Oregon is one of the few states where the delivery method changes the deadline and the deadline has to be written into the document. It is also a state where the Supreme Court has held that getting the rent figure wrong invalidates the notice. Both details are easy to miss and expensive to miss.
Start an OR Notice — $49.99 See all 50 statesThe table paraphrases commonly cited residential notice periods under ORS Chapter 90. It is background information, not a determination that any of these applies to your tenancy.
| Situation | What the statute describes | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Nonpayment — tenancies other than week-to-week (option A) | At least 10 days' written notice of nonpayment and the landlord's intention to terminate, given no sooner than the eighth day of the rental period, counting the first day rent is due | ORS 90.394(2)(a) |
| Nonpayment — tenancies other than week-to-week (option B) | At least 13 days' written notice on the same terms, given no sooner than the fifth day of the rental period | ORS 90.394(2)(b) |
| Nonpayment — week-to-week tenancy | At least 72 hours' written notice, given no sooner than the fifth day of the rental period | ORS 90.394(1) |
| Contents of a nonpayment notice | Must specify the amount of rent that must be paid and the date and time by which the tenant must pay to cure | ORS 90.394(3) |
| For-cause violation, curable | Termination date not less than 30 days after delivery, with at least 14 days to cure (7 days and 4 days for week-to-week) | ORS 90.392 |
| Substantially the same violation recurs within six months | Termination date not less than 10 days after delivery, and no right to cure the repeat violation | ORS 90.392 |
| Specified serious acts or omissions | Termination 24 hours after notice | ORS 90.396 |
| No-cause termination, fixed term ending within the first year of occupancy | Not less than 30 days' written notice | ORS 90.427 |
| After the first year of occupancy | No general no-cause route; termination requires a qualifying landlord reason, at least 90 days' notice, and payment of one month's periodic rent as relocation assistance, with an exemption for landlords owning four or fewer residential dwelling units | ORS 90.427(5)–(6) |
ORS 90.155(1) lists the methods by which written notice under Chapter 90 is served or delivered:
USPS Certified Mail is an extra service added to a First-Class Mail article rather than a separate class of mail. Whether a Certified Mail piece counts as "first class mail" for purposes of ORS 90.155(1)(b), and what period must then be stated in the notice, is a legal question about your notice in your case. We do not answer it and we will not imply that any product of ours satisfies the statute. Ask an Oregon attorney before you rely on a method. ORS 90.155(3) does allow a party to use alternative methods of notifying the other in addition to one of the listed methods — which is a fair description of what a tracked mailing adds, and not a substitute for getting the listed method right.
In Hickey v. Scott, 370 Or 97 (2022), the Oregon Supreme Court held that a notice of termination that inaccurately specified the amount of rent due that was required to cure the nonpayment was invalid. Some states expressly forgive a misstated figure. Oregon, on this authority, does not. ORS 90.394(3) requires the notice to specify the amount that must be paid and the date and time by which the tenant must pay — and the case law puts real weight on getting that number right.
That is also why we ask you to supply the figures rather than calculating them for you. We format what you give us. Late fees, utility charges, partial payments, and prior credits are precisely the kind of arithmetic that turns into a dismissal, and they are questions for you and your attorney, not for a mailing service.
Oregon's 2023 legislation added ORS 90.395, which requires delivery of a notice about rental assistance and support services — a document the Judicial Department posts under ORS 105.136 — in connection with a possession case based on nonpayment. The statute provides that a court shall dismiss a nonpayment-based possession complaint if the landlord failed to deliver that notice as required. It is a separate document from your termination notice, and practitioners do not all describe the timing the same way. Confirm with your court and your attorney what has to be delivered, and when.
Oregon sharply restricted no-cause terminations. Within the first year of occupancy, a landlord may end a month-to-month tenancy without cause on at least 30 days' written notice, and a fixed term ending within that first year can be ended on not less than 30 days' notice. After the first year, there is no general no-cause route: the termination must rest on a qualifying landlord reason listed in ORS 90.427(5) — commonly summarized as demolition or conversion, major repairs or renovations that make the unit unsafe to occupy, landlord or family move-in, or a sale to a buyer who will occupy the unit — with at least 90 days' written notice and payment of one month's periodic rent as relocation assistance. A landlord who owns four or fewer residential dwelling units is generally exempt from the relocation payment.
Whether your reason qualifies, what the notice must state about it, and whether the exemption applies to your holdings are legal determinations. Getting the reason wrong is not a formatting error — it goes to whether the termination is lawful at all.
For tenancies other than week-to-week, ORS 90.394(2) gives the landlord a choice: at least 10 days' notice given no 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 use a 72-hour notice given no sooner than the fifth day. If the notice is served by first class mail, ORS 90.155(2) extends the minimum period by three days and requires the notice to include the extension.
Only for week-to-week tenancies. House Bill 2001, effective March 29, 2023, replaced the 72-hour and 144-hour periods for other tenancies with the 10-day and 13-day options now in ORS 90.394(2). Templates and guides that still describe a 72-hour notice for a month-to-month tenancy are describing repealed law.
ORS 90.155(1) lists personal delivery, first class mail, mail-and-attachment under a qualifying written rental agreement, and email under a qualifying addendum. Certified Mail is an extra service on a First-Class Mail article rather than its own class. Whether that satisfies subsection (1)(b) for your notice — and what period the notice must then state — is a legal question we do not answer. Consult an Oregon attorney.
ORS 90.394 describes written notice of the nonpayment and of the landlord's intention to terminate if the rent is not paid within the period, and subsection (3) requires the notice to specify the amount of rent that must be paid and the date and time by which the tenant must pay to cure. Hickey v. Scott holds that an inaccurate amount invalidates the notice. Whether your notice states these items correctly is a legal judgment.
Within the first year of occupancy, ORS 90.427 describes a no-cause termination on at least 30 days' written notice. After the first year, the termination generally requires a qualifying landlord reason under subsection (5), at least 90 days' notice, and one month's rent in relocation assistance unless the landlord owns four or fewer residential dwelling units.
ORS 90.160 provides that day-based periods are calculated in consecutive calendar days, not including the day of service, and including the last day until 11:59 p.m. Hour-based periods generally run in consecutive clock hours from service, with a specific rule for termination notices served by mail-and-attachment or mail-and-email. Confirm the computation for your notice with counsel.
Local governments in Oregon have adopted their own tenant-protection measures, and Portland in particular has relocation-assistance and notice ordinances that operate alongside state law. A notice that satisfies ORS Chapter 90 can still run into a city requirement. Check the rules for the city where the property sits before you send.
In Oregon, once the notice period has run without cure, a landlord seeking possession files a residential eviction (FED) action under ORS 105.105 to 105.168. Self-help removal is not available. A USPS record of what was sent, when, and to what address — or photo and GPS documentation of an attended delivery — is a form of delivery documentation commonly referenced in landlord-tenant filings. It matters more than usual in Oregon because the delivery method determines the deadline: if the record of how the notice went out is unclear, so is the date the notice was required to state. Whether any particular court accepts a given record, and whether your notice, its amount, its date, and its delivery are correct, are matters for the landlord and the landlord's attorney to evaluate.
EvictServe is not a law firm, does not practice law, and does not give legal advice. We provide a self-service document-and-mail tool. Because Oregon ties the deadline to the delivery method and treats a misstated rent figure as fatal, we suggest having an Oregon-licensed attorney confirm your amount, your method, and your termination date before the notice goes out.
ORS 90.394 (Termination of tenancy for failure to pay rent) — OregonLaws · FindLaw
ORS 90.155 (Service or delivery of written notice) — OregonLaws
ORS 90.160 (Calculation of periods or notices) — OregonLaws
ORS 90.392 (Termination of tenancy for cause; tenant right to cure) — OregonLaws · Justia
ORS 90.395 (Required delivery of notice of rental assistance and support services) — OregonLaws · Justia
ORS 90.427 (Termination of tenancy without tenant cause) — OregonLaws · FindLaw
ORS Chapter 90, official text — Oregon Legislative Assembly
HB 2001 (2023), summary of the new nonpayment rules — City of Portland Housing Bureau
Oregon State Bar, New Rules for Landlords — osbar.org
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