Answer: As to the portal fee, this is covered in my recent MHCO publication “Oregon Senate Bill 1523 & House Bill 4123 (2026) Summaries.” For tenants who choose to pay electronically, Landlords may pass through third-party electronic payment processing fees, provided that:
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- The payment processing company allows fees to be passed to the payor;
- The landlord allows the tenant to pay by nonelectronic means; and
- Landlords must maintain and provide records of these fees to the tenant within a reasonable time upon written request.
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However, the member question also asked about recovering back the “mailing fee of statements” (which I interpret to mean the cost of postage for sending various invoices and/or rental invoices). I do not believe this is permissible as a separate recoverable charge to tenants. ORS 90.100(17) defines a “Fee” as “a nonrefundable payment of money.” ORS 90.302 (Fees allowed for certain landlord expenses) enumerates recoverable fees. As you can see, these charges generally relate to events of tenant “noncompliance.” Postage for any means of communication with the tenant is not such an event. As to whether an Oregon landlord may separately include postage charges as an “add-on” to base rent under the rental or lease, I must decline to address, since it is beyond the scope of the question.
This is not to say that standard overhead items such as postage are not one of the costs landlords should consider when establishing their rental structure. But it may not be charged and recovered from tenants as a separate line-item under the standard Oregon rental and lease agreements I am familiar with. ~Phil
