Oregon Statutes 90.459 – Change of locks at request of victim
(1) A tenant may give actual notice to the landlord that the tenant is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, bias crime or stalking and may request that the locks to the dwelling unit be changed. A tenant is not required to provide verification of the domestic violence, sexual assault, bias crime or stalking to initiate the changing of the locks.
Terms Used In Oregon Statutes 90.459
- Bias crime: has the meaning given that term in ORS § 147. See Oregon Statutes 90.100
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Dwelling unit: means a structure or the part of a structure that is used as a home, residence or sleeping place by one person who maintains a household or by two or more persons who maintain a common household. See Oregon Statutes 90.100
- Fee: means a nonrefundable payment of money. See Oregon Statutes 90.100
- Good faith: means honesty in fact in the conduct of the transaction concerned. See Oregon Statutes 90.100
- Landlord: includes a person who is authorized by the owner, lessor or sublessor to manage the premises or to enter into a rental agreement. See Oregon Statutes 90.100
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Rent: means 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 and to use the premises. See Oregon Statutes 90.100
- Rental agreement: includes a lease. See Oregon Statutes 90.100
- Sexual assault: has the meaning given that term in ORS § 147. See Oregon Statutes 90.100
- Stalking: means the behavior described in ORS § 163. See Oregon Statutes 90.100
(2) A landlord who receives a request under subsection (1) of this section shall promptly change the locks to the tenant’s dwelling unit at the tenant’s expense or shall give the tenant permission to change the locks. If a landlord fails to promptly act, the tenant may change the locks without the landlord’s permission. If the tenant changes the locks, the tenant shall give a key to the new locks to the landlord.
(3) If the perpetrator of the domestic violence, sexual assault, bias crime or stalking is a tenant in the same dwelling unit as the victim:
(a) Before the landlord or tenant changes the locks under this section, the tenant must provide the landlord with a copy of an order issued by a court pursuant to ORS § 107.716 or 107.718 or any other federal, state, local or tribal court that orders the perpetrator to move out of the dwelling unit.
(b) The landlord has no duty under the rental agreement or by law to allow the perpetrator access to the dwelling unit or provide keys to the perpetrator, during the term of the court order or after expiration of the court order, or to provide the perpetrator access to the perpetrator’s personal property within the dwelling unit. Notwithstanding ORS § 90.425, 90.435 or 90.675, if a landlord complies completely and in good faith with this section, the landlord is not liable to a perpetrator excluded from the dwelling unit.
(c) The perpetrator is jointly liable with any other tenant of the dwelling unit for rent or damages to the dwelling unit incurred prior to the date the perpetrator was excluded from the dwelling unit.
(d) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the landlord may not require the tenant to pay additional rent or an additional deposit or fee because of the exclusion of the perpetrator.
(e) The perpetrator’s tenancy terminates by operation of law upon an order described in paragraph (a) of this subsection becoming a final order. [2003 c.378 § 5; 2007 c.508 § 11; 2023 c.549 § 2b]
MISCELLANEOUS