PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - With temperatures soaring in Oregon this week, a new law will make it easier for renters in the state to install portable air conditioning units.

Senate Bill 1536 was passed by the Oregon State Legislature during their 2022 short session. It requires landlords and property management companies to allow their tenants to have portable air conditioning units in their apartment units. However, the law also allows landlords to restrict A/C units based on these criteria below:

Portable air conditioning units can be restricted if it:

Window air conditioning units can be restricted if it:

Landlords can also ask their tenants to remove their air conditioning units between Oct. 1 and April 30. If landlords believe any air conditioning unit violates these conditions, they can do inspections that could result in removing the unit at the cost of the tenant. Also, the law requires any new building permitted after April 1, 2024, to have at least one cooling room. That can be done through central air conditioning or a portable air conditioning unit provided by the landlord.

Grace Gasior is a tenant in a historic Northwest Portland apartment building. She said despite some caveats, she’s happy there’s a law in place that can help keep renters cool during the summer months.

“I think it’s great because people would be suffering through this heat and not being able to function if it wasn’t for those A/C units in these older buildings,” Gasior said.

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