Rental Agreements

Phil Querin Q&A: Adding New Occupant to Rental Agreement; Rent Increases in First Year

Question: My tenant wants to add another person to their Rental Agreement. This new person has completed their application and has been approved. Do I add them to the existing rental agreement?  I plan a rent increase in six months; will that be a problem for me with this new tenant?

 

Answer: There is no need to create a new rental agreement unless there is a good reason. A “good reason” might be because the existing rental agreement is old and outdated.

Unilateral Amendments to Community Rental and Lease Agreements Recent Oregon Court of Appeals Case

 

ORS 90.510(4) provides:

 

Every landlord who rents a space for a manufactured dwelling or floating home shall provide a written rental agreement, except as provided by ORS 90.710 (Causes of action)(2)(d). The agreement must be signed by the landlord and tenant and may not be unilaterally amended by one of the parties to the contract except by:

 

  1. Mutual agreement of the parties;

 

 

  1. Actions taken pursuant to ORS 90.530 (Pets in facilities), 90.533 (Conversion of billing method for garbage collection and disposal), 90.537 (Conversion of billing method for utility or service charges), 90.543 (Utility or service charge billing for large manufactured dwelling parks) (3), 90.600 (Increases in rent), 90.725 (Landlord or agent access to rented space) (3)(f) and (7) or 90.727 (Maintenance of trees in rented spaces); or

 

 

  1. Those provisions required by changes in statute or ordinance. (Emphasis added.)

 

 

In a recent Oregon Court of Appeals case, the full impact of these "unilateral" amendment provisions became the subject of scrutiny that (unless appealed and overturned by the Oregon Supreme Court) should serve as a cautionary warning for park owners and managers.

 

 

The MHCO Rental Agreement - Ten Tips and Traps

Oregon landlord-tenant law is complicated.  And mistakes in understanding the law frequently work against landlords.  The basic rule-of-thumb to remember is that the written document which defines the landlord-tenant relationship must be complete and must be followed.  While Oregon law does contain some restrictions upon what landlords can put into their rental agreements,[1] generally, they are far better off commencing the rental relationship with a strong, clear and fair written document. MHCO has gone to great lengths in making sure that its forms meet these criteria.  What follows is a list of ten tips and traps to remember when using the MHCO Rental Agreement form.

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