Oregon Rent Increase Cap 2026: 9.5% Maximum

A landlord planning rent increases for the upcoming calendar year should expect this announcement in the fall, specifically watching for the department's publication rather than relying on an estimate calculated independently.

5. Why the next year's figure is already on a predictable timeline

Oregon's statute sets a deadline for publishing the following year's cap, meaning the 2027 figure is calculated and published on its own annual schedule separate from the 2026 figure discussed here.

[Cite: ORS 90.323]

A landlord planning multi-year rent strategy should check the Department of Administrative Services' announcement for the applicable year directly each fall rather than assuming the 9.5% figure carries forward into 2027.

6. Why the 15-year new-construction exemption matters for applicability

The cap applies to buildings older than 15 years; newer construction generally falls outside the rent stabilization cap under the law's own exemption structure.

[Cite: Oregon Rent Stabilization Law, new-construction exemption]

A landlord of a recently built property should confirm the building's exact age against this 15-year threshold before assuming the 9.5% cap applies; a property that qualifies for the new-construction exemption isn't bound by this specific percentage ceiling.

7. Why mobile home facilities follow an entirely separate cap

A distinct 6% cap applies to mobile home facilities with more than 30 spaces, separate from the 9.5% figure that applies to standard covered rental units.

[Cite: Oregon mobile home facility rent cap law]

A landlord or operator managing both a standard rental property and a larger mobile home facility needs to track 2 different percentage ceilings, not apply the same 9.5% figure across both property types.

8. Why this cap doesn't override local rent regulations that go further

This statewide cap sets a maximum; it doesn't necessarily preempt a local jurisdiction's own, potentially more restrictive, rent regulation layered on top of the state standard.

[Cite: ORS 90.323]

A landlord in a city with its own local rent-related ordinance should check whether that local rule imposes a lower ceiling or additional requirements beyond the statewide 9.5% cap, rather than assuming the state figure is the only number that matters.

9. Why a landlord needs to apply the cap to the correct 12-month period

The cap limits the increase a landlord can impose within a given rental period under the statute's structure, tied to the calendar year the increase takes effect.

[Cite: ORS 90.323, 2026 annual calculation]

A landlord implementing an increase that spans a transition between calendar years should confirm which year's cap applies to the specific increase being issued, since the applicable percentage is tied to that annual calculation.

10. Why documentation of the increase calculation matters

Since the cap is a maximum, not a fixed amount every landlord has to charge, a landlord implementing an increase up to or near the 9.5% ceiling should document how that specific figure was calculated and applied to the existing rent.

[Cite: ORS 90.323, 2026 annual calculation]

Clear documentation of the calculation protects a landlord if a tenant later questions whether a specific increase actually complied with the applicable cap.

11. What property managers should do now

The practical starting point is confirming which properties in a portfolio actually fall under the 9.5% cap, excluding any that qualify for the 15-year new-construction exemption, before calculating any 2026 rent increases.

For any increase approaching the full 9.5% ceiling, documenting the calculation against the current rent and keeping that record on file protects against a dispute over whether the increase stayed within the applicable cap.