How to Evict a Family Member in Oregon: Notice, FED Filing, and Writ

To evict a family member in Oregon, you have to use the court system, even if the person never signed a lease, never paid a dime, and is your own relative. That means serving the correct written notice, and if they still won’t leave, filing a Forcible Entry and Detainer (FED) case in the circuit court for the county where the home is located. Changing the locks, cutting off utilities, or moving their belongings to the curb is illegal and can cost you money in court. From the day you serve notice to the day the sheriff removes someone, the process usually runs several weeks to a few months.

Is Your Family Member a Tenant or a Guest?

This is the first thing to nail down, because it controls how much notice you owe and how long the process takes.

Under Oregon’s Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (ORLTA), a tenant is anyone occupying a home under a rental agreement, written or spoken.¹ If the family member pays you regularly, or you had a verbal arrangement about them living there in exchange for money or services, a court will almost certainly treat them as a tenant. Even contributions toward groceries or utilities can create an implied tenancy.

A pure houseguest with no agreement about rent or ongoing occupancy is a licensee, and ORLTA doesn’t apply. But courts look at reality, not labels. If your cousin has paid you $400 a month for two years, no judge is going to accept that they’re “just visiting.” When there’s any doubt, treat the person as a tenant and give the longer notice. The downside of overdelivering notice is nothing; the downside of underdelivering is losing your case and starting over.

Do Not Try to Remove Them Yourself

Oregon prohibits self-help evictions. You cannot change the locks, remove doors, shut off heat or electricity, box up belongings, or take any other step designed to force someone out without a court order. If you do, the person can sue you for up to two months’ rent or double their actual damages, whichever is greater, and get a court order putting them back in the home.² It does not matter that they never paid rent or never signed anything.

Calling the police won’t get around this. Officers will almost always tell you it’s a civil matter and refuse to remove someone who has been living in the home. The only lawful path runs through the circuit court.

Serve the Right Written Notice

Everything starts with a written notice to vacate. The type of notice, and how many days you must give, depend on the person’s status and your reason for ending the occupancy.

Month-to-Month Tenants in the First Year

If the family member is a month-to-month tenant and has been in the home for less than a year, you can end the tenancy without giving any reason by serving at least 30 days’ written notice.³ This is the cleanest path when the arrangement is relatively new.

Tenants Past the One-Year Mark

Once someone has lived in the home for more than a year, no-cause termination is off the table. You need either a specific cause (nonpayment, a lease violation) or a qualifying landlord reason such as planning to move into the unit yourself, demolishing the property, or renovating in a way that makes it unlivable.³ Qualifying landlord reasons require at least 90 days’ written notice. Landlords who own more than four rental units must also pay one month’s rent in relocation assistance when they deliver the notice; owners with four or fewer units are exempt from that payment.

Short Notice for Serious Situations

Oregon allows faster notice in defined situations. A 24-hour notice applies when the person has caused serious physical harm, substantial property damage, or committed an extremely dangerous act on the premises.⁴ A 10-day or 13-day notice applies for unpaid rent. A 30-day notice with a chance to cure applies for other lease violations. If the same violation happens again within six months, a 10-day notice with no cure period is available.

Guests With No Tenancy

If the family member is genuinely a guest, ORLTA’s formal notice periods don’t technically apply. Even so, put the request in writing and give a reasonable amount of time. Because courts sometimes reclassify a supposed guest as a tenant, serving at least 30 days’ notice removes that risk and makes you look reasonable if the case ends up before a judge.

File the FED Complaint

If the deadline in your notice passes and the family member is still there, you file a residential FED complaint in the circuit court for the county where the property sits.⁵ The complaint is a standard court form identifying both parties, the property address, and the grounds for eviction, with a copy of your notice attached. The clerk prepares a summons after you file.

The filing fee is $88 for a residential FED, with an additional trial fee if the case goes to a contested hearing.⁶

Serve the Summons and Complaint

Service in an Oregon eviction is unusual. By the end of the next court business day after you pay the filing fee, two things must happen. The clerk mails the summons and complaint to the family member at the property by first-class mail, and a process server delivers the documents in person at the premises.⁷ If nobody is available to receive personal service, the process server can attach the documents securely to the main entrance.

The process server files a certificate of service confirming how and when delivery happened. Keep your own copy. Bad service is one of the easiest ways for the other side to get the case dismissed.

What Happens in Court

The First Appearance

The clerk sets a first appearance date, generally seven days after the court business day following your fee payment, though a judge’s availability can push it out another seven days.⁷ This isn’t the trial. The judge collects basic information and figures out whether the case needs to proceed further.⁸

If the family member doesn’t show, the court can enter a default judgment for you. If they appear and want to fight the case, they must file a written answer with the court by the end of the same day. No answer, default judgment.

Mediation

Many circuit courts offer voluntary mediation at the first appearance. In family situations, this can be worth the effort. It lets you negotiate a specific move-out date, handling of any money owed, and what happens to shared belongings, without the outcome being purely up to a judge. If you reach a written agreement and follow through, the case is dismissed. If mediation fails or either side declines, the case moves toward trial.

Trial

For nonpayment cases, trial must happen between 15 and 30 days after the first appearance. For everything else, trial is scheduled as soon as possible and no later than 15 days after the first appearance.⁸ At trial you show that your notice was proper, the deadline passed, and the person is still there. They get to present their side. The judge rules based on the evidence.

Defenses You Should Expect

Family members facing eviction often push back, and Oregon law gives them real tools.

Defective notice is the most common defense. Wrong notice period, missing required information, or bad service all lead to dismissal, and you’d have to start over. Getting the notice right matters more than any other single step.

Implied tenancy comes up when you treated the person as a guest but they can produce evidence of a rent-like arrangement. Bank transfers, Venmo receipts, or text messages using the word “rent” can be enough for a court to decide they were actually a tenant entitled to full ORLTA protection.¹ If that happens, your shorter guest notice was insufficient and you’re back to the beginning.

Retaliation is a defense when the tenant recently exercised a protected right, such as complaining to a government agency about building or health code violations.⁹ Timing matters. The remedy mirrors self-help eviction: up to two months’ rent or double actual damages.

Discrimination defenses draw on federal and state fair housing law. The federal Fair Housing Act has a “Mrs. Murphy exemption” for owner-occupied buildings with four or fewer units, which covers many family eviction situations,¹⁰ but Oregon civil rights law may impose additional protections, so the federal exemption isn’t a free pass.

Compliance with the agreement is a defense to cause-based evictions. If you allege nonpayment or property damage, receipts, photos, or witnesses showing otherwise can defeat the claim.

After You Win: Removal and Belongings

A judgment in your favor doesn’t let you change the locks yourself. Oregon has a specific post-judgment path.

Notice of Restitution, Then the Writ

After judgment, you ask the clerk to issue a notice of restitution. This gives the family member four days to move out and take their belongings.¹¹ Four days is the minimum; you can allow longer if you want. If they leave, you’re done.

If they don’t, you go back to the clerk for a writ of execution. The sheriff serves the writ and physically removes the person, returning possession of the property to you.¹¹ Only the sheriff does this. You still cannot.

Anything They Leave Behind

If the family member leaves personal property in the home, Oregon law imposes duties on you before you can get rid of it. You must send written notice, either in person or by mail to the premises, any known P.O. box, and any forwarding address, telling them the property is considered abandoned and giving a deadline to arrange pickup. If they don’t claim it within 15 days after that deadline, you can sell or dispose of it. Until then, you have to store the items safely. Skipping these steps can leave you on the hook for the value of the property.

If the Family Member Is in the Military

Federal law adds a layer when the person is an active-duty servicemember or a dependent. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) requires a court order for eviction from a primary residence regardless of what state law would otherwise allow.¹² If the servicemember doesn’t appear, you must file an affidavit disclosing their military status. The court may appoint someone to represent their interests and can delay the case by 90 days.¹³ Ignoring these requirements can void the judgment you obtained.

What It Costs

Court filing fee of $88 for a residential FED, plus an additional trial fee if the case is contested.⁶
Process server or sheriff service, typically $40 to $100 for standard delivery.
Attorney fees, optional but worth considering if the family member is likely to contest. Many landlord-tenant attorneys handle straightforward evictions on a flat fee.
Relocation assistance of one month’s rent, if you own more than four rental units and are ending a post-first-year tenancy for a qualifying landlord reason. Owners with four or fewer units don’t owe this.³

1
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 90 – Residential Landlord and Tenant
2
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 90.375 – Effect of Unlawful Ouster or Exclusion
3
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 90.427 – Termination of Tenancy Without Tenant Cause
4
Oregon Judicial Department. Residential Eviction Information for Landlords
5
Oregon Judicial Department. Residential Eviction Complaint
6
Oregon Judicial Department. 2026 Circuit Court Fee Schedule
7
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 105.135 – Service and Return of Summons
8
Oregon Judicial Department. Residential Eviction
9
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 90.385 – Retaliatory Conduct by Landlord
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 3603 – Effective Dates of Certain Prohibitions
11
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 105.151 – Enforcement of Judgment of Restitution
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3951 – Evictions and Distress
13
U.S. Department of Justice. Financial and Housing Rights