview nonrefundability and notice rules
- ArizonaReview security and fee rules
- CaliforniaReview the broad security definition
- ColoradoReview security function and fee pricing
- ConnecticutCheck upfront fees and total-rent disclosure
- DelawareOptional surety has its own rules
- FloridaOptional only
- GeorgiaReview cap scope and return duties
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- HawaiiCheck the fee rules first
- IdahoReview security purpose and custody
- IllinoisReview return rules and fee disclosures
- IndianaReview returnable security and the address
- IowaReview deposit custody and instructions
- KansasReview deposit caps and refund triggers
- KentuckyConfirm local adoption and required records
- LouisianaReview security function and statement timing
- MaineOptional licensed surety has separate notice
- MarylandOptional only
- MassachusettsConfirm authorizing rules
- MichiganReview the deposit procedure
- MinnesotaReview fee classification and disclosure
- MississippiReview the payment’s security function
- MissouriReview the security definition
- MontanaCleaning and damage fees presumed security
- NebraskaReview function and housing-agency scope
- NevadaOptional only
- New HampshireCheck the fee rules first
- New JerseyReview trust, interest and special refunds
- New MexicoReview reasonable security and mailing
- New YorkReview fee restrictions
- North CarolinaReview the bond structure
- North DakotaReview security cap and 30-day accounting
- OhioReview the security definition
- OklahomaReview escrow and the demand trigger
- PennsylvaniaReview escrow and fee classification
- Rhode IslandReview security function and furniture limit
- South CarolinaReview deposit standards and agreement
- South DakotaReview security function and both notices
- TexasOptional only
- UtahReview nonrefundable designation and notice
- VermontReview refundable definition and local law
- VirginiaOptional only
- WashingtonOptional only
- West VirginiaReview refundable security and contractor notice
- WisconsinReview security and deduction rules
- WyomingReview disclosures and separate clocks
Oregon security deposit alternative FAQs
Not as a landlord fee, on the face of ORS 90.302, which limits landlord fees to a short listed set that does not include this. Whether a program structured as a premium to a licensed insurer is something different from a landlord fee is the question your Oregon attorney needs to answer before you offer it, and certainly before you require it.
See it on your Oregon units
Run the selected program against your own unit count, or review its charges, onboarding and agreement terms with our team.