Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Oregon

Google "legal forms" and the name of your town. Go to the legal forms shop and get a form called Residential Eviction Complaint or Unlawful Detainer Complaint. Fill out the form. File it with your local county court. Give a copy to your tenant (or tack it to his front door). He then must leave, probably within 72 hours, or show up in court. Then the court will order him to leave. If he does not, you call the county sheriff, who shows up and forces him to leave.

You cannot evict a tenant or file an eviction complaint against him/her in Oregon without first giving the tenant a notice to pay rent or leave.

The notice period is not less than 72 hours after giving the notice, but the 72 hours does not start until 11:59pm on the date the notice is served on the tenant. The notice cannot be given until the rent is at least 7 days late. If the tenant fails to pay up after the notice, you can then file an FED action to remove the tenant from the property.

This is a very complicated and statute driven area of the law. If you have not done an eviction before, it is best to consult with an attorney experienced in representing landlords before the 72-hour notice to pay rent is given. If you do the notice incorrectly or serve it improperly, then you might as well not have done the notice at all. If the notice is wrong or served improperly, you will lose the eviction action and could end up having to pay the tenant's attorney fees.