In July, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court (a Federal court with the power to interpret whether state court laws comply with the U.S. Constitution) decided that Oregon’s law prohibiting recording of conversations without the permission of one party (for phone conversations) or both parties (for other conversations) is unconstitutional. The court said that recording a conversation is an exercise of the right of free speech (the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution), so any law that requires consent before recording a conversation is a violation of that right.
In light of this recent change, the OREF Forms Committees have finalized changes to OREF 102 & OREF C-549 – Advisory to Buyer: Recording Devices May Be Present. Because recording conversations is now generally legal in Oregon, language in the two forms that questioned the legality of recording conversations has been deleted. These changes will be available in OREF libraries on 8/25/2023.
Always check with your principal broker or legal counsel to ensure that you are following any policy requirements of your brokerage. All comments and responses from OREF or its staff, managers, and volunteers are non-legal opinions made for general purposes. Each Forms subscriber must rely solely upon their Principal broker or personal legal counsel for specific advice and instruction. You and your client should independently confirm that the Form(s) you use are legally suitable for the purposes intended and that they are current with respect to all laws and regulations.
