Home › Guides

Oregon Late Fee: ORS 90.260, the 4-Day Grace Period, and the 5% Structure

Verified state late-fee rule

Oregon tenants and landlords often misunderstand the state’s late-fee rule because it is quoted in shorthand as “5%.” The full rule under ORS 90.260 is more specific: a 4-day grace period, a requirement that the fee be in a written rental agreement, and a structure of 5% per succeeding 5-day period as one statutory structure. This guide explains each element, with examples, so you can check a fee rather than guess at it.

The 4-day grace period

Under ORS 90.260, rent paid within 4 days after the due date does not attract a late fee under this rule. If rent is due on the 1st, payment on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th is within the grace period; payment on the 6th is outside it. Count carefully from the due date stated in your agreement, and keep proof of the actual payment date — a bank record or a landlord receipt — because that date, not the date you meant to pay, determines whether the grace period was met. A grace period is not permission to pay late every month: arrears can still have other consequences under the tenancy law, even when no fee is due for a particular month.

The fee must be in a written agreement

A late fee in Oregon must be set out in a written rental agreement before it can be charged. A verbal understanding, a notice posted after the tenancy began, or a fee added to a bill without an agreement term is not a substitute. Before paying a fee, read your written agreement’s late-fee clause: does it state the fee, how it is calculated, and when it applies? If there is no such clause, raise that in writing before paying. Landlords should ensure the clause is in the signed agreement from the start, not added later without proper agreement.

How the 5% per succeeding 5-day period works

ORS 90.260 uses 5% per succeeding 5-day period as one statutory structure. In practice, that means the fee is assessed in 5-day blocks after the grace period, rather than as one flat 5% charge for any lateness. For example, on $1,800 rent, one 5-day period at 5% is $90. If rent remains unpaid into a second succeeding 5-day period, a further period charge may apply under the agreement and statute as written — which is why the total can exceed a single 5% figure for longer delays. Do not present or accept this as a flat 5% overall cap: the per-period structure, the agreement’s wording, and the number of periods elapsed all matter. Check the agreement and the official source together for your exact case.

Periodic rent means the regular rent amount for the period in the agreement, not a total that adds in other charges the lease treats separately — start from the rent figure stated in the agreement, and if a bill mixes another amount in, ask for the rent figure and the fee calculation to be shown separately.

Worked examples

Example 1: rent due 1 October, paid 4 October. Within the 4-day grace period — no late fee under ORS 90.260. Example 2: rent due 1 October, paid 8 October. Outside the grace period, in the first succeeding 5-day period — one period charge applies under the agreement’s structure, $90 on $1,800 rent at 5%. Example 3: rent due 1 October, still unpaid on 15 October. More than one succeeding 5-day period has elapsed, so the agreement’s per-period calculation must be applied period by period, not as a single $90 charge. Always write the due date, payment date, grace days, and periods elapsed next to the fee figure so either side can check it.

If you disagree with a fee

• Write down the due date, payment date, grace period, and periods elapsed.
• Check the written agreement for the fee clause and its calculation.
• Ask the landlord in writing to show the calculation period by period.
• If the fee was charged inside the grace period or without a written term, say so in writing with the dates.
• Seek local housing advice if the fee is large, repeated, or combined with a notice to vacate.

A fee clause should state that a late fee applies, how it is calculated, and when it starts. If your agreement contains no late-fee clause, or states a different calculation from the one on your bill, raise that mismatch first, in writing — a landlord relying on a fee should be able to point to the signed clause, not to a later notice or verbal conversation. The written-agreement part is often the easiest to check and the easiest to overlook, so keep a copy of the signed agreement with your payment records.

Formula: counting grace days, then 5-day periods

Count in two stages, and do not merge them. Stage one: from the due date, count the 4 grace days. If rent is due on the 1st, the grace days cover payment on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Stage two: after grace, group the remaining days into succeeding 5-day periods. The first succeeding period covers the 5 days after grace ends, the second covers the next 5 days, and so on. The fee for each period is 5% of periodic rent, multiplied by the number of periods that have started or elapsed as the agreement and statute provide. Write the count out in a line — due date, grace end date, payment date, days after grace, periods counted, fee per period, total fee — so the landlord or tenant on the other side can follow it without re-deriving it.

More worked examples with different rents

Example A: periodic rent $1,250, due 1 April, paid 4 April. The payment is inside the 4-day grace period, so no late fee applies under ORS 90.260, and the tenant owes only the $1,250 rent. Example B: periodic rent $1,250, due 1 April, paid 10 April. Grace ends on 5 April, and payment on 10 April falls in the first succeeding 5-day period, so one period at 5% is $62.50. The total for that month is $1,250 plus $62.50, which is $1,312.50, before any other amount the lease separately allows. Keep the cents visible: rounding $62.50 to $63 without agreement changes the total and creates a small dispute on top of the real one.

Example C: periodic rent $2,750, due 1 May, paid 18 May. Grace ends on 5 May. Payment on 18 May falls in the third succeeding 5-day period, so three periods at 5% give 15% of $2,750, which is $412.50. The total is $2,750 plus $412.50, which is $3,162.50. Example D: periodic rent $950, due 1 June, paid 7 June. Grace ends on 5 June, and payment on 7 June falls in the first succeeding period, so one period at 5% is $47.50, giving $997.50 in total. These examples show the same pattern at every rent level: the fee grows in $5%-of-rent steps as new periods begin, which is why a fee that looks small in the first period can become substantial by the third.

Edge cases: partial payments, payment timing, and a changed agreement

A partial payment inside grace followed by the rest later needs the same two-stage count applied to the unpaid balance, not to the whole rent. If $600 of $1,500 rent arrives inside grace and the remaining $900 arrives in the second period after grace, the fee question concerns the $900 and its payment date, and the agreement and official source should be checked for how partial payments are treated. Keep both payment proofs, with dates and amounts, and ask the landlord to show the fee calculation against the unpaid balance rather than against the full rent. A single combined bill that applies the fee to the full rent after part was paid on time is worth querying in writing.

What the Oregon rule does not tell you

ORS 90.260, as summarized here, settles three things: the grace period, the written-agreement requirement, and the per-period structure. It does not answer what happens when rent is never paid, or whether a particular clause is enforceable in every detail — those depend on the agreement as a whole and the official source. It also does not set a fee for any other state, and a city ordinance may add its own rule.

Sources

Sources used for this guide: Oregon ORS 90.260 for the 4-day grace period, the written-agreement requirement, and the 5% per succeeding 5-day period structure, the written rental agreement for the periodic rent and fee clause, and — for any city rule or any point not covered by that section — check the official source for your city and state.

Frequently asked questions

What is Oregon’s grace period?

4 days after the due date, under ORS 90.260.

Must the fee be written down?

Yes. In Oregon the late fee must be in a written rental agreement.

Is the fee capped at 5% total?

No — not as a flat overall cap. The statute uses 5% per succeeding 5-day period as one structure, so longer delays can involve more than one period charge.

How do I count the first 5-day period after grace?

After the 4 grace days, group the following days into 5-day blocks. For rent due on the 1st, grace covers payment on the 2nd to the 5th, and the first succeeding period covers the days immediately after grace ends. Write due date, grace end, payment date, and periods counted in one line.

What is periodic rent?

The regular rent amount for the period in the agreement, used as the base for the 5% calculation. Start from the rent figure stated in the agreement, and ask for the rent and fee to be shown separately if a bill mixes in other charges.

What if part of the rent was paid inside grace?

Keep both payment proofs and ask for the fee to be calculated against the unpaid balance and its payment date, not automatically against the full rent. Check the agreement and official source for how partial payments are treated.

What if my agreement has no late-fee clause?

In Oregon the fee must be in a written rental agreement. Raise the missing clause in writing and ask for the calculation to be shown, before paying a fee you cannot trace to a signed term.

Does the fee stop growing once I pay?

Payment ends the accumulation for that month's rent, because no further periods elapse after the rent is paid. Keep the payment proof with its date, so the final period count can be checked.

What if a fee is charged with a notice to vacate?

Check the fee calculation period by period, check the written agreement, and seek local housing advice promptly. A combined fee and notice involves more than the arithmetic in this guide, so do not treat the fee figure as the whole answer.

Same warning as above: this is general information, not legal advice — check the official source for your city and state.

Last updated: 2026-10-25. Last verified for state rules: 2026-10-25.