Q: Can a non-refundable pet deposit actually be non-refundable? If it's a deposit, how can it be non-refundable?

A: Despite many landlords using the phrase for several years, there is no such thing as a "non-refundable deposit". Either it is non-refundable, in which case it is a fee and only specifically listed fees in the Oregon statutes are permitted to be charged (and a pet fee is not one of them) or it is refundable at the end of the tenancy and must be accounted for in writing or fully refunded to the tenant within 31 days after possession is restored to the landlord. If the landlord did not do either, it likely is worth twice the amount of the "non-refundable deposit" to the tenant, along with their court costs and attorney's fees. It is also the sort of case that many landlord-tenant attorneys would consider taking on a contingency fee basis, meaning the tenant would not owe their attorney anything for attorney's fees beyond an initial evaluation interview but rather the attorney would rely upon collecting their fees from the landlord upon either prevailing or settling. If the tenant somehow lost, then the attorney simply would go unpaid. So if the attorney is willing to take the case on a contingency basis, it should tell you something about their confidence level in winning. The reality is that such a case is very likely to settle rather quickly since it usually is pretty clear - either the landlord accounted for or refunded the "deposit" or they did not. If they did not, their attorney will tell them that having called it a non-refundable deposit won't save them and that they will be paying both their attorney's fees and the tenant's attorney's fees until the matter is fully settled - likely totaling $600 - $800 per hour. How long and hard does the landlord want to fight when they are going to be paying that in the end? So usually they scream...and then want to settle quickly. If it has been more than 31 days after you restored possession, the landlord had an address to send the refund or accounting to you at, and they did not, simply consider reviewing it all with a landlord-tenant attorney to map out your options, costs, and likely benefits. Good luck.