Ask a landlord to repair an unsafe or damaged rental
Housing & Rent
Oregon preparation and procedure guide
Source review: 2026-10-11

Scope: Shared Oregon or applicable federal procedure; confirm local requirements
Make and preserve written repair requests, document conditions, and obtain advice about unresolved repairs.

Who this route is for
Oregon residential renters seeking repairs to the home or common areas. Emergencies and different housing programs may need additional help.

Timing and notices
Contact the landlord immediately about emergencies. A reasonable repair-request date depends on the condition; it is not a universal legal deadline or permission to withhold rent.

Prepare (conditional documents may have alternatives)
[ ] Rental agreement
[ ] Photographs or videos of the condition
[ ] Dated repair requests and delivery records
[ ] Landlord responses
[ ] Receipts for damaged belongings or related expenses

How to proceed
1. Notify the landlord promptly, especially for loss of heat, electricity or a broken pipe; use a text or email to preserve a record.
2. If the issue is not fixed, mail a follow-up repair letter describing the problem and a reasonable requested repair date; keep a copy.
3. Photograph the problem and damaged property, retain messages and receipts, and identify witnesses if available.
4. If repairs remain undone, send the additional follow-up described by the publisher and record what happens.
5. Review the publisher's unresolved-repair options with a tenant lawyer before choosing a legal remedy, withholding rent or ending the tenancy.

Open current instructions: https://oregonlawhelp.org/topics/housing/rental-housing/repairs-and-safety/how-get-your-landlord-make-repairs

Limits: Repair-and-deduct, rent withholding and termination have technical requirements and risks. This checklist documents a request; it does not authorize any of those remedies.

Publisher sources
How to Get Your Landlord to Make Repairs | Oregon Law Help
https://oregonlawhelp.org/topics/housing/rental-housing/repairs-and-safety/how-get-your-landlord-make-repairs
Evidence type: publisher-html-snapshot
SHA-256: c17c6de27b7f2d930fba7741975369aaad15a8542e94d36a9178fcab51d7abf8
What To Do If Your Landlord Won't Make Repairs | Oregon Law Help
https://oregonlawhelp.org/topics/housing/rental-housing/repairs-and-safety/what-do-if-your-landlord-wont-make-repairs
Evidence type: publisher-html-snapshot
SHA-256: 9fff06d9d970b77ab798c84de01e6c049e8afb4451a30eccf1b3df22a16b1ac9

This site helps you prepare. It does not submit filings, calculate personal deadlines, decide eligibility or replace professional review. A complaint or help request does not pause another case or deadline.

Start here
Notify the landlord promptly, especially for loss of heat, electricity or a broken pipe; use a text or email to preserve a record.

Where and how to submit
Read the linked publisher instructions to confirm the receiving office, accepted submission method and current forms. This page has not separately verified those details. A county filter does not decide the correct court or filing location.
https://oregonlawhelp.org/topics/housing/rental-housing/repairs-and-safety/how-get-your-landlord-make-repairs

What will it cost?
Fees and fee-waiver eligibility have not been separately verified for this route. Check the current provider instructions. For a court filing, ask the court about its fee-waiver or deferral forms.

After submission
Keep a copy of what you send and its confirmation or receipt. Ask the receiving office how to track it, when to expect a response and how it will request missing information. These follow-up details have not been separately verified for this route.

Corrections, denials and appeals
Read any returned filing, correction request or denial notice promptly. Ask the responsible office for the correction, review or appeal instructions and the deadline that applies to your notice. This guide does not verify a route-specific appeal process.

Language, disability and offline help
Ask the receiving office about language assistance, disability accommodations and an alternative to online submission. Available options have not been separately verified for this route.