Oregon Senate Bill 771

I just got back from a lengthy law seminar regarding all the changes to how I do things beginning January 1st, when Oregon Senate Bill 771 goes into effect. Most of it doesn't effect how we rent apartments, but there are a few important new laws that I thought the renting public should be aware of. Here's the short list:

• Landlords can't charge any more pet fees. My current dog fee is $300 and my current cat fee is $100. Those are out. I may have to start charging "pet rent" which means that if you have a dog the apartment is $625/mo, and if you don't the apartment is $600/mo, for example.
• Landlords can't charge move-in style fees. You know, like a $100 cleaning fee or a $200 "lock change" fee or anything like that. We only do that when times are really good (for us) anyway. I haven't done that since about June of '08.

• Landlords can no longer charge you to transfer apartments within the same complex.
• Upon moving out, landlords can now charge you for repairs they don't necessarily do. For example, if you scratch your hardwood floor just a tiny bit in the corner of the closet, the landlord can charge you for that--even without actually fixing it before the next tenant moves in.
• Using that example, landlords can now charge you for the days it takes to fix that hardwood floor (as long as it's done in "a timely manner.")
• The whole "non-compliance fee" thing has been restricted to only certain things. I've never charged a "non-compliance fee," so I'm not real clear on this. I guess in the past, landlords could charge you $25/day for having--using an example I heard today--a blue tarp on your patio. That's out.
• If you've lived in your apartment for a year and your landlord wants you out, they can't give you a 30-day no-cause notice anymore. Now it's a 60-day. Unless you're a horrible resident or have gone through a condo conversion, you probably have never heard of a no-cause notice.
• If you have a gas stove in your apartment, or if there's a boiler in your building, expect us to start knocking on your door to install CO detectors beginning 7/1/2010.
• Yes, we can still charge you $250 for taking the battery out of your smoke detector. I've never heard of anyone actually charging that, but there it is.

Most of the other stuff seems like general common sense, or just doesn't apply to 99% percent of renters. I'm sure I'll get a bunch of clarification on this in the future. If anything interesting pops up I'll let you know.