2017 Oregon Revised Statutes
Volume : 03 - Landlord-Tenant, Domestic Relations, Probate
Chapter 090 - Residential Landlord and Tenant
Section 90.534 - Allocated charges for utility or service provided directly to space or common area.
(1) If a written rental agreement so provides, a landlord using the pro rata billing method described in ORS 90.532 (1)(b)(C)(ii) may require a tenant to pay to the landlord a utility or service charge that has been billed by a utility or service provider to the landlord for a utility or service provided directly to the tenant’s space or to a common area available to the tenant as part of the tenancy. A landlord may not unilaterally amend a rental agreement to convert utility and service billing from a method described in ORS 90.532 (1)(b)(C)(i) to a method described in ORS 90.532 (1)(b)(C)(ii).
(2)(a) As used in this subsection, "occupied" means that a tenant resides in the dwelling or home during each month for which the utility or service is billed.
(b) A utility or service charge that is assessed on a pro rata basis to tenants for the tenants’ spaces under this section must be allocated among the tenants by a method that reasonably apportions the cost among the affected tenants and that is described in the rental agreement.
(c) Methods that reasonably apportion the cost among the tenants include, but are not limited to, methods that divide the cost based on:
(A) The number of occupied spaces in the facility;
(B) The number of tenants or occupants in the dwelling or home compared with the number of tenants or occupants in the facility, if there is a correlation with consumption of the utility or service; or
(C) The square footage in each dwelling, home or space compared with the total square footage of occupied dwellings or homes in the facility, if there is a correlation with consumption of the utility or service.
(3) A utility or service charge to be assessed to a tenant for a common area must be described in the written rental agreement separately and distinctly from the utility or service charge for the tenant’s space.
(4) A landlord may not:
(a) Bill or collect more money from tenants for utilities or services than the utility or service provider charges the landlord.
(b) Increase the utility or service charge to the tenant by adding any costs of the landlord, such as a handling or administrative charge. [2005 c.619 §7; 2009 c.305 §2; 2009 c.816 §7]
