New Oregon law established renters’ right to AC, but some landlords still threaten fines – By Jayati Ramakrishnan (The Oregonian/OregonLive) / July 27, 2022
After nearly 100 Oregonians died in last year’s sweltering heat wave, the state Legislature passed a bill giving tenants the right to have air conditioning units in their apartments.
But as the region faces another heat wave this week, some Oregon renters say their landlords have nonetheless threatened them with fines or eviction for using certain types of cooling units.
Even as the state scrambled to deliver portable air conditioning units to residents through a program aimed at protecting older adults, people with medical conditions and homebound people from the heat to avert another wave of deaths, other tenants said they’re being barred from taking precautions against heat illness even at their own expense.
On Monday, as temperatures grazed 100 degrees and with the worst of the week’s heat wave still to come, residents of a Tigard apartment complex received a notice that window air conditioners were prohibited. The email reviewed by The Oregonian/OregonLive said tenants who failed to remove the units could be fined $50.
