Landlord-Tenant Law

The following statements are common misunderstandings about 
evictions from residential tenancies. THEY ARE ALL WRONG!

TRUTH: You cannot be arrested or jailed for not paying rent. The police (specifically, the Lane County Sheriff) will remove a tenant from the rental unit ONLY IF a crime has been committed or if a judge (after an eviction hearing (an FED)) has ordered the tenant to move out. Failure to pay rent or to get out when the landlord says so is not a crime.

TRUTH: In a month-to-month ten-ancy, which is what most people have (the alternative would be a tenancy for a specific period of time- -such as one year), the landlord can evict you for no reason or for a mistaken reason, such as the color of your hair, for you not smiling enough, or for mistakenly thinking that you broke some rule or did something that the landlord feels is "bad." THE LANDLORD CANNOT EVICT YOU IF THE REASON IS: (1) Illegal Discrimination (race, religion, children, nationality, marital status), or (2) Illegal Retaliation (you are being evicted because you complained about poor conditions or lack of repair of such conditions).

TRUTH: Being pregnant or having children does not prevent or delay an eviction, UNLESS the landlord is evicting you because you are pregnant or have children (this would be discriminatory and is an illegal reason for an eviction).

TRUTH: Inability to pay the rent is not a legal defense, unless the landlord has caused the inability. Becoming disabled and unable to work, losing your job, losing your welfare check, or having your money stolen does not prevent or delay an eviction.

TRUTH: Inability to find a new place is not a legal defense, and the judge will order you to move out- - even if it means that you will become homeless.

TRUTH: Sometimes, if there is a really sad situation (a health problem, young children), the judge may ask the landlord to give the tenant extra time. Often, the judge will not require any extra time, in part because the judge knows that the landlord still has to wait another 3-5 days (for the Writ of Execution).

TRUTH: The tenant's rent obligation continues for every day the tenant is in the rental unit, through the 30 day period, even though the landlord or the tenant has given a "termination of tenancy" notice. It is understandable that the tenant may need the rent money in order to move to a new place. But, if the tenant does not pay the rent as it comes due, then the landlord can give the tenant a 72-hour nonpayment of rent notice and evict the tenant, long before the 30 day period runs out.

TRUTH: The only things a landlord can get at an FED are: (1) a judge's order (called a judgement) that the tenant must move out at a certain day and time, and 2) a judge's order that the tenant pay the landlord for the landlord's court costs, prevailing party fees, and any attorney fees. If the landlord wants to make the tenant pay any unpaid rent, the landlord will have to sue the tenant in a separate lawsuit, often in Small Claims Court, for a judgement for the rent money. Eviction.2.wpd (7/00)

Click here to view Oregon Revised Statutes online.

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