How Do I Get Rid of an Unwanted House Guest in Oregon?
Full Question:
Answer:
The issue of how the guest may be asked to leave may involve the question of whether the Oregon Landlord Tenant Act applies to you.
The Act, which contains certain protections in an eviction for a tenant, applies unless the renter has a "transient occupancy" in the hotel or motel. A "transient occupancy" is where: 1) rent is charged per day and is paid no later than every two weeks; 2) maid and linen service is provided at least once every two days; 3) the person has not lived there more than 30 days; and 4) the person who has lived there more than 5 days has a business address or a residence someplace else. All other people living in a hotel or motel are covered by the Landlord and Tenant Act.
According to Oregon law, "dwelling unit" means a structure or the part of a structure that is used as a home, residence or sleeping place by one person who maintains a household or by two or more persons who maintain a common household. "Dwelling unit" regarding a person who rents a space for a manufactured dwelling or recreational vehicle or regarding a person who rents moorage space for a floating home as defined in ORS 830.700 (Definitions for ORS 830.060 to 830.145 and 830.700 to 830.870), but does not rent the home, means the space rented and not the manufactured dwelling, recreational vehicle or floating home itself.
The landlord must go to court to force the tenant to leave. The landlord cannot change the locks, shut off the utilities, remove your furniture or take any other action outside the courthouse to force you to move.
There are only three ways that a landlord can get a rented place back legally:
- The tenant can move and return the keys to the landlord;
- The tenant can move away abandoning the unit without telling anyone of plans to come back; or
- The landlord can go to court and get an order, after a hearing, to have the sheriff force the tenant to move out.
A tenant without a written lease is generally considered a tenant-at-will and the amount of notice that must be given varies according to the reason for termination and length of tenancy. Typically, when rent is paid weekely, the tenant is considered a week-to-week tenant or month-to-month tenant if rent is paid once a month.
The landlord must hand-deliver the eviction notice, mail it to your address, or, in some cases, put the notice on the tenant’s door and mail the tenant a copy. If the notice is handed to the tenant, the notice period starts to run immediately. If it is mailed to the tenant, the landlord must add 3 days to length of notice time and state in the notice that three days have been added for mailing. If it is posted and mailed (24-hour and 72-hour notices where the written rental agreement allows this kind of service), the notice starts to run when the landlord mails the notice.
All eviction notices must be in writing.
The landlord will file a lawsuit called an FED, forcible entry and detainer. The sheriff or someone serving the court papers (FED Summons and FED Complaint) will hand them to whoever answers the door at your home or will tape them to the door and mail a copy later. The papers will tell the tenant when and where to appear for court for what is called first appearance. The date will be less than 7 days away in most counties.
Please see the following OR statutes to determine applicability:
90.392 Termination of rental agreement by landlord for cause; tenant
right to cure violation.
(1) Except as provided in this chapter, after delivery of written
notice a landlord may terminate the rental agreement for cause and take
possession as provided in ORS 105.105 to 105.168, unless the tenant
cures the violation as provided in this section.
(2) Causes for termination under this section are:
(a) Material violation by the tenant of the rental agreement. For
purposes of this paragraph, material violation of the rental agreement
includes, but is not limited to, the nonpayment of a late charge under
ORS 90.260 or a utility or service charge under ORS 90.315.
(b) Material violation by the tenant of ORS 90.325.
(c) Failure by the tenant to pay rent.
(3) The notice must:
(a) Specify the acts and omissions constituting the violation;
(b) Except as provided in subsection (5)(a) of this section, state that
the rental agreement will terminate upon a designated date not less
than 30 days after delivery of the notice; and
(c) If the tenant can cure the violation as provided in subsection (4)
of this section, state that the violation can be cured, describe at
least one possible remedy to cure the violation and designate the date
by which the tenant must cure the violation.
(4)(a) If the violation described in the notice can be cured by the
tenant by a change in conduct, repairs, payment of money or otherwise,
the rental agreement does not terminate if the tenant cures the
violation by the designated date. The designated date must be:
(A) At least 14 days after delivery of the notice; or
(B) If the violation is conduct that was a separate and distinct act or
omission and is not ongoing, no earlier than the date of delivery of the
notice as provided in ORS 90.155. For purposes of this paragraph,
conduct is ongoing if the conduct is constant or persistent or has been
sufficiently repetitive over time that a reasonable person would
consider the conduct to be ongoing.
(b) If the tenant does not cure the violation, the rental agreement
terminates as provided in the notice.
(5)(a) If the cause of a written notice delivered under subsection (1)
of this section is substantially the same act or omission that
constituted a prior violation for which notice was given under this
section within the previous six months, the designated termination date
stated in the notice must be not less than 10 days after delivery of the
notice and no earlier than the designated termination date stated in the
previously given notice. The tenant does not have a right to cure this
subsequent violation.
(b) A landlord may not terminate a rental agreement under this
subsection if the only violation is a failure to pay the current month's
rent.
(6) When a tenancy is a week-to-week tenancy, the notice period in:
(a) Subsection (3)(b) of this section changes from 30 days to
seven days;
(b) Subsection (4)(a)(A) of this section changes from 14 days to
four days; and
(c) Subsection (5)(a) of this section changes from 10 days to four
days.
(7) The termination of a tenancy for a manufactured dwelling or
floating home space in a facility under ORS 90.505 to 90.840 is governed
by ORS 90.630 and not by this section.
90.394 Termination of rental agreement for failure to pay rent.
The landlord may terminate the rental agreement for nonpayment of rent
and take possession as provided in ORS 105.105 to 105.168, as follows:
(1) When the tenancy is a week-to-week tenancy, by delivering to the
tenant at least 72 hours' written notice of nonpayment and the
landlord's intention to terminate the rental agreement if the rent is
not paid within that period. The landlord shall give this notice no
sooner than on the fifth day of the rental period, including the
first day the rent is due.
(2) For all tenancies other than week-to-week tenancies, by delivering
to the tenant:
(a) At least 72 hours' written notice of nonpayment and the landlord's
intention to terminate the rental agreement if the rent is not paid
within that period. The landlord shall give this notice no sooner than
on the eighth day of the rental period, including the first day the rent
is due; or
(b) At least 144 hours' written notice of nonpayment and the landlord's
intention to terminate the rental agreement if the rent is not paid
within that period. The landlord shall give this notice no sooner than
on the fifth day of the rental period, including the first day the rent
is due.
(3) The notice described in this section must also specify the amount
of rent that must be paid and the date and time by which the tenant must
pay the rent to cure the nonpayment of rent.
(4) Payment by a tenant who has received a notice under this section is
timely if mailed to the landlord within the period of the notice unless:
(a) The notice is served on the tenant:
(A) By personal delivery as provided in ORS 90.155 (1)(a); or
(B) By first class mail and attachment as provided in
ORS 90.155 (1)(c);
(b) A written rental agreement and the notice expressly state that
payment is to be made at a specified location that is either on the
premises or at a place where the tenant has made all previous rent
payments in person; and
(c) The place so specified is available to the tenant for payment
throughout the period of the notice.
90.427 Termination of periodic tenancies; landlord remedies for
tenant holdover.
(1) As used in this section, "first year of occupancy" includes all
periods in which any of the tenants has resided in the dwelling unit for
one year or less.
(2) If a tenancy is a week-to-week tenancy, the landlord or the tenant
may terminate the tenancy by a written notice given to the other at
least 10 days before the termination date specified in the notice.
(3) If a tenancy is a month-to-month tenancy:
(a) At any time during the tenancy, the tenant may terminate the
tenancy by giving the landlord notice in writing not less than 30 days
prior to the date designated in the notice for the termination of the
tenancy.
(b) At any time during the first year of occupancy, the landlord may
terminate the tenancy by giving the tenant notice in writing not less
than 30 days prior to the date designated in the notice for the
termination of the tenancy.
(c) At any time after the first year of occupancy, the landlord may
terminate the tenancy by giving the tenant notice in writing not less
than 60 days prior to the date designated in the notice for the
termination of the tenancy.
(4) If the tenancy is for a fixed term of at least one year and by its
terms becomes a month-to-month tenancy after the fixed term:
(a) At any time during the fixed term, notwithstanding subsection (3)
of this section, the landlord or the tenant may terminate the tenancy
without cause by giving the other notice in writing not less than 30
days prior to the specified ending date for the fixed term or not less
than 30 days prior to the date designated in the notice for the
termination of the tenancy, whichever is later.
(b) After the specified ending date for the fixed term, at any time
during the month-to-month tenancy, the landlord may terminate the
tenancy without cause only by giving the tenant notice in writing not
less than 60 days prior to the date designated in the notice for the
termination of the tenancy.
(5) Notwithstanding subsections (3)(c) and (4)(b) of this section, the
landlord may terminate a month-to-month tenancy at any time by giving
the tenant notice in writing not less than 30 days prior to the date
designated in the notice for the termination of the tenancy if:
(a) The dwelling unit is purchased separately from any other dwelling
unit;
(b) The landlord has accepted an offer to purchase the dwelling unit
from a person who intends in good faith to occupy the dwelling unit as
the person's primary residence; and
(c) The landlord has provided the notice, and written evidence of the
offer to purchase the dwelling unit, to the tenant not more
than 120 days after accepting the offer to purchase.
(6) The tenancy shall terminate on the date designated and without
regard to the expiration of the period for which, by the terms of the
tenancy, rents are to be paid. Unless otherwise agreed, rent is
uniformly apportionable from day to day.
(7) If the tenant remains in possession without the landlord's consent
after expiration of the term of the rental agreement or its termination,
the landlord may bring an action for possession. In addition, the
landlord may recover from the tenant any actual damages resulting from
the tenant holding over, including the value of any rent accruing from
the expiration or termination of the rental agreement until the landlord
knows or should know that the tenant has relinquished possession to the
landlord. If the landlord consents to the tenant's continued occupancy,
ORS 90.220 (8) applies.
(8)(a) A notice given to terminate a tenancy under subsection (2) or
(3) of this section need not state a reason for the termination.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, a landlord or
tenant may include in a notice of termination given under subsection (2)
or (3) of this section an explanation of the reason for the termination
without having to prove the reason. An explanation does not give the
person receiving the notice of termination a right to cure the reason if
the notice states that:
(A) The notice is given without stated cause;
(B) The recipient of the notice does not have a right to cure the
reason for the termination; and
(C) The person giving the notice need not prove the reason for the
termination in a court action.
(9) Subsections (2) to (5) of this section do not apply to
a month-to-month tenancy subject to ORS 90.429 or other tenancy created
by a rental agreement subject to ORS 90.505 to 90.840.
