What makes Oregon evictions different
Oregon treats nonpayment cases as their own track. The termination notice has to travel with a copy of the Judicial Department’s rental assistance notice (ORS 90.395), the first court date lands 15 days after filing instead of 7 (ORS 105.135), and a contested trial can’t be set sooner than 15 days after that (ORS 105.137). If the tenant tenders the full amount, including through a rental assistance program, the court dismisses the case.
Our page on Oregon landlord-tenant law explains the just-cause rules after the first year, deposits and rent caps.
Oregon eviction notices for each situation
The notice period depends on the reason. Each notice must be in writing and served by a method ORS 90.155 allows.
- Nonpayment: at least 10 days’ notice served no sooner than the 8th day of the rental period, or at least 13 days’ notice served no sooner than the 5th (ORS 90.394(2)). The notice must state the amount owed and the date and time by which the tenant must pay (90.394(3)).
- Other lease violations: 30 days’ notice naming the violation (ORS 90.392). If it can be cured, the notice must describe a cure and give at least 14 days to complete it. A substantially similar violation within six months allows a 10-day notice with no cure.
- Serious conduct: 24 hours’ notice for threats or infliction of substantial personal injury, reckless endangerment, intentional substantial damage to the premises, certain false application statements, or acts outrageous in the extreme, such as drug manufacture or delivery, burglary or a bias crime (ORS 90.396).
- No-cause: allowed only in the first year of occupancy, on 30 days’ notice (ORS 90.427(3)(b)). After that you need tenant cause or a qualifying landlord reason with 90 days’ notice and, for most landlords, one month’s rent. A wrongful termination costs three months’ rent plus actual damages (90.427(9)).
Serving notices: the 3-day mail rule
Personal delivery is the cleanest method. First-class mail is allowed, but it adds three days to the notice period, and the notice itself has to include those days (ORS 90.155(2)). Mail-and-attach service, a copy mailed plus a copy secured to the main entrance, is allowed only if the written lease provides for it both ways.
Payment rules matter as much as service. A tenant who mails payment within the notice period has paid on time unless you served personally or by mail-and-attach and the lease and notice name an in-person payment location (90.394(4)). Taking partial rent after a nonpayment notice waives it unless you sign a written non-waiver agreement with the tenant (ORS 90.417(4)).
The rental assistance notice in nonpayment cases
For any termination for nonpayment, which covers rent, late fees, utility charges and other fees but not damages, you must deliver a copy of the notice the Judicial Department posts under ORS 105.136 with the termination notice and again with the summons (ORS 90.395(2)). The court must dismiss if you skip it, if you caused the tenant not to pay, including by failing to reasonably work with an assistance program, or if the full amount owed under the notice is tendered (90.395(3)).
If the tenant pays after you file and the case is dismissed for that reason, the tenant gets no prevailing party fees, and you may charge the tenant your filing fee (90.395(4), (5)).
Filing in circuit court and serving the summons
File a residential eviction complaint in the circuit court for the county where the building is, on the form in ORS 105.124, and attach the notice you relied on. The clerk sets the first appearance: 7 days after the judicial day following payment of the filing fee, or 15 days for a nonpayment claim, and can push it up to 7 more days when a judge isn’t available (ORS 105.135(2)).
By the end of the next judicial day after filing, the clerk mails the summons and complaint to the tenant, and a process server delivers them at the unit or, if no one is available, secures them to the main entrance (105.135(3)). For nonpayment claims, the clerk includes the rental assistance notice with the summons.
First appearance, default and trial
At the first appearance you get a default judgment for possession only if the tenant doesn’t appear, the complaint is sufficient, and you testify or file a sworn declaration that you don’t know of the tenant giving back possession and reasonably believe the tenant is still there (ORS 105.137(1)).
If both sides appear and haven’t settled, the judge sets trial. Nonpayment trials go no earlier than 15 and no later than 30 days after the appearance; other claims go as soon as practicable and within 15 days (105.137(6)). If trial slips for reasons that aren’t yours, the court can order the tenant to pay accruing rent into court.
One cost point: attorney fees can’t be awarded to the landlord when the tenant doesn’t contest the case (105.137(3)). Budget your lawyer as an unrecovered cost on a default.
Notice of restitution and the sheriff’s writ
Winning doesn’t move anyone yet. You ask the clerk for a notice of restitution, which gives the tenant four days to move out with their belongings (ORS 105.151). A sheriff or qualifying process server mails it and serves it at the unit by the end of the next judicial day (105.158). The four days start at 12:01 a.m. the day after service, and if the fourth day is a weekend or holiday the period ends the day before the next judicial day (105.159(1)).
After the four days, the clerk issues a writ of execution and the sheriff serves it with an eviction trespass notice and returns possession by removing the occupants (105.161). You must request the notice and writ within 60 days of judgment, the sheriff must serve the writ within 30 days of issue, and accepting rent for a period after judgment or signing a new lease makes the judgment unenforceable. After removal, you handle any property left behind under ORS 105.165.
Self-help and retaliation in Oregon
A lockout, or cutting heat, water or power to push a tenant out, lets the tenant recover possession or end the lease and collect up to two months’ rent or twice actual damages, whichever is greater (ORS 90.375).
ORS 90.385 bars retaliation by a rent increase, cut in services, termination notice or eviction filing after a tenant complains in good faith, joins a tenants’ union, testifies against you or exercises a legal right. It also protects a tenant who beat an eviction case within the past six months, unless the win was only over defective service or too short a notice.
Federal overlays
If your mortgage is federally backed, such as a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA loan, or the property is in a covered federal program, the CARES Act may require 30 days’ notice to vacate (15 U.S.C. 9058(c)). The 120-day moratorium expired in 2020, but the 30-day language is still in the statute and courts have split on it, so the safer course at a covered property is to give 30 days.
Before a default judgment, file a military status declaration under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3931).
Oregon eviction timeline at a glance
Minimum statutory path for a nonpayment case, assuming personal service and no deadline landing on a weekend or holiday.
| Step | Deadline | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Serve 13-day or 10-day notice | Day 5 or day 8 of the rental period | ORS 90.394(2) |
| Deliver rental assistance notice | With the termination notice and summons | ORS 90.395(2) |
| Add time for first-class mail | 3 extra days | ORS 90.155(2) |
| File complaint; clerk mails summons | After notice expires; mailing by next judicial day | ORS 105.124, 105.135(3) |
| First appearance (nonpayment) | 15 days after judicial day following filing fee | ORS 105.135(2) |
| Trial if contested (nonpayment) | 15 to 30 days after first appearance | ORS 105.137(6) |
| Notice of restitution | 4 days to move out | ORS 105.151, 105.159 |
| Request notice and writ | Within 60 days of judgment | ORS 105.159(3) |
| Sheriff serves and enforces writ | Immediately; writ expires in 30 days | ORS 105.161 |
Worked example: what the minimum timeline costs
Assume a two-bedroom in a 16-unit building in Salem rents for $1,600 a month, due on the 1st. You serve a 13-day notice by hand on day 5; it expires at the end of day 18. You file on day 19, the next judicial day is day 20, and the first appearance falls on day 35. The tenant doesn’t appear, the notice of restitution is served on day 36, the four days run through day 40, and the sheriff enforces the writ on day 41.
That is 41 days without rent: $2,186.67. With an assumed $1,500 for your lawyer and filing, which you can’t recover on a default, the total is $3,686.67. If the tenant appears and asks for trial, the earliest nonpayment trial is day 50 and possession comes on day 56, which runs lost rent to $2,986.67 and the total to $4,486.67.
| Scenario | Days to possession | Lost rent | Total with assumed legal cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Default at first appearance | 41 | $2,186.67 | $3,686.67 |
| Contested, earliest trial | 56 | $2,986.67 | $4,486.67 |
Alternatives to an Oregon eviction
A written payment agreement fits Oregon’s rules well. Partial payments taken under a signed non-waiver agreement keep your notice alive, and the agreement can let you proceed without a new notice if the tenant misses the balance (ORS 90.417(4)(b)).
Cash for keys is often cheaper than the 41 to 56 days above. Put the terms in writing and pay at key handover.
Selling an Oregon building during an eviction
An Oregon building can change hands with a case pending. The buyer steps into the leases and can take over the case or start fresh after closing, but a new owner who accepts rent for a period after judgment can’t enforce that judgment, so coordinate rent collection with the closing date.
Sell your Oregon apartment building to Skyline
Skyline Capital Investments buys apartment buildings with five or more units throughout Oregon, including occupied buildings and ones with problem tenants or a pending eviction. Send the address and unit count through the form on this page or call (469) 660-2977. We typically respond within 48 hours.
