Can a landlord refuse to renew my lease or evict me because I am a victim? What if the police have been called to my home due to the abuse?
You cannot be discriminated against in any way for being a victim. Your landlord cannot do any of the following based on the fact that you are a victim (however, s/he can do these things for other reasons):
- terminate your tenancy;
- fail to renew your tenancy;
- serve you a notice to terminate your tenancy; bring or threaten to bring an action for possession (eviction);
- increase your rent;
- decrease services; or
- refuse to enter into a rental agreement with you.1
Specifically, your landlord cannot take any of the six actions listed above if any of the following apply to your situation:
- you are/were a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, bias crime, or stalking;
- there was a violation of your rental agreement that stemmed from an incident of domestic violence, sexual assault, bias crime, or stalking being committed against you; or
- there was criminal activity relating to domestic violence, sexual assault, bias crime, or stalking against you and/or the police or other emergency response personnel came to your apartment based on an incident in which you were abused, sexually assaulted, victimized in a bias crime or stalked.1
There are more related protections that we do not mention here. To read the additional protections and the penalties for a landlord who violates this law, please read section 90.449 on our Selected Oregon Statutes page.
1 OR ST § 90.449(1)