Oregon Rental Application Form

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   Oregon measures the screening charge against the landlord's own average, not against a figure anyone publishes. ORS 90.295(2) sets the ceiling at the landlord's average actual cost of screening applicants or the customary amount charged by tenant screening companies or consumer credit reporting agencies for a comparable level of screening. Average is the word to hold on to, because the comparison is not to what this one applicant's report happened to cost. Actual costs may include the cost of using a tenant screening company or a consumer credit reporting agency and the reasonable value of any time spent by the landlord or the landlord's agents in otherwise obtaining information on applicants. The section was last amended in the 2023 session and the cost-based mechanism itself goes back to its enactment in the 1990s.

2. 2

   The written notice is a precondition of charging, not a courtesy that follows. ORS 90.295(3) says a landlord may not require payment of an applicant screening charge unless, prior to accepting the payment, the landlord adopts written screening or admission criteria and gives the applicant written notice of nine items. Among them: the amount of the charge, the criteria, the process the landlord typically will follow including whether it uses a tenant screening company, credit reports, public records or criminal records or contacts employers, landlords or other references, the applicant's right to dispute the accuracy of anything a screening company or credit reporting agency provided, any right to appeal a negative determination, and the applicant's rights to a refund and to damages under the section itself.

3. 3

   One charge per applicant per sixty days, across the whole portfolio. ORS 90.295(1)(b) provides that a landlord may only require an applicant to pay a single applicant screening charge within any sixty day period, regardless of the number of rental units owned or managed by the landlord for which the applicant has applied to rent. Applying for three units the same landlord manages is one charge, not three. Oregon has no separate reusable report statute, and this sixty day rule is the mechanism it uses on the same problem.

4. 4

   Nothing else may be charged at the application stage. ORS 90.297(1) provides that, except as provided in ORS 90.295 and in that section, a landlord may not charge a deposit or fee, however designated, to an applicant who has applied to enter a rental agreement for a dwelling unit. A deposit to secure the execution of a rental agreement is permitted only after the application is approved, must come with a written statement of the rent, fees, deposits and the conditions for a refund, and must be returned within four days where the landlord is the party that fails to comply. ORS 90.297(6) lets the applicant recover the amount of any fee or deposit charged, plus one hundred and fifty dollars.

5. 5

   Three documents go to the applicant, and one of them comes from the screening company. ORS 90.295(1)(a) requires the landlord to give the applicant a receipt for the charge, confirmation that the screening was carried out, and a copy of the screening company's own receipt. The last of those is the one that makes the ceiling in subsection (2) testable, because the customary amount and the landlord's actual cost are both invoice questions. ORS 90.295(3)(c) adds a separate piece of candor before the money: actual notice of a good faith estimate of the number of comparable units that are or will be available, and the number of applications already pending on them.

6. 6

   Oregon puts a figure on getting the fee rules wrong. ORS 90.295(6)(b) provides that the applicant may recover from the landlord twice the amount of any applicant screening charge paid, plus two hundred and fifty dollars, if the landlord fails to comply with the section with respect to the applicant's screening or screening charge, or does not conduct a screening of the applicant for any reason and fails to refund the charge within thirty days. The refund deadline it points at is in ORS 90.295(5), which runs from the landlord filling the unit before screening the applicant, or from a written withdrawal where no screening had been conducted or ordered.

7. 7

   A denial has to be explained in writing, and quickly. ORS 90.304(1) provides that where a landlord denies an application after applying its screening or admissions criteria, the landlord must give the applicant a written statement of one or more reasons for the denial within fourteen days of the denial. ORS 90.304(3) sets out what that statement must contain: the name of any screening company or consumer credit reporting agency whose report the denial rests on, a response to any supplemental evidence the applicant submitted explaining why it did not compensate, and any right of appeal. ORS 90.304(6) provides that where a landlord fails to comply with the section, the applicant may recover one hundred dollars.

Oregon Requirements for Rental Application Form

• The Two Benchmarks That Cap the Screening Charge

  ORS 90.295(2) provides that the amount of any applicant screening charge must not be greater than the landlord's average actual cost of screening applicants or the customary amount charged by tenant screening companies or consumer credit reporting agencies for a comparable level of screening, and that actual costs may include the cost of using a tenant screening company or a consumer credit reporting agency and the reasonable value of any time spent by the landlord or the landlord's agents in otherwise obtaining information on applicants. No dollar figure appears in the section. It was last amended in the 2023 session and the cost-based mechanism dates from its enactment in the 1990s. The wording on this page follows a published copy of the Oregon statutes, because the Legislature's own site could not be reached, and attorney review is available as an option where a disputed charge turns on the exact text.

• Written Criteria and a Nine-Item Notice, Before Any Payment

  ORS 90.295(3) provides that a landlord may not require payment of an applicant screening charge unless, prior to accepting the payment, the landlord adopts written screening or admission criteria and gives the applicant written notice of nine items: the amount of the charge; the criteria; the process the landlord typically will follow, including whether it uses a tenant screening company, credit reports, public records or criminal records or contacts employers, landlords or other references; the right to dispute the accuracy of information a screening company or credit reporting agency supplied; any right to appeal a negative determination; a nondiscrimination policy; the rent and deposits; any renter's liability insurance requirement; and the applicant's own rights to a refund and to damages under the section. This is a condition on charging at all, not a disclosure that can follow the money.

• One Charge Per Applicant in Any Sixty Day Period

  ORS 90.295(1)(b) provides that a landlord may only require an applicant to pay a single applicant screening charge within any sixty day period, regardless of the number of rental units owned or managed by the landlord for which the applicant has applied to rent. Owned or managed reaches a management company across its whole portfolio, not just a single owner with one building. Oregon has no statute making a screening report portable between unrelated landlords, so this sixty day rule is the state's answer to repeat charges. Declare an earlier charge in writing and keep the receipt that proves its date.

• No Other Fee or Deposit at the Application Stage

  ORS 90.297(1) provides that, except as provided in ORS 90.295 and in that section, a landlord may not charge a deposit or fee, however designated, to an applicant who has applied to a landlord to enter a rental agreement for a dwelling unit. A deposit to secure the execution of a rental agreement is permitted only after the application has been approved, must be accompanied by a written statement of the rent, fees, deposits and the conditions for a refund, and must be returned within four days where the landlord is the party that fails to comply. ORS 90.297(6) lets the applicant recover the amount of any fee or deposit charged plus one hundred and fifty dollars.

• The Receipt, the Confirmation, and the Screener's Own Receipt

  ORS 90.295(1)(a) requires the landlord to provide the applicant with a receipt for the applicant screening charge, confirmation that the screening was carried out, and a copy of the receipt from the tenant screening company. The third document is the one that makes the ceiling checkable, because both benchmarks in ORS 90.295(2) are invoice questions. ORS 90.295(3)(c) adds a related piece of candor before any charge: actual notice of a good faith estimate of the number of comparable units available or becoming available, and the number of applications already pending on them.

• Thirty Days to Refund, on Two Triggers

  ORS 90.295(5) requires a landlord that requires an applicant screening charge to refund it within thirty days if the landlord fills the vacant dwelling unit before screening the applicant, or has not conducted or ordered any screening of the applicant before the applicant withdraws the application in writing. Put a withdrawal in writing and date it, because the second trigger turns on the written withdrawal arriving before any screening was conducted or ordered. ORS 90.295(4) separately bars requiring the charge at all where the landlord knows or should know that no rental units are available at that time or will be available within a reasonable future time, unless the applicant agrees otherwise in writing.

• Written Reasons for a Denial Within Fourteen Days

  ORS 90.304(1) provides that if a landlord denies an application after the landlord's application of screening or admissions criteria, within fourteen days of the denial the landlord must provide the applicant with a written statement of one or more reasons for the denial. ORS 90.304(3) requires that statement to name any screening company or consumer credit reporting agency whose report the denial rests on, to address any supplemental evidence the applicant submitted and explain why it did not compensate, and to state any right of appeal. ORS 90.304(6) provides that where a landlord fails to comply with the section, the applicant may recover one hundred dollars. The federal adverse action notice is separate and is not a substitute.

• Records That May Not Be Considered, and the Steps Before a Denial

  ORS 90.303 confines consideration of criminal convictions and pending charges to conduct that is presently illegal in Oregon and that falls within the categories the section enumerates, and it puts several records outside consideration altogether: an arrest that did not result in charges, an arrest whose charges did not result in a conviction and are not pending, a pending charge where the applicant is in a diversion, conditional discharge or deferral of judgment program, a conviction based solely on the use or possession of marijuana, and possession of a medical marijuana card or status as a medical marijuana patient. On eviction history, a prior action may not be considered where it was dismissed, where it ended in a general judgment for the applicant, where a judgment against the applicant was entered five or more years before the application, or where a judgment was entered on claims arising on or after April 1, 2020 and before March 1, 2022, and ORS 90.303(5) bars considering unpaid rent that accrued in that same window, including rent in judgments or referred to a collection agency. The published text notes an amendment removing the pandemic window becomes operative January 2, 2028. Before any denial on the basis of criminal history, ORS 90.304(5) requires the landlord to give the applicant an opportunity to submit supplemental evidence to explain, justify or negate the relevance of potentially negative information, and then to conduct an individualized assessment taking into consideration the nature and severity of the incidents, their number and type, the time elapsed since they occurred, and the age of the individual at the time. Oregon prescribes no conditional offer step.