Landlord Won't Make Repairs in Oregon: What Can I Do?
Oregon law requires your landlord to keep your home fit to live in. This page explains what your landlord must fix, how to ask for repairs, and what you can do if your landlord does not fix them.
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Oregon law requires your landlord to keep your home fit to live in for as long as you rent it. This includes working plumbing with hot and cold running water, working heat, and safe electrical wiring. It also includes a roof and walls that keep out rain and wind, and working locks on entrance doors. If any one of these is seriously lacking, your landlord is breaking the law.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Ask your landlord to fix the problem in writing, such as a text, an email, or a letter. Keep a copy and write down the date you sent it. This record can help later if you need to prove your landlord knew about the problem.
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A city or county housing inspector can decide your home is unsafe and unlawful to live in. The inspector makes this call when a problem materially affects health or safety. If so, the inspector can require you to leave and post a written notice on your home. After that, your landlord cannot rent the home to you or to anyone else again until the problem is fixed.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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A code inspector can order everyone to leave a home right away if it is unsafe, even if you want to stay. If this happens to you, get legal help first before you decide what to do next.
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An essential service is something basic your home needs, like heat, plumbing, hot and cold water, electricity, or working locks. If your landlord does not fix a failed essential service, first send written notice describing the problem. Give your landlord a reasonable amount of time and access to fix it before you take further steps.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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A serious problem such as no heat, no water, or no electricity can make your home unsafe or unfit to live in. After you give your landlord written notice and reasonable time to fix it, you can move to a temporary home while it is broken. You do not have to pay your regular rent for that time. If a court later disagrees, you can owe the rent and face eviction. Get legal help first.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Oregon law calls a problem a minor problem if it would cost $300 or less to fix. Examples are a leak in the pipes, a toilet that will not flush, or a broken light switch.
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A minor problem does not include mold, lead paint, or a few other listed problems.
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If your landlord does not fix a minor problem, you can arrange the repair yourself. You can then subtract the actual, reasonable cost, up to $300, from your next rent payment. If a court later disagrees, you can owe the rent and face eviction. Get legal help first.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Before you fix a minor problem yourself, you must first send your landlord written notice describing it. The notice must say you will fix it and subtract the cost if your landlord does not act by a date you set. That date must be at least 7 days after you give the notice.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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You cannot fix a minor problem yourself and subtract the cost if your landlord fixes it first, or if you caused the problem. You also cannot use this option if you stopped your landlord from making the repair. You also cannot use it if you already used it for the same problem before. It also does not apply if you knew about the problem for more than 6 months before you gave notice.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Not every problem with your home is a failure of heat, water, plumbing, or electricity. If your landlord seriously fails to follow the lease and does not fix it, you can send written notice describing what is wrong. The notice must say the rental agreement will end on a date at least 30 days after you send it. If your landlord fixes the problem before that date, the agreement does not end. If a court later disagrees, you can owe the rent and face eviction. Get legal help first.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Your landlord cannot raise your rent or cut your services because you took a protected action. Your landlord also cannot give you a notice to end your rental agreement, or start a court case to evict you, for that reason. Protected actions include a good faith complaint to your landlord about your rental. They also include a complaint to a government agency about a building, health, or housing code problem that seriously affects health or safety. Other protected actions include joining a tenants' union and testifying against your landlord in a legal case.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Unless Oregon renter law says otherwise, your landlord can owe you money for breaking the rental agreement. The same goes for not keeping your home fit to live in. A court can order this money, and can also order your landlord to fix the problem. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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In Oregon, there are 2 cases where you cannot get money for a problem that makes your home unfit to live in. Both apply only if your landlord did not know and should not have known about the problem. In one, you knew or should have known about it and did not tell your landlord in reasonable time. In the other, someone other than your landlord caused it on purpose or by carelessness after you moved in.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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