You should be able to get this from the city. For example, it looks like Portland has a website: https://www.portlandmaps.com/detail/permits/NWC-1ST-SW-WASHING

You should be able to get this from the city. For example, it looks like Portland has a website: https://www.portlandmaps.com/detail/permits/NWC-1ST-SW-WASHINGTON-ST/R246052_did/ https://www.portlandmaps.com/detail/permits/NWC-1ST-SW-WASHI... Title insurance companies also collect that information, so there should be a way for a motivated buyer to get a feed for the data. Ignoring those, you could also ask the landlord for a copy of any recent building inspections. Smaller ones might not keep very good records, though. This is probably the easiest option.