2015 Oregon Revised Statutes
Volume : 03 - Landlord-Tenant, Domestic Relations, Probate
Chapter 090 - Residential Landlord and Tenant
Section 90.727 - Maintenance of trees in rented spaces.

(1) As used in this section:

(a) "Maintaining a tree" means removing or trimming a tree for the purpose of eliminating features of the tree that cause the tree to be hazardous, or that may cause the tree to become hazardous in the near future.

(b) "Removing a tree" includes:

(A) Felling and removing the tree; and

(B) Grinding or removing the stump of the tree.

(2) The landlord or tenant that is responsible for maintaining a tree must engage a landscape construction professional with a valid license issued pursuant to ORS 671.560 to maintain any tree with a DBH of eight inches or more.

(3) A landlord:

(a) Shall maintain a tree that is a hazard tree, that was not planted by the current tenant, on a rented space in a manufactured dwelling park if the landlord knows or should know that the tree is a hazard tree.

(b) May maintain a tree on the rented space to prevent the tree from becoming a hazard tree, after providing the tenant with reasonable written notice and a reasonable opportunity to maintain the tree.

(c) Has discretion to decide whether the appropriate maintenance is removal or trimming of the hazard tree.

(d) Is not responsible for maintaining a tree that is not a hazard tree or for maintaining any tree for aesthetic purposes.

(4) A landlord shall comply with ORS 90.725 before entering a tenant’s space to inspect or maintain a tree.

(5) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, a tenant is responsible for maintaining the trees on the tenant’s space in a manufactured dwelling park at the tenant’s expense. The tenant may retain an arborist licensed as a landscape construction professional pursuant to ORS 671.560 and certified by the International Society of Arboriculture to inspect a tree on the tenant’s rented space at the tenant’s expense and if the arborist determines that the tree is a hazard, the tenant may:

(a) Require the landlord to maintain a tree that is the landlord’s responsibility under subsection (3) of this section; or

(b) Maintain the tree at the tenant’s expense, after providing the landlord with reasonable written notice of the proposed maintenance and a copy of the arborist’s report.

(6) If a manufactured dwelling cannot be removed from a space without first removing or trimming a tree on the space, the owner of the manufactured dwelling may remove or trim the tree at the dwelling owner’s expense, after giving reasonable written notice to the landlord, for the purpose of removing the manufactured dwelling. [2013 c.443 §5]

Note: Section 16, chapter 443, Oregon Laws 2013, provides:

Sec. 16. (1) A landlord may unilaterally amend a rental agreement to:

(a) Comply with requirements in section 5 of this 2013 Act [90.727] and other provisions in the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act regarding the maintenance of trees, including hazard trees; and

(b) Establish the policies regarding trees that are described in the amendments to ORS 90.510 by section 8 of this 2013 Act.

(2) A landlord may take action under this section before the operative date of sections 4 and 5 of this 2013 Act and the amendments to ORS 90.100, 90.412, 90.532, 90.543, 90.555, 90.634, 90.643, 90.680, 90.725, 90.730 and 90.740 by sections 1 to 3, 6, 7 and 9 to 14 of this 2013 Act [January 1, 2014].

[2013 c.443 §16]