Common Mistakes Mom and Pop Landlords Make

Oregon's landlord/tenant laws are unfavorable to landlords. "Common sense" is irrelevant and won't protect a well-intentioned landlord. As Oregon laws evolve rapidly, landlords must stay informed.

This is not a comprehensive list, but rather a collection of frequent errors I observe landlords making, which can be quite expensive... extremely expensive.

Return of a Security Deposit. This procedure is governed by Oregon statute ORS 90.300. In essence, within 31 days after a tenant leaves a residence, the landlord is REQUIRED to provide a final accounting and return any unused or unclaimed security deposit to the tenant. If a landlord unjustly retains the deposit or fails to deliver an appropriate final accounting, the tenant may recover up to twice the amount wrongfully withheld or the security deposit amount.

Abandoned personal property. This procedure is governed by Oregon statute ORS 90.425. When a tenant vacates or is evicted, you CANNOT simply dispose of their personal belongings. The tenant must be informed that their personal property was left behind, given details on how to contact the landlord to retrieve their belongings, and notified that the landlord will dispose of the property by a specified date. There is a significant amount of information to include in an abandoned property letter/notice. Additionally, the letter/notice must be personally delivered; or mailed to the premises, to any known PO box held by the tenant, and to the tenant's forwarding address if provided by the tenant or known by the landlord. You cannot just send a letter to one location. If you do not personally serve the tenant, you must mail to all three locations, if applicable, or you risk being liable for the personal property.

Defective notice. This is a common reason landlords fail in eviction attempts. There are various ways a notice can be defective, such as incorrect calculation of the cure or move-out period, improper delivery or serving of the notice to the tenant, untimely issuance (for example, issuing the notice before the expiration of the late rent "grace" period), or issuing a wrongful "no cause" notice when the tenant is protected due to the length of tenancy. A newer frequent error is omitting a statement about assistance for military veterans. ORS 408.515 mandates that a termination notice and certain other documents must include "A statement that if the recipient is a veteran of the armed forces, assistance may be available from a county veterans’ service officer or community action agency"; and "Contact information for a service officer appointed under ORS 408.410 (Appointment of county service officer) for the county in which the recipient lives and contact information for a community action agency that serves the area where the recipient lives; or A statement that contact information for a local county veterans’ service officer and community action agency may be obtained by calling a 2-1-1 information service." I have witnessed an otherwise valid and legal eviction be overturned because the landlord omitted this statement in the notice/letter.

In summary, it's beneficial to have someone experienced assist with your notices or eviction processes. The cost of hiring an expert to handle the notices will be worthwhile if it prevents even one eviction from being overturned. Did I mention legal fees? Yes, if you lose you will pay your tenants legal fees.