Oregon landlords will be able to raise rent a maximum of 10% in 2024, a cap reined in by a new state law.
Oregon’s rent control law as first approved in 2019 capped rent hikes at 7% plus inflation but didn’t have an upper limit. As inflation soared in recent years, tenants faced steep potential increases — in 2023, the maximum allowable rent increase was 14.6%, nearly 5 percentage points higher than the previous year.
So the Legislature this year approved Senate Bill 611, which sets the maximum 10% when inflation is running hot. In years when inflation is slower, the cap remains at 7% plus inflation.
Absent the new law, Oregon’s maximum rent increase would have been 12.6%.
Rents on average have not climbed at rates approaching the maximum, though some landlords have pushed their rents to the maximum allowed under the law.
—Jayati Ramakrishnan; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com