Oregon Eviction Notice Laws: The Landlord and Tenant Guide
10 and 13-Day Nonpayment · 30-Day Cure · Statewide Just Cause · 90-Day Landlord-Reason Termination · Relocation · Service Rules
In Oregon, the eviction notice is step one, and a defective or mistimed notice sinks the whole case. Before a landlord can file in circuit court, the law requires the right written notice, delivered the right way, for the right number of days — and, uniquely, Oregon is a statewide just-cause state. Since Senate Bill 608 took effect in 2019, a landlord generally cannot end a tenancy of more than twelve months without a qualifying reason, ninety days’ notice, and, for most landlords, one month of relocation assistance. Choose the wrong notice, serve a nonpayment notice too early, skip the just-cause rules, or miss the relocation payment, and a tenant can defeat the entire forcible entry and detainer action. This guide walks the whole Oregon framework end to end, with every rule tied to a concrete action.
The stakes are practical. Oregon courts enforce the notice statutes closely: a nonpayment notice served before rent is legally late, a just-cause termination missing its qualifying reason, or a mailed notice that did not add the extra three days can each be enough to lose. Because Oregon’s rules have changed significantly in recent years — statewide just cause arrived with Senate Bill 608 in 2019, and Senate Bill 611 in 2023 tightened the separate rent-increase cap — treat every figure here as a starting point and verify the current statute before you serve or file anything.
Below, an overview video summarizes the Oregon framework; the sections that follow break down each piece — the notice types and their day-counts, the statewide just-cause requirement and relocation assistance, service methods, what makes a notice valid, the forcible entry and detainer lawsuit, retaliation and tenant defenses, local rules, a landlord playbook, and defensible-versus-fatal scenarios — plus an Oregon-specific FAQ.
Oregon Eviction Notices at a Glance
Nonpayment
10-day (or 13-day) pay or quit
Lease Breach
30-day cure; 10-day repeat, no cure
First-Year No-Cause
30-day notice allowed
After Year One
Just cause; 90-day landlord reason + relocation
The Notice Is Step One — and It Can Sink the Case
Every Oregon eviction begins with a written notice, and that notice is the single most common point of failure. Oregon’s eviction statutes are specific about which notice fits which ground, how many days it must give, and — for nonpayment — how late the rent must already be before the notice can even be served. A notice that names the wrong ground, gives the wrong number of days, is served too early, or omits a required element gives the tenant a clean defense: the court can dismiss the case, and the landlord has to start over from a fresh, correctly timed notice, losing weeks.
This is why the notice deserves more care than any other step. The rest of the process — filing the forcible entry and detainer complaint, the first appearance, any trial, the writ — is largely mechanical once the notice is right. Get the notice wrong and none of it matters. Throughout this guide, the theme repeats: the exactness and the timing of the notice decide the case long before a judge ever reads the complaint.
A nonpayment notice served too early is void
Oregon is unusual in that a landlord cannot serve a nonpayment notice the moment rent is missed. Under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.394, a 10-day notice may not be delivered before the eighth day of the rental period, and a 13-day notice may not be delivered before the fifth day. Serve either notice too soon and it is invalid, even if the rent is genuinely unpaid. Count from the first day rent is due, wait the full period, and only then deliver the notice.
Takeaway
In Oregon the notice is step one and the whole case rides on it. Courts expect the right notice, the right days, and the right timing — especially the rule that a nonpayment notice cannot be served before rent is legally late. A defective or premature notice is a complete defense that forces the landlord to start over.
The Oregon Eviction Notice Types
Oregon recognizes a handful of distinct termination notices, and using the wrong one is itself a fatal defect. Which notice applies depends on why the landlord wants the tenant out and, after the first year, on the statewide just-cause rules. The nonpayment notices come from Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.394; the for-cause lease-violation notices come from section 90.392; the no-cause and qualifying-landlord-reason terminations come from section 90.427.
10-Day and 13-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit (Nonpayment)
When a tenant is behind on rent, the landlord serves a notice to pay rent or quit under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.394. Oregon gives the landlord two options. A 10-day notice may be delivered no sooner than the eighth day of the rental period, meaning rent must already be at least eight days late. A 13-day notice may be delivered no sooner than the fifth day, meaning rent must be at least five days late. Either notice must state the exact amount of rent due and the date and time by which the tenant must pay to cure the nonpayment. If the tenant pays the full amount within the notice period, the tenancy continues and the landlord cannot proceed. A separate, shorter 72-hour notice applies only to week-to-week tenancies, and it cannot be delivered before the fifth day of the rental period.
30-Day Notice for Cause (Curable Lease Violation)
When a tenant materially violates the rental agreement in a way that can be fixed — an unauthorized pet, an unapproved occupant, a repeated noise or parking violation the tenant can stop — the landlord serves a 30-day for-cause notice under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.392. The notice must describe the violation specifically, and it must give the tenant at least 14 days from delivery to cure the problem. If the tenant cures within that window, the tenancy continues and the termination does not take effect. The 30-day period sets the outer termination date; the 14-day cure window sits inside it.
10-Day Repeat-Violation Notice (No Cure)
Oregon treats a second, similar breach differently. If the tenant commits a substantially similar violation within six months of the first for-cause notice, the landlord may serve a 10-day notice with no right to cure under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.392(5). Because the repeat conduct shows the first cure did not hold, the tenant’s only option is to leave. This is a powerful tool, but it applies only to a genuinely similar repeat violation within the six-month window; an unrelated new problem starts over with a fresh 30-day cure notice.
First-Year No-Cause Termination: 30-Day Notice
During the first twelve months of a tenant’s occupancy, Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.427 allows a landlord to end a month-to-month tenancy with a 30-day written no-cause notice — no stated reason, no relocation payment. This is the one window in which a bare no-cause removal is available. It closes the moment the tenant has occupied the unit for more than one year, after which statewide just cause takes over. A landlord who wants a no-cause exit should serve the 30-day notice while the tenancy is still under a year.
After Year One: 90-Day Qualifying-Landlord-Reason Termination
Once a tenant has lived in the unit for more than twelve months, a no-cause removal is no longer available. To end the tenancy without tenant fault, the landlord must use one of the four qualifying landlord reasons, give a 90-day notice, and, for most landlords, pay one month of relocation assistance. This is the heart of Oregon’s statewide just-cause system, discussed in detail below.
Takeaway
The notice type follows the reason and the tenancy’s length: 10 or 13-day pay-or-quit for nonpayment, 30-day cure for a fixable breach (10-day, no cure for a repeat within six months), a 30-day no-cause notice only in the first year, and a 90-day qualifying-reason termination with relocation after year one. Using the wrong notice for the situation is itself a fatal defect.
How Many Days Each Notice Requires
The day-count is where landlords most often trip — and in Oregon the trickiest part is not just how many days a notice gives, but how many days late the rent must already be before a nonpayment notice can be served at all. Use this table as the quick reference, then read the notes below it.
| Notice | Days required / earliest service | Statute and grounds |
|---|---|---|
| Pay or quit (10-day) | 10 days; not before the 8th day of the rental period | Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.394 — nonpayment of rent |
| Pay or quit (13-day) | 13 days; not before the 5th day of the rental period | Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.394 — nonpayment of rent |
| Pay or quit (week-to-week) | 72 hours; not before the 5th day of the rental period | Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.394 — week-to-week nonpayment |
| For-cause cure | 30 days, with at least 14 days to cure | Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.392 — curable material violation |
| Repeat violation | 10 days, no right to cure | Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.392(5) — similar breach within 6 months |
| No-cause (first year) | 30 days | Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.427 — within first 12 months |
| Qualifying landlord reason | 90 days, plus one month relocation for most landlords | Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.427 — after 12 months (Senate Bill 608) |
Rent must be late enough before you serve
The most Oregon-specific trap is timing the nonpayment notice. A 10-day notice cannot be delivered before the eighth day of the rental period, and a 13-day notice cannot be delivered before the fifth day. Serving on day two or day three, even for genuinely unpaid rent, produces a void notice. Count from the first day the rent was due, confirm the rent is still unpaid on the earliest allowed day, and only then deliver the notice.
Add three days when you serve by mail
If the landlord serves a notice by first class mail alone, Oregon adds three days to the notice period to account for the mailing. A 10-day nonpayment notice mailed to the tenant effectively runs 13 days before the landlord may act, and a 30-day for-cause notice mailed runs 33. Build in that cushion, or deliver personally to avoid it, so the period is unquestionably satisfied before you file.
Takeaway
Nonpayment is a 10-day or 13-day pay-or-quit, but it cannot be served until rent is late enough — the eighth or fifth day of the rental period. A curable breach is 30 days with a 14-day cure; a repeat within six months is 10 days, no cure. After year one, the qualifying-reason termination is 90 days. Mail service adds three days, and filing before the period runs is fatal.
Statewide Just Cause Under Senate Bill 608
Oregon is distinctive: since Senate Bill 608 took effect in 2019, it has been a statewide just-cause state — the first in the nation. Codified in Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.427, the law provides that once a tenant has occupied a dwelling for more than twelve months, a landlord may not terminate the tenancy without a legally recognized cause. This overrides the older, pre-2019 idea that a landlord could end a month-to-month tenancy for no reason at any time. That is now true only during the first year.
Tenant-Based Cause Versus Qualifying Landlord Reasons
After the first year, section 90.427 divides valid terminations into two families. Tenant-based cause covers the tenant’s own conduct — nonpayment of rent under section 90.394 or a material lease violation under section 90.392 — and runs through the matching nonpayment or for-cause notices described above. Qualifying landlord reasons cover reasons unrelated to the tenant’s behavior, and Oregon recognizes exactly four:
- Owner or family move-in. The landlord or a member of the landlord’s immediate family intends to occupy the unit as a primary residence.
- Sale to an occupying buyer. The landlord has accepted an offer to purchase from a buyer who intends in good faith to occupy the unit as a primary residence.
- Demolition or conversion. The landlord intends to demolish the unit or convert it to a use other than residential.
- Major repairs or renovations. The landlord intends repairs or renovations that make the unit unsafe or unfit to occupy during the work.
The 90-Day Notice and One-Month Relocation Assistance
A qualifying-landlord-reason termination is not just a matter of stating the reason. The landlord must give a 90-day written notice, state the qualifying reason, and — for most landlords — pay the tenant relocation assistance equal to one month of the tenant’s rent. The relocation payment is a condition of a valid termination for covered landlords; skip it and the termination can be void. There is an important small-landlord exemption: a landlord who has an ownership interest in four or fewer residential dwelling units is not required to pay the one-month relocation amount, though that landlord must still give the 90-day notice and state a qualifying reason.
The first year is the only no-cause window
During the first twelve months of occupancy, section 90.427 lets a landlord end a month-to-month tenancy with a 30-day no-cause notice and no relocation payment. That flexibility disappears at the one-year mark. Landlords who want a clean, low-friction exit sometimes evaluate a tenancy well before month twelve, because after that only cause or a qualifying reason will do.
Takeaway
Under Senate Bill 608 (Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.427), Oregon is a statewide just-cause state: after twelve months, a landlord needs tenant-based cause or one of four qualifying landlord reasons, a 90-day notice, and, for most landlords, one month of relocation assistance. Only in the first year is a 30-day no-cause notice allowed. Landlords with four or fewer units are exempt from the relocation payment, not the notice.
How to Serve a Notice in Oregon
A notice that is written perfectly still fails if it is served the wrong way. Oregon lets a landlord deliver a termination notice by personal delivery to the tenant, by first class mail, or — when the rental agreement expressly allows it — by a combined attach-and-mail method that affixes a copy to the main entrance of the dwelling and mails a copy. A landlord must use an authorized method; there is no valid “just email it” or “just text it” option.
| Method | How it works | Timing note |
|---|---|---|
| Personal delivery | Hand the notice directly to the tenant | Cleanest proof; no added days |
| First class mail | Mail a copy to the tenant at the premises | Add three days to the notice period for mailing |
| Attach and mail | Affix a copy to the main entrance AND mail a copy — only if the rental agreement authorizes it | Follow the agreement’s terms; keep a dated record |
The method matters to the calendar. When a notice is served by first class mail, Oregon treats the period as extended by three days to account for the mailing, so a 10-day nonpayment notice mailed to the tenant should be counted as 13 days before the landlord acts. The attach-and-mail method is only available when the written rental agreement provides for it; a landlord who taped a notice to the door without that contractual authority, or without also mailing, has arguably not served the notice at all. Personal delivery, with a dated record of who served it and when, is the strongest and simplest approach.
Keep a record of service
Whoever serves the notice should record who was served, how, when, and where, and keep a copy of the notice itself. Without that record, the landlord may be unable to prove the notice period ever started — and an unprovable service is a losing one. Personal delivery documented in writing is the strongest record; a mailed notice should be logged with the mailing date so the three-day addition is easy to prove.
Takeaway
Serve by personal delivery, first class mail, or attach-and-mail where the lease allows it. Mail service adds three days to the notice period, and attach-and-mail requires contractual authority. Email or text alone is not valid service. Always keep a dated record of how and when the notice was delivered.
What Makes a Notice Valid
Beyond picking the right notice and serving it correctly, the notice’s content has to be right. A valid Oregon eviction notice is a written document — never oral — and, depending on type, generally includes the following.
| Required element | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Tenant name(s) and property address | Identifies who is being noticed and which unit; a wrong name or address can void the notice |
| The exact reason and ground | Nonpayment, the specific curable violation, or the qualifying landlord reason — stated with enough detail to respond or cure |
| Amount due and cure date (nonpayment) | The precise past-due rent, plus the exact date and time by which the tenant must pay to cure under section 90.394 |
| The correct deadline and timing | The right number of days for the notice type, and, for nonpayment, service no earlier than the fifth or eighth day |
| Relocation and reason (year-one-plus no-cause) | For a qualifying-reason termination, the stated reason and, for covered landlords, the one-month relocation payment |
| Date and signature | The date of the notice and the signature of the landlord or authorized agent |
For a nonpayment notice, the payment details are not optional boilerplate — the statute requires the exact amount due and the date and time by which the tenant must pay to cure. Overstating the rent, or failing to state a clear cure deadline, can undercut the notice. For a for-cause notice, the violation must be described specifically enough that the tenant knows precisely what to fix within the cure window. And for a qualifying-reason termination after year one, omitting the reason or the required relocation payment is as fatal as an oral notice.
Takeaway
A valid notice is written, names the tenant and address, states the exact ground, and — for nonpayment — demands the precise rent due with a clear date and time to pay to cure. For a year-one-plus termination it must state a qualifying reason and include any required relocation. Vague grounds, an overstated amount, bad timing, or a missing relocation payment each void the notice.
After the Notice: The Forcible Entry and Detainer Lawsuit
If the notice period expires and the tenant has not paid, cured, or moved out, the landlord’s next — and only — lawful step is to file a forcible entry and detainer action, Oregon’s summary eviction lawsuit, commonly called an FED. A landlord cannot skip this step or substitute self-help for it. The FED is filed in the circuit court for the county where the property is located, under Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 105.
File the complaint
After the notice period runs, the landlord files an FED complaint in the circuit court for the county, attaching or referencing the termination notice. The clerk sets a first appearance date.
Serve the summons and complaint
The court mails the summons and complaint, and a process server delivers them at the premises — personally, or by securely attaching them to the main entrance if the tenant is unavailable.
First appearance
The first appearance is generally seven days after the judicial day following payment of the filing fee, or fifteen days for a nonpayment case under section 90.394. The tenant appears to resolve the case or set it for trial.
Trial or resolution
If the tenant disputes the eviction, the court sets a trial where the landlord must prove every element — the correct notice, proper timing, and the ground. If the tenant does not appear, the landlord may seek a default judgment.
Judgment and writ of execution
If the landlord prevails, the court issues a judgment of restitution and a writ. The sheriff — not the landlord — then serves and executes the writ to restore possession.
Only the sheriff can remove a tenant
A judgment of restitution does not let the landlord change the locks personally. The court issues a writ to the sheriff, who serves it and then, if the tenant has not left, physically restores possession to the landlord. The landlord takes possession only after the sheriff has executed the writ. Any shortcut around this is an illegal self-help eviction under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.375.
Nonpayment cases get a longer first appearance
The timeline is not uniform. For most FED claims the first appearance is set about seven days out, but a claim brought for nonpayment under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.394 is set roughly fifteen days after the judicial day following the filing fee. A landlord who assumes a single fixed timeline may miscalendar the first appearance; confirm the date the clerk actually sets.
Takeaway
After the notice expires, the only lawful path is a forcible entry and detainer in circuit court under Chapter 105. The clerk sets a first appearance — about seven days out, or fifteen for nonpayment. If the landlord wins, the court issues a judgment and a writ the sheriff executes — the landlord never removes a tenant personally.
Retaliation and Tenant Defenses
Even a landlord with a real ground can lose if the eviction runs into a tenant defense. Two categories matter most: retaliation, and the notice and timing defects this guide has stressed throughout.
Retaliation Is Prohibited Under Section 90.385
Under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.385, a landlord may not terminate a tenancy, raise the rent, or decrease services in retaliation because a tenant exercised a protected right. Protected activities include complaining to a government agency about a building, health, or housing code violation, making a good-faith complaint to the landlord about the tenancy, organizing or joining a tenants’ union or similar organization, testifying against the landlord in a proceeding, or successfully defending a prior eviction within the last six months. A tenant may raise retaliation as a defense in the FED action, and may recover the same remedies available for an unlawful ouster. Timing an eviction right after a tenant complaint is one of the easiest ways to lose an otherwise valid case.
The Common Tenant Defenses
- Defective or premature notice. Wrong notice type, wrong days, a nonpayment notice served before rent was legally late, an overstated amount, or an oral notice — each is a complete defense.
- Improper or unprovable service. Service that does not use an authorized method, or that the landlord cannot document, defeats the case; a mailed notice that ignored the three added days fails too.
- Payment or cure made in time. If the tenant paid the full rent or cured the violation within the notice period, the grounds evaporate; receipts and records win.
- Missing relocation or reason. A year-one-plus termination that omits a qualifying reason, or that fails to pay the required one-month relocation, is defective.
- Retaliation. A termination that follows a protected tenant activity is prohibited under section 90.385 and can be raised as a defense.
- Habitability. A landlord’s failure to maintain a habitable unit can be raised as a defense in a nonpayment case and may offset what is owed.
- Filed too early. Filing the FED before the notice period fully expired, including any added mailing days, is grounds for dismissal.
Showing up is the tenant’s biggest lever
The fastest path to a landlord judgment is a tenant who never appears — a default. A tenant who appears at the first appearance and contests the case forces the landlord to prove every element and opens the door to all of these defenses. For landlords, the lesson is the mirror image: assume the tenant will appear and contest, and make sure the notice, its timing, and the service are flawless.
Takeaway
Retaliation is prohibited under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.385, and defective or premature notice, bad service, timely payment or cure, a missing relocation payment, and habitability are all live defenses. The landlord’s best protection is a correctly timed, flawless notice and provable service.
Local Rules and the Rent-Increase Cap
Oregon’s just-cause framework is statewide, but state law is a floor, not always the ceiling. Some cities layer additional requirements on top of the statute, and a separate rent-increase cap sits alongside the eviction rules and is easy to confuse with them.
Local Ordinances Such as Portland’s
Cities such as Portland add their own renter protections on top of state law, including expanded relocation assistance obligations for certain no-cause and qualifying-reason terminations and for large rent increases, along with documentation and filing rules. When a local ordinance is more protective than the state statute, the local rule controls. Before serving any notice on a unit in Portland or another city with its own renter-protection code, confirm the local relocation amounts and filing steps for that specific address.
The Rent-Increase Cap Is a Rent Rule, Not an Eviction Rule
Oregon caps most annual rent increases, but that cap governs rent, not eviction. Senate Bill 608 originally set the cap at seven percent plus inflation. Senate Bill 611, enacted in 2023, amended Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.323 so the maximum annual increase is now the lower of ten percent or seven percent plus the consumer price index, calculated and published each year by the Department of Administrative Services. For the current year the figure sits at roughly nine and a half percent. The cap does not by itself authorize or prevent an eviction, but a rent increase that exceeds the cap, or that is used to push a tenant out, can support an unlawful-increase or retaliation claim. It is included here only as context; verify the current year’s figure before raising rent.
Check the ordinance for the exact address
Local coverage can vary by city and even by building age, and a notice that satisfies state law can still violate a local ordinance. Before serving any notice on a unit inside a city with its own renter-protection code, confirm the local requirements for that specific address — the relocation amounts, any filing or documentation steps, and any additional notice language.
Takeaway
Oregon just cause is statewide, but cities such as Portland add larger relocation and filing rules on top, and the more protective rule controls. The separate rent-increase cap under Senate Bill 611 — the lower of ten percent or seven percent plus inflation — is a rent rule, not an eviction rule. Verify the local ordinance and the current cap figure for the exact address.
No Self-Help: Lockouts Are Illegal
One rule admits no exceptions: in Oregon, a landlord may never remove a tenant by self-help, no matter how far behind the rent is or how egregious the conduct. Under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.375, a landlord may not remove or exclude a tenant, change the locks, or willfully shut off or diminish water, heat, electricity, or other essential services in order to force a move.
The penalties are steep and personal to the landlord. A tenant who is unlawfully ousted, excluded, or has essential services cut may recover an amount up to two months of periodic rent or twice the actual damages, whichever is greater, and may obtain a court order restoring possession or terminate the rental agreement and recover the security deposit and prepaid rent. A self-help lockout can turn a routine, winnable eviction into a lawsuit the landlord loses — and pays for. The only lawful way to remove a tenant is the FED court process ending in a sheriff-executed writ.
Takeaway
Self-help eviction is illegal under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.375: no lock changes, no utility shutoffs, no exclusions. A tenant may recover up to two months’ rent or twice the actual damages, whichever is greater, plus restored possession. The only lawful removal is a sheriff-executed writ after an FED judgment.
The Oregon Landlord Playbook
Put the whole framework into a repeatable sequence and an eviction becomes a disciplined, winnable process instead of a gamble. Follow these steps every time.
Check the tenancy length and the ground first
Confirm whether the tenant has occupied the unit more or less than twelve months, because statewide just cause after a year changes what is allowed. Then decide whether this is nonpayment, a curable breach, a repeat violation, a first-year no-cause exit, or a qualifying-reason termination.
Pick the matching notice and confirm timing
Choose the 10 or 13-day pay-or-quit, the 30-day cure or 10-day repeat notice, the 30-day first-year no-cause, or the 90-day qualifying-reason termination. For nonpayment, do not serve before the fifth or eighth day of the rental period.
Get the content exact
State the tenant name, address, and precise ground. For nonpayment, demand only the rent actually due and state the exact date and time to pay to cure. For a year-one-plus termination, state the qualifying reason and arrange any required one-month relocation. Date and sign it.
Serve properly and count the days
Deliver personally with a dated record, or add three days if you mail it. Count the full notice period — and any cure window — and never file before the last day passes.
File the FED and let the sheriff execute
If the tenant does not pay, cure, or leave, file the forcible entry and detainer in circuit court, appear at the first appearance, and, if you prevail, let the sheriff execute the writ. Never resort to a lockout.
Need the notice itself?
A ready-to-fill notice keeps the required fields in place. See our free Oregon 10-day notice to pay rent or quit form, the Oregon notice to cure or quit, and the Oregon notice to vacate. Always tailor the details to your unit, confirm the tenancy length, and verify current law.
Defensible Versus Fatal: Common Scenarios
✓ Usually Defensible
- Correctly timed pay-or-quit. A 10-day notice served after the eighth day of the rental period, demanding only the past-due rent with an exact cure date, delivered personally.
- Specific for-cause cure. A 30-day notice naming the precise violation and giving at least 14 days to fix it, with the tenant failing to cure.
- Documented qualifying termination. A 90-day notice after year one stating an owner-move-in or sale-to-occupying-buyer reason, with one month relocation paid where required.
- Sheriff-executed writ. Waiting for the judgment of restitution and letting the sheriff execute the writ — never a personal lockout.
✕ Likely Fatal
- Premature nonpayment notice. Serving a 10-day pay-or-quit before the eighth day of the rental period, so the notice is void from the start.
- No-cause after year one. Trying to end a tenancy over twelve months with a bare no-cause notice, with no qualifying reason and no relocation.
- Mail without the extra days. Mailing a notice and filing without adding the three days Oregon requires for mail service.
- Self-help lockout. Changing the locks or shutting off utilities — illegal under section 90.375, with up to two months’ rent or double damages owed.
The Best Eviction Is the One You Never File
Most eviction disputes trace back to a tenant who showed red flags before move-in. Comprehensive credit, income, and eviction-history reports catch prior evictions and payment problems before you ever sign a lease.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days is an Oregon eviction notice for nonpayment of rent?
For a month-to-month or fixed-term tenancy, a landlord may serve either a 10-day notice to pay rent or quit, which cannot be delivered before the eighth day of the rental period, or a 13-day notice, which cannot be delivered before the fifth day of the rental period, under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.394. In both cases rent must already be at least that many days late before the notice can be issued, so a landlord cannot serve a nonpayment notice on the first or second day rent is missed. A week-to-week tenancy uses a shorter 72-hour notice that cannot be given before the fifth day of the rental period. The notice must state the exact amount due and the date and time by which the tenant must pay to cure. Always verify current law before serving.
Does Oregon require just cause to evict a tenant?
Yes, statewide, once a tenant has lived in the unit for more than 12 months. Senate Bill 608, enacted in 2019 and codified in Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.427, made Oregon the first state with statewide just cause. After the first year, a landlord may not end the tenancy without either a tenant-based cause, such as nonpayment or a lease violation, or one of four qualifying landlord reasons: the landlord or an immediate family member will move in, the landlord has accepted an offer from a buyer who will occupy the unit as a primary residence, the landlord intends to demolish or convert the unit to a non-residential use, or the landlord intends major repairs or renovations that make the unit unsafe to occupy during the work. A qualifying-landlord-reason termination needs a 90-day notice and, for most landlords, one month of relocation assistance. During the first 12 months a landlord may still give a 30-day no-cause notice.
What is the relocation assistance a landlord must pay under Oregon just cause?
When a landlord ends a tenancy after the first year for one of the qualifying landlord reasons under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.427, the landlord must pay the tenant relocation assistance equal to one month of the tenant’s rent, along with the 90-day written notice. There is an important exemption: a landlord who has an ownership interest in four or fewer residential dwelling units is not required to pay the one-month relocation amount, though that landlord must still give the 90-day notice and state a qualifying reason. The relocation payment is a condition of a valid no-cause-after-year-one termination for covered landlords, so failing to pay it can void the termination.
How much notice does an Oregon landlord give for a lease violation?
For a material violation of the rental agreement that can be fixed, the landlord serves a 30-day for-cause notice under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.392, and the tenant has at least 14 days from delivery to cure the violation. If the tenant cures within that window, the tenancy continues. If the tenant commits a substantially similar violation within six months of the first notice, the landlord may serve a 10-day notice with no right to cure, because the repeat conduct shows the first cure did not hold. The notice must describe the violation specifically enough that the tenant knows exactly what to correct.
How do you serve an eviction notice in Oregon?
Oregon allows a landlord to serve a termination notice by personal delivery to the tenant, by first class mail, or by a combined method that attaches a copy to the main entrance of the dwelling and mails a copy, when the rental agreement authorizes that attachment method. When a notice is served by mail alone, Oregon law adds three days to the notice period to account for mailing, so a landlord who mails a 10-day nonpayment notice should count 13 days before acting. The safest practice is personal delivery with a dated record of who served the notice, how, and when, because an unprovable service can defeat the eviction.
Can an Oregon landlord change the locks or shut off utilities to force a tenant out?
No. Self-help eviction is illegal in Oregon under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.375. A landlord may not remove or exclude a tenant, change the locks, or willfully shut off or diminish water, heat, electricity, or other essential services to force a move. A tenant who is unlawfully ousted or has essential services cut may recover up to two months of periodic rent or twice the actual damages, whichever is greater, and may obtain a court order restoring possession. The only lawful way to remove a tenant is a forcible entry and detainer judgment, after which the sheriff executes a writ of possession.
What is a forcible entry and detainer action in Oregon?
A forcible entry and detainer, often called an FED, is the eviction lawsuit an Oregon landlord files in the circuit court for the county where the property sits after a termination notice expires and the tenant has not paid, cured, or left. The court sets a first appearance, generally seven days after the judicial day following payment of the filing fee, or 15 days for a nonpayment case under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.394. At the first appearance the tenant either resolves the case, agrees to a schedule, or sets it for trial. If the landlord prevails, the court issues a judgment of restitution and a writ, and the sheriff, not the landlord, restores possession.
Can an Oregon landlord evict in retaliation?
No. Under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.385, a landlord may not terminate a tenancy, raise rent, or decrease services in retaliation because a tenant complained to a government agency about a building, health, or housing code violation, made a good-faith complaint to the landlord, organized or joined a tenants’ union, testified against the landlord, or successfully defended a prior eviction within the last six months. A tenant may raise retaliation as a defense in the FED action and may recover the same remedies available for an unlawful ouster. Retaliation is one of the strongest tenant defenses in an Oregon eviction case.
What makes an Oregon eviction notice defective?
Common fatal defects include using the wrong notice for the situation, serving a nonpayment notice before rent is actually late enough under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.394, stating the wrong number of days, demanding an amount that is more than the rent actually due, failing to state the exact amount and the date and time to pay to cure, an unsigned or undated notice, and serving by mail without adding the extra three days. In a just-cause-after-year-one termination, failing to state a qualifying landlord reason or failing to pay the required relocation assistance also voids the notice. An oral notice is never valid.
Can a landlord give a no-cause notice during the first year of an Oregon tenancy?
Yes. During the first 12 months of occupancy, Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.427 allows a landlord to end a month-to-month tenancy with a 30-day written no-cause notice, without stating a qualifying landlord reason and without paying relocation assistance. That window closes once the tenant has occupied the unit for more than one year; after that, statewide just cause applies and a no-cause removal is no longer available. A landlord who wants to end a first-year tenancy for no stated fault should serve the 30-day notice while the tenancy is still under one year and count the days carefully.
How much can rent go up in Oregon, and is that an eviction rule?
Oregon caps most annual rent increases, but that is a rent rule, not an eviction rule. Senate Bill 608 set the cap at 7 percent plus inflation, and Senate Bill 611 in 2023 amended Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.323 so the maximum is now the lower of 10 percent or 7 percent plus the consumer price index, calculated and published each year by the Department of Administrative Services. For 2026 the maximum is 9.5 percent. The cap does not by itself let or stop a landlord from evicting, but a rent increase that exceeds the cap or that is used to force a tenant out can support a retaliation or unlawful-increase claim. Verify the current year’s figure before raising rent.
Do local rules change Oregon eviction notices?
Yes, in some places. While Oregon’s just-cause and rent-stabilization framework is statewide, cities such as Portland layer additional requirements on top of state law, including mandatory relocation assistance for certain no-cause and qualifying-reason terminations and for large rent increases, plus notice-filing and documentation rules. When a local ordinance is more protective, it controls. Before serving any notice on a unit in Portland or another city with its own renter-protection code, confirm the local relocation amounts and filing steps for that specific address.
What is the safest way for an Oregon landlord to serve an eviction notice?
Pick the correct notice for the ground and confirm the tenancy’s length first, because statewide just cause after 12 months changes what is allowed. For nonpayment, wait until rent is late enough under Oregon Revised Statutes section 90.394, then demand only the rent actually due and state the exact date and time to pay to cure. Deliver the notice personally and keep a dated record, or add three days if you mail it. For a qualifying-reason termination after year one, state the reason, give 90 days, and pay any required relocation. Never resort to a lockout. A clean, correctly timed notice is the foundation of a winning FED case.
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