Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Oregon

Re: late fees on rental payments

No. Oregon Law requires a landlord to accept the "rent" without payment of a late fee and does not allow a landlord to issue a 72 hour notice for an unpaid late fee.

ORS 09.100 (33) defines "rent" as "any payment to be made to the landlord under the rental agreement, periodic or otherwise, in exchange for the right of a tenant and any permitted pet to occupy a dwelling unit to the exclusion of others. �Rent� does not include security deposits, fees or utility or service charges. . ."

ORS 90.260 (6) provides that "Nonpayment of a late charge alone is not grounds for termination of a rental agreement for nonpayment of rent under ORS 90.394 [the 72-hour notice], but is grounds for termination of a rental agreement for cause under ORS 90.392 or 90.630 (1)[a 30-day notice]. A landlord may note the imposition of a late charge on a nonpayment of rent termination notice under ORS 90.394, so long as the notice states or otherwise makes clear that the tenant may cure the nonpayment notice by paying only the delinquent rent, not including any late charge, within the allotted time.