How to Fill Out and Serve an Oregon 90-Day Notice to Vacate

An Oregon 90-day notice to vacate ends a residential tenancy that has passed the one-year mark, and it only works when the landlord cites one of four qualifying reasons in ORS 90.427, states a termination date at least 90 days out, pays any required relocation assistance at delivery, and serves the notice by an approved method under ORS 90.155. Miss any of those pieces and the notice is void, the tenant can stay, and the landlord can owe three months’ rent plus damages.

When You Need a 90-Day Notice

Once a tenant has occupied a unit for more than 12 months, a landlord cannot end a month-to-month tenancy without cause. Ending it requires 90 days’ written notice and a qualifying landlord reason. A fixed-term lease that would expire after the first year converts to a month-to-month tenancy on the same terms unless the landlord serves a qualifying 90-day notice, the tenant gives 30 days’ notice to leave, or the parties sign a new fixed-term lease.¹

Some tenancies fall outside this rule. During the first 12 months of occupancy, a 30-day no-cause notice ends a month-to-month tenancy. Week-to-week tenancies require only 10 days’ notice from either side. If the landlord lives on a property with no more than two dwelling units total, a 60-day no-cause notice works even after the first year. And for-cause terminations — nonpayment, criminal activity, repeated lease violations — run on their own shorter timelines under ORS 90.392, 90.394, 90.396, and related statutes.¹

If your tenancy has crossed the one-year line and doesn’t fit one of those exceptions, you need the 90-day notice with a qualifying reason.

The Four Qualifying Reasons

ORS 90.427(5) lists exactly four reasons that support a 90-day notice. No other justification counts, and inventing one exposes the landlord to statutory damages.

Demolition or Conversion to Non-Residential Use

The landlord intends to demolish the unit or convert it to a non-residential use within a reasonable time.¹ Tearing the building down or turning a rental house into a commercial office both qualify. Leaving the property vacant indefinitely afterward does not. Permits already in progress help support this reason if challenged.

Major Repairs or Renovations

The landlord plans repairs or renovations within a reasonable time, and the unit is either already unsafe or unfit for occupancy or will become so during the work.¹ Repainting and new carpet don’t qualify. The statute targets projects that make the unit unlivable while they happen. Building permits documenting the scope of the work help demonstrate necessity.

Owner or Family Member Move-In

The landlord or an immediate family member intends to occupy the unit as a primary residence, and the landlord does not own a comparable unit in the same building that is available when the tenant receives the notice. ORS 90.427(1)(b) defines “immediate family” broadly: anyone related by blood, adoption, marriage, or domestic partnership, plus an unmarried parent of a joint child, and any child, grandchild, foster child, ward, or guardian of the landlord or those relatives.¹ A grandchild qualifies. A friend or business partner does not.

Sale to an Owner-Occupant Buyer

The landlord has accepted an offer from a buyer who intends to live in the unit as a primary residence. The unit must be sold separately from any other dwelling unit, and the landlord must deliver the 90-day notice along with written evidence of the purchase offer within 120 days of accepting the offer.¹ Wait past the 120 days and this reason is off the table. Attach the signed purchase agreement, or at minimum the pages showing the buyer’s intent to occupy.

What the Notice Must Contain

Oregon does not require one specific form. It requires specific content. The Oregon Rental Housing Association sells pre-formatted versions, and Portland and Eugene require jurisdiction-specific forms for properties within their urban growth boundaries. Whatever template you use, the notice needs all of the following:

The full legal name of every adult tenant on the lease. A notice addressed to only one tenant in a shared household may not bind the others.
The complete property address, including any unit number.
The exact termination date, at least 90 full days after delivery. Serving by mail alone adds three days, so the minimum gap becomes 93 days.²
A clear statement of which qualifying reason applies, with a reference to the relevant subsection of ORS 90.427(5). “Landlord needs the property” is not enough. Write something like “ORS 90.427(5)(c), owner move-in.”
Supporting documentation where the reason calls for it: written evidence of the purchase offer for a sale, references to permits for a renovation, or a signed statement from the incoming family member for a move-in.
The signature of the landlord or an authorized agent, with both the preparation date and the delivery date recorded. The 90-day clock starts on delivery.

Electronic signatures are allowed only where a written addendum to the rental agreement authorizes electronic notice delivery under ORS 90.155(1)(d). The addendum must be signed by both parties after the tenancy begins, specify each party’s email address, and include a statutory warning about the consequences of missing electronic notices.²

Relocation Assistance You Owe at Delivery

When issuing a 90-day notice with a qualifying reason, the landlord must pay the tenant one month’s periodic rent at the time the notice is delivered.¹ Not later, and not after move-out. Failing to pay at delivery can invalidate the notice.

Landlords who own four or fewer residential dwelling units statewide are exempt from this payment under ORS 90.427(6)(b).¹ The count is total ownership interest, not units at one address. A duplex plus two single-family rentals equals four units and still qualifies. A fifth unit ends the exemption for all of them.

How to Serve the Notice

ORS 90.155 recognizes four methods of delivery. Using anything else can defeat the notice.²

Personal delivery. Hand the notice to the tenant. The 90-day period starts that day.
First-class mail to the tenant at the rental property address. Add three days when mail is the only method used, so the effective minimum period runs 93 days from mailing to termination.
Attach-and-mail. Post a copy on the main entrance to the tenant’s portion of the premises and mail a copy first class the same day. This is only valid if the written rental agreement specifically authorizes it and gives the tenant a reciprocal right to serve notices the same way.
Email, only under a separate written addendum signed after the tenancy began, specifying both parties’ email addresses and containing the statutory warning about electronic notices.

Document whatever method you use. A certificate of mailing from the post office, a timestamped photo of the notice on the door, or an email delivery confirmation may be the only thing between you and a dismissed eviction case if the tenant later claims non-receipt.

Portland and Eugene Requirements

A property within Portland city limits triggers a separate mandatory relocation assistance program on top of the state requirement. Portland’s amounts are fixed by unit size rather than tied to rent:³

Studio or SRO: $2,900
1-bedroom: $3,300
2-bedroom: $4,200
3-bedroom or larger: $4,500

A Portland landlord who also owes the state’s one-month payment can deduct that amount from the city obligation. The written notice must describe the tenant’s rights and state the relocation amount the tenant will receive. Noncompliance in Portland exposes the landlord to up to three times the monthly rent plus actual damages, relocation assistance, and attorney fees.³ Portland and Eugene both maintain their own form templates. Check with the Portland Housing Bureau or the City of Eugene Rental Housing Program before using a generic statewide form for a property inside either city’s urban growth boundary.

What a Defective Notice Costs

If the notice fails to meet ORS 90.427’s requirements, the tenant does not have to move, and any eviction case built on the notice will fail.⁴

A landlord who terminates in violation of ORS 90.427 — wrong reason, insufficient notice period, unpaid relocation assistance, or a fraudulent qualifying reason — is liable to the tenant for three months’ rent plus actual damages.¹ The tenant has one year from when they knew or should have known about the violation to file, and a complete defense to any possession action in the meantime. A landlord who claims a family member will move in without any real intention behind it can end up paying several months’ rent plus the tenant’s attorney fees.

Servicemembers and Fair Housing Check

Before serving, confirm the tenant is not an active-duty servicemember protected by the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The SCRA bars eviction of eligible servicemembers without a court order when the rental is a primary residence and monthly rent is at or below the annually adjusted threshold, which is $10,542.60 for 2026.⁵ Verify status or get a court order first if there is any reason to think the tenant may be on active duty.

Federal fair housing law applies to every termination. Using a qualifying landlord reason as pretext to remove a tenant because of race, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability is illegal no matter how clean the paperwork looks. When a tenant with a disability asks for extra time to relocate as a reasonable accommodation, engage in a good-faith interactive process rather than pushing straight to eviction.

If the Tenant Stays Past Day 90

When the 90 days expire and the tenant is still there, the next step is a Forcible Entry and Detainer action in the circuit court for the county where the property sits. Self-help is off the table: no lock changes, no utility shutoffs, no removing belongings. Only a court order allows physical removal.⁶

File the Residential Eviction Complaint and Summons with the court clerk and attach a copy of the expired notice. The filing fee is $88. First appearance is typically set seven days after the judicial day following payment of the filing fee, and you must serve the tenant with the summons and complaint by the end of the judicial day after filing.⁷ The clerk also mails a copy first class. Show up at the hearing. Missing it means dismissal. If the court rules for the landlord, the sheriff’s office carries out the physical eviction.

1
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 90.427 – Termination of Tenancy Without Tenant Cause
2
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 90.155 – Service or Delivery of Written Notice
3
Portland.gov. Mandatory Renter Relocation Assistance
4
Oregon Law Help. No Cause Notices
5
Federal Register. Notice of Publication of Housing Price Inflation Adjustment
6
Oregon Judicial Department. Residential Eviction Information for Landlords
7
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 105 – Property Rights