Oregon Eviction Process: Notice Periods, Timeline, and Costs

ORS 90.394 requires at least 10 days' written notice of nonpayment, which may not be given sooner than the eighth day of the rental period, or at least 13 days' notice given no sooner than the fifth day. Week-to-week tenancies get 72 hours. The notice must state the amount of rent owed and the date and time by which payment will cure the default. Service must follow ORS 90.155 — personal delivery, first class mail (which adds three days to the period), or the attachment-and-mailing method if the rental agreement allows it — and payment mailed within the notice period is generally timely.

Under ORS 90.392 a for-cause termination notice must state a termination date not less than 30 days after delivery and give the tenant a cure date at least 14 days after delivery; if the tenant cures, the tenancy continues. If the violation is substantially the same act or omission as one you noticed within the previous six months, ORS 90.392(5) removes the right to cure and the notice period drops to 10 days. Separate statutes govern serious threats and manufactured dwelling parks.

During the first year of occupancy ORS 90.427 allows a no-cause termination of a month-to-month tenancy on 30 days' written notice. After the first year you may no longer terminate without cause: you need a qualifying landlord reason (demolition or conversion, repairs that make the unit unsafe to occupy, occupancy by the landlord or an immediate family member, or an accepted purchase offer from a buyer who will live there) with 90 days' notice, plus a relocation payment of one month's rent unless you have an ownership interest in four or fewer residential dwelling units. Landlords living in one unit of a two-unit property get relaxed rules, and since S.B. 586 (2025) a sale-based termination can be 60 days if the tenant is paid one month's rent.

Residential evictions (FED actions) are filed in the circuit court for the county where the property is located, and ORS 105.130 sets the filing fee at $88. Add sheriff or process server fees for service of the summons and later for the notice of restitution.

There is no pre-hearing answer deadline. The summons sets a first appearance roughly 7 to 15 days after filing, and if the tenant appears and disputes the case the court sets trial within 15 days and directs the tenant to file a written answer and serve it on the landlord that same day. A tenant who does not appear is defaulted; a landlord who does not appear has the case dismissed with costs against them.

An uncontested nonpayment case usually runs 4 to 6 weeks: 10-day notice, filing, first appearance in about 7-15 days, judgment, then a notice of restitution and sheriff lockout. A tenant who appears and demands trial, a mandatory mediation referral, or a case where rental assistance is pending can add several weeks.

Lockouts, utility shutoffs and removing a tenant's belongings without a court judgment are unlawful in Oregon. ORS 90.375 lets an ousted tenant get injunctive relief to recover possession, or terminate the tenancy, and in either case recover up to two months' periodic rent or twice actual damages, whichever is greater, plus the return of deposits and prepaid rent. Improper notice violations under ORS 90.427 carry their own penalty of three months' rent plus actual damages, so an invalid termination notice is expensive as well as ineffective.

S.B. 586 (2025), effective September 26, 2025, allows a 60-day termination notice instead of 90 days when a rental dwelling is sold, provided the tenant receives an amount equal to one month's periodic rent. The 10-day and 13-day nonpayment notice periods date from the 2023 amendments to ORS 90.394 and replaced the old 72-hour and 144-hour notices.

Oregon's nonpayment notice is one of the most-misreported rules in the country: many templates and aggregator sites still show a 72-hour or 144-hour notice, which was replaced in 2023. Use 10 days (or 13), and do not date the notice before the eighth day of the rental period. Owning four or fewer units exempts you from the relocation payment but not from the 90-day notice or the qualifying-reason requirement after the first year of occupancy. Portland adds its own layer under City Code 30.01.085: 90 days' notice for no-cause terminations and relocation assistance of roughly $2,900 to $4,500 depending on unit size, with a narrow exemption for landlords renting a single unit in the city. Milwaukie and other cities have similar ordinances, so check local code before serving anything.

• Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.394
• Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.392
• Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.427