Portland, OR asked in Landlord - Tenant for Oregon

Q: Landlord has given notice to change utilities billing from a flat fee to a percentage during the middle of our lease.

We signed a 1-yr lease in May of this year, and received a 90-day notice of intent to charge a prorated percentage of all utility services, rather than the $85 flat fee which is listed in our lease. Can the landlord make such a change while we are locked into a lease agreement? What if the bills are higher than the lease agreement that we entered into? Have they broken the lease by changing the terms? The change is to take place on October 1st.

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1 Lawyer Answer
Gregory L Abbott
Gregory L Abbott
Answered
  • Landlord Tenant Lawyer
  • Portland, OR
  • Licensed in Oregon

A: Most likely this is NOT a legally enforceable change to your lease. Then again, the original charge may or may not also be unlawful depending upon exactly what is disclosed in your fixed-term rental agreement. It will likely all come down to the exact wording, timing, and exactly what is being charged for. When you say it is for utility services, does that include cable TV or Internet? They may have different rules than electric, gas, water, sewer, and trash (if you are within the Portland city limits, your landlord must pay for the trash removal, not the tenant). All in all, you may wish to review everything with a local landlord-tenant attorney to determine your rights and how to best assert them. IF it turns out that either the original charges, or the new ones, or both, are unlawful you likely are entitled to recover at least a month's rent plus your court costs and attorney's fees from the landlord. Best of luck.

Gregory Abbott, Attorney

Consumer Law Northwest

6635 N. Baltimore Ave., #254

Portland, OR 97203

503-283-4568 - Voice

gregabbott@comcast.net - Email

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