Multnomah County, OR Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing law
- Multnomah County Code §§ 29.006-29.010
- Notice response window
- Work must start within 48 hours
- Enforcement body
- County Building Official
- Escalation
- Board hearing, then county abatement
- Applies to
- Unincorporated county only, not Portland
Summary
In unincorporated Multnomah County, the building official can declare a dangerous or dilapidated structure a public nuisance, order the owner to fix or demolish it within 48 hours of notice, and take the case to the Board if the owner refuses.
Upon determination by the building official that any building or structure is unsafe as provided in § 29.006 of this subchapter, the building official shall furnish to the owner and the person in charge of the building or structure, written notice of the determination and its basis. The notice shall require repair, improvement, demolition, removal or elimination of the causes creating the unsafe condition, which may include immediate vacation of the building, structure or any portion thereof, and shall also require the commencement within 48 hours of any work necessary to abate
the nuisance and provide a completion date for that work.
(B) Service of the notice provided under division (A) of this section shall be as required for service of process by law, upon the owner of record, and if the owner is not found within the county, notice may be served by registered mail return receipt. If that service is ineffective, service may be had by publication as provided by ORS 15.120. The time prescribed for the unsafe building nuisance to be abated, as provided in division (A) of this section, shall commence to run upon service of notice or, in the case of service by publication, upon the first day of publication. Cross-reference: Unsafe buildings (electrical code), see § 29.103 Unsafe buildings (plumbing code), see § 29.204 (‘ 90 Code, § 9.10.070, 07/01/1998; Ord. 164, passed, 05/11/1978)
Full Breakdown
The Building Code's unsafe-building subchapter (§§ 29.006-29.010) lets the county building official declare any structure a public nuisance when fire, decay, structural failure, faulty construction, or unsanitary conditions make it dangerous or unfit for habitation. The official must serve the owner written notice of the defects and require repair, rehabilitation, demolition, or removal, with abatement work starting within 48 hours. Owners who ignore the notice face a Board hearing and county-performed abatement billed back as a special assessment on the property. Applies only to unincorporated county land, not Portland, Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview, or Wood Village, which enforce their own building codes.
Violations & Fines
Failure to abate within the notice period triggers a Board hearing under § 29.009; the Board can order the county to demolish or repair the structure and assess the full cost against the property as a special assessment collected like a property tax lien under ORS 311.255.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this apply inside Portland city limits?
What happens if I don't fix a condemned building?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Multnomah County
Compare Multnomah County to another location·View the Oregon property maintenance overview
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