Oregon just cause eviction + rent increase SB 608's just-cause regime sits next to the §90.323 9.5% 2026 cap. A defective rent notice defeats a subsequent termination.

SB 608 in one paragraph

SB 608, signed February 28, 2019 by Governor Brown, did two things at once. First, it imposed a statewide rent cap at ORS §90.323 (the lower of 7% + West Region CPI-U for the prior September or 10%, with SB 611 in 2023 codifying the 10% as a hard ceiling rather than a soft cap). For 2026, the cap is 9.5%. Second, it imposed a statewide just-cause regime at ORS §90.427: after the first 12 months of tenancy, a landlord may not terminate without either a §90.392 tenant-fault reason or a §90.427(5) landlord-no-fault reason — unlike most states where no-cause terminations remain available with 30 or 60 days' notice. Oregon was the first U.S. state to adopt both protections statewide; California followed in October 2019 with AB 1482, which mirrored the structure (statewide cap + just-cause). The two regimes are statute-aware of each other: §90.323 references §90.392 for just-cause linkage, and §90.392 incorporates the rent-compliance prerequisite for nonpayment terminations.

The seven §90.392 for-cause categories

ORS §90.392 enumerates the tenant-fault grounds for termination. After year 1 of tenancy, every termination must be either a §90.392 for-cause termination or a §90.427(5) landlord-no-fault termination. The seven §90.392 categories:

1. Material violation of the rental agreement. §90.392(1)(a). The violation must be material — minor or trivial breaches do not qualify. Standard 30-day notice with 14-day right to cure under §90.392(3); for repeated violations within 6 months, the cure right is reduced or eliminated.
2. Failure to pay rent. §90.394 governs the notice procedure: 72-hour pay-or-quit (or 144-hour pay-or-quit if the lease so specifies) for nonpayment. Critical: the unpaid rent must be lawfully owed under §90.323. A pay-or-quit served for the over-cap portion of an unlawful rent increase is unenforceable; the tenant who paid only the lawful 9.5% step-up is not in default for purposes of §90.392.
3. Ongoing material disturbance of peaceful enjoyment. §90.392(1)(c). Repeated noise complaints, harassment of other tenants, etc. 30-day notice with 14-day cure right under §90.392(3).
4. Outrageous conduct. §90.392(1)(d). Conduct that is so extreme that no reasonable cure is possible. 24-hour notice with no cure right.
5. Criminal activity on the premises. §90.392(1)(e). 24-hour notice with no cure right; the activity must be connected to the premises (street-level criminal activity that never touches the rental unit does not qualify).
6. Damage to the premises beyond ordinary wear. §90.392(1)(f). The damage must be beyond ordinary wear and tear — a high standard. 30-day notice with 14-day cure right.
7. Repeat violations within 6 months. §90.392(5). A second violation of any kind within 6 months of a prior cure notice triggers a 10-day non-curable termination notice. The prior violation must have been adjudicated or the tenant must have admitted the violation in writing.

Each category has its own notice form and procedural requirements. The §90.392 framework is codified separately from §90.394 (nonpayment-specific notice) and §90.396 (24-hour no-cure categories) — three statutes that interlock. Defective notice on any prong invalidates the termination and exposes the landlord to a wrongful-termination claim under §90.375.

The four §90.427(5) landlord-no-fault reasons

ORS §90.427(5) lists the four enumerated landlord-no-fault reasons that permit termination after year 1, each with 90 days' notice and one month's relocation assistance under §90.427(8):

• Demolition or non-residential conversion. §90.427(5)(a). The landlord intends to demolish the dwelling or convert it to non-residential use. Building permits and a demolition timeline are required documentation. The landlord may not re-rent the unit for residential purposes within 12 months absent §90.427(7) penalties.
• Repair or renovation requiring vacancy. §90.427(5)(b). The landlord intends to undertake repairs or renovations that cannot be safely completed with the dwelling occupied. The work scope must require a building permit and reasonable contractor documentation. After the work is complete, the unit may be re-rented at the lawful market rate (subject to §90.323 once a new tenancy begins).
• Landlord or family member occupancy. §90.427(5)(c). The landlord, or the landlord's spouse, parent, grandparent, child, sibling, foster child, or grandchild, intends to occupy the dwelling as their primary residence. The termination notice must identify the family member, the relationship, and the intended move-in date. The family member must occupy within a reasonable time (case law suggests 60-90 days) and remain for at least 12 months — failure on either prong exposes the landlord to §90.427(7) penalties.
• Sale to occupying buyer. §90.427(5)(d). The dwelling is being sold to a buyer who has agreed in writing to occupy as their primary residence within 90 days of closing. The purchase agreement and the buyer's written occupancy commitment are required documentation. The buyer must actually occupy within 90 days of closing or §90.427(7) penalties attach to both the seller and the buyer.

Each §90.427(5) reason carries the same 90-day notice requirement and the §90.427(8) relocation-assistance obligation. The notice must specify the basis with reasonable particularity, attach or recite the supporting documentation, and identify the relocation assistance amount and payment date. A defective notice — wrong basis, missing documentation, no relocation amount stated — is unenforceable, and the tenant can recover possession plus §90.427(7) damages.

The §90.427(3) year-1 carve-out

ORS §90.427(3) permits no-cause termination during the first 12 months of tenancy with 30 days' written notice. Mechanics:

• The 12 months runs from tenancy start, not lease start. A 6-month lease that converts to month-to-month at the 6-month mark is still within year 1 until the original tenancy start date plus 365 days. Lease renewal does not reset the clock — the controlling date is the original move-in.
• 30 days' notice, no cause required. The notice must specify the termination date and be in writing; no factual basis for the termination is required. §90.427(3) does not require relocation assistance during year 1.
• Service of the notice cannot be later than 30 days before the termination date. The notice cannot reach into year 2 — if 30 days' notice would land after the year-1 anniversary, the landlord cannot use §90.427(3) and must instead use §90.392 for-cause or §90.427(5) landlord-no-fault.
• Year-1 carve-out does not override §90.323(1). ORS §90.323(1) bars any rent increase during the first 12 months of tenancy. A landlord who serves a 30-day no-cause termination during year 1 followed by a new tenancy with a substantially higher rent for the same unit can face §90.323(1) and §90.385 retaliatory-action claims if the sequence was constructed to avoid the rent cap. The separation of cause and rent is fact-driven; tenants regularly contest year-1 terminations as pretextual rent-cap evasion.

The §90.427(8) one-month relocation rule

§90.427(8) requires the landlord to pay one month's rent in relocation assistance to the tenant on a §90.427(5) landlord-no-fault termination. Mechanics:

• Amount. One month's rent at the rent in effect on the date of the termination notice (the contract rent, not the market rent).
• Timing. The relocation assistance must be paid no later than the date the tenant is required to vacate. Late payment exposes the landlord to §90.427(7) penalties.
• Small-landlord exemption. §90.427(8)(b) exempts landlords who own fewer than 4 rental units in Oregon from the relocation-assistance obligation, but only when the §90.427(5) basis is the landlord-or-family-member-occupy reason. The other three §90.427(5) bases (demolition, repair, sale) do not get the exemption — small landlords still owe relocation assistance on demolition / repair / sale terminations.
• Subsidized tenancy override. Tenants in HUD-, USDA-, or OHCS-subsidized units may have separate federal relocation rules under the Uniform Relocation Assistance Act (URA) or program-specific regulations that override the one-month state-law figure. Project-based Section 8 tenants in particular often have substantially higher relocation entitlements.

The rent-cap × just-cause linkage

The cleanest illustration of how §90.323 and §90.392 interact is the over-cap nonpayment termination. Fact pattern:

1. Landlord serves an over-cap rent notice. Example: landlord raises rent on a covered unit by 12% effective June 1, 2026 — over the 9.5% 2026 cap.
2. Tenant pays only the lawful step-up. Tenant calculates the §90.323 lawful max (9.5% × current rent) and pays that amount, withholding the over-cap difference.
3. Landlord serves a 72-hour pay-or-quit. The landlord characterizes the underpayment as nonpayment under §90.394, demands the over-cap difference, and threatens unlawful detainer (UD) on the 73rd hour.
4. Tenant files §90.323(7) counterclaim in the UD action. Tenant raises (a) the §90.323 over-cap notice as an affirmative defense to the §90.392 nonpayment termination — the unpaid "rent" was never lawfully owed; and (b) a §90.323(7) counterclaim for three months' rent plus actuals and attorney fees.
5. Court applies the rent cap. The court reviews the underlying §90.323 notice, finds it non-compliant (over 9.5%), enforces the cap retroactively, and dismisses the unlawful detainer. Landlord owes the §90.323(7) damages — three months' rent plus actuals plus attorney fees — and may face a separate §90.385 retaliatory-action claim if the over-cap notice was served in response to a tenant complaint.

The defensive mechanic — using a defective rent notice to defeat a subsequent termination — is one of the most-litigated patterns in Oregon landlord-tenant practice since SB 608's effective date. The lesson for landlords: rent-notice compliance is a precondition to the enforceability of any termination tied to rent. The Oregon 2026 rent calculator deep-dive walks the §90.323 cap and notice requirements; this page covers the §90.392 / §90.427 termination framework that sits next to the cap.

§90.427(7) penalties on no-fault terminations

ORS §90.427(7) attaches penalties to misrepresented or non-compliant §90.427(5) terminations:

1. Three months' rent in damages. Tenant can recover three times the monthly rent at the time of termination — same structure as the §90.323(7) rent-cap penalty.
2. Actual damages plus attorney fees. Out-of-pocket relocation costs the tenant incurred, plus litigation costs, are all recoverable.
3. Tenant right to recover possession. If the landlord's §90.427(5) basis was misrepresented (e.g., the family member never moved in, the demolition never happened, the sale fell through), the tenant retains the right to return to the unit during the 90-day notice window.
4. §90.385 retaliatory-action claim. If the termination was in retaliation for a tenant complaint or a rent-cap challenge, separate retaliation damages attach.

How RentCeiling links the cap and just-cause

The free Oregon calculator takes (current rent, building first-CoC date, last-increase date, tenancy start date) and returns the CY 2026 9.5% lawful max with the §90.323 citation, the 15-year first-CoC exemption check, the 12-month frequency verification, and the §90.323(1) year-1 prohibition flag. The Oregon notice generator emits a §90.323-compliant notice with the cap percentage, the §90.155 3-day mailing-add applied, and the right text for both month-to-month and post-first-year fixed-term tenancies. The /compare hub shows Oregon's just-cause and rent-cap interaction against the 9 other modeled jurisdictions. The Oregon cap deep-dive walks §90.323 in detail; this page covers the §90.392 / §90.427 termination framework that sits next to the cap. Open rule-set at /rules/index.json.

Run the Oregon CY 2026 cap + termination check (free)

Common questions