Rental Application and Tenant-Screening Fee Requirements in Oregon
At a glance
| Governing law and coverage | ORS 90.100 and 90.295; residential applicant screening charges required by a chapter 90 landlord before a rental agreement, subject to § 90.110 exclusions |
|---|---|
| Fees allowed or prohibited | One applicant screening charge allowed solely for obtaining applicant information; includes references, consumer credit reports, and tenant screening reports (§ 90.295(1)) |
| Maximum charge and adjustment | No flat dollar/indexed cap; charge cannot exceed landlord's average actual screening cost or customary comparable company/agency charge (§ 90.295(2)) |
| Permitted costs and charge timing | Actual costs may include screening-company/credit-agency cost + reasonable landlord/agent time; one charge per applicant per landlord in any 60 days; no charge if no unit unless applicant agrees in writing (§ 90.295(1)-(2), (4)) |
| Before-screening disclosures | Before payment: written criteria; fee; usual screening process; dispute/appeal rights; nondiscrimination policies; rent/deposits; liability insurance; refund/damages rights; actual notice of estimated available units and pending applications (§ 90.295(3)) |
| Receipt, report copy, and refund | Fee receipt; after company/agency screening, prompt confirmation + copy of its receipt. Refund within 14 days if unit fills before screening or applicant withdraws in writing before screening is conducted/ordered; no report-copy duty (§ 90.295(1), (5)) |
| Applicant-supplied or reusable reports | No applicant-supplied or reusable-report acceptance/no-fee procedure in current § 90.295 |
| Application order and adverse action | No first-in-order or first-qualified rule and no separate state denial-reason notice in § 90.295; written criteria required, and precharge notice must disclose any appeal right |
| Remedies and stronger local rules | Twice the paid screening charge + $250 for noncompliance or no screening/no timely refund; refusing a rental offer bars fee recovery. No fee-specific local-preemption clause (§ 90.295(6)) |
Requirements one by one
One charge per 60 days, limited by cost
ORS § 90.295(1) permits a screening charge only to cover the cost of obtaining applicant information while processing a rental application. Screening includes reference checks and consumer credit or tenant screening reports. A landlord may require only one charge from the same applicant in any 60-day period, even when the applicant seeks more than one unit owned or managed by that landlord.
Under ORS § 90.295(2), the charge cannot exceed the landlord's average actual screening cost or the customary amount charged for a comparable level of screening by tenant screening companies or consumer credit reporting agencies. Actual cost may include the outside service and the reasonable value of landlord or agent time spent obtaining applicant information.
Disclosures and availability come before payment
Before accepting payment, ORS § 90.295(3) requires the landlord to adopt written screening or admission criteria and give the applicant written notice of:
- the charge amount and the written criteria;
- the usual screening process and information sources;
- the right to dispute inaccurate screening-company or credit-agency information;
- any right to appeal a negative decision;
- required and landlord-adopted nondiscrimination policies;
- the rent, deposits, and any required renter's liability insurance; and
- the statutory refund and damages rights.
The landlord must also give actual notice of a good-faith estimate of comparable units available now or within a reasonable future time and the approximate number of earlier applications still under consideration. Unless the applicant agrees otherwise in writing, subsection (4) bars the charge when the landlord knows or should know no unit is or soon will be available.
Receipt, screening confirmation, and refunds
The landlord must give a receipt for the screening charge. When a tenant screening company or consumer credit reporting agency performs the screening, ORS § 90.295(1)(a) also requires prompt confirmation of the screening, including a copy of the company or agency's receipt. That is not the same as a statutory duty to deliver the screening report itself.
Under ORS § 90.295(5), the full charge must be returned within 14 days if the landlord fills the unit before screening the applicant. The same deadline applies when the landlord has not conducted or ordered any screening before the applicant withdraws the application in writing.
Remedy and process limits
ORS § 90.295(6) bars recovery of the screening charge when the applicant refuses the landlord's rental offer. Otherwise, a landlord that violates the section, or that conducts no screening and fails to make the required 14-day refund, may owe twice the paid charge plus $250.
Section 90.295 requires written criteria but creates no first-in-order or first-qualified process and no separate state denial-reason notice. Its disclosure must identify any appeal right that exists. The section also creates no current applicant-supplied or reusable-report acceptance procedure and states no fee-specific local-preemption clause.
What trips people up
The 60-day limit follows the landlord, not the unit. Applying for another unit owned or managed by the same landlord does not permit a second screening charge within the period.
Confirmation is not a report-copy rule. After outside screening, the landlord must confirm that screening occurred and give a copy of the screening company's or credit agency's receipt. ORS § 90.295 does not require the landlord to hand over the underlying screening report.
Written withdrawal matters. The refund route in subsection (5)(b) applies when no screening was conducted or ordered before the applicant withdrew the application in writing.
No-vacancy collection has a written-consent exception. The landlord generally cannot charge when no unit is or reasonably will be available, but subsection (4) allows a different result if the applicant agrees in writing.
Common questions
Can a landlord charge separately for a credit report and a background check? Not as multiple applicant screening charges within 60 days. The statute treats the covered information-gathering process as screening and permits one charge.
How soon must a refund be paid? Within 14 days when the landlord fills the unit before screening, or when no screening was conducted or ordered before a written withdrawal.
What if I turn down the unit after approval? ORS § 90.295(6)(a) says an applicant who refuses the landlord's rental offer may not recover the screening charge.
Statutes and sources
- ORS 90.100(3), (44) — screening-charge and written-criteria definitions.
“Applicant screening charge” means any payment of money required by a landlord of an applicant prior to entering into a rental agreement ... the purpose of which is to pay the cost of processing an application ...
Official source: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors090.html (accessed 2026-07-21) - ORS 90.110 — chapter exclusions.
Unless created to avoid the application of this chapter, the following arrangements are not governed by this chapter ...
Official source: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors090.html (accessed 2026-07-21) - ORS 90.295(1)-(2) — permitted purpose, receipts, one-per-60-days rule, and cost ceiling.
A landlord may only require an applicant to pay a single applicant screening charge within any 60-day period, regardless of the number of rental units owned or managed by the landlord for which the applicant has applied to rent.
Official source: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors090.html (accessed 2026-07-21) - ORS 90.295(3)-(4) — precharge disclosures, availability estimate, and no-vacancy restriction.
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 ...
Official source: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors090.html (accessed 2026-07-21) - ORS 90.295(5)-(6) — 14-day refunds and damages.
The applicant may recover from the landlord twice the amount of any applicant screening charge paid, plus $250, if ... the landlord fails to comply with this section ...
Official source: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors090.html (accessed 2026-07-21)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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