Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Oregon

Re: Storage of Tenants Belongings

ORS 90.425 contains the provisions that describe the landlord's responsibilities regarding a tenant's belongings.

First, you must give the tenant very specific written notice regarding your intent to dispose of the property. The statute contains a variety of items that must be in that notice. That notice must be sent to the tenant (1) at the property address; (2) any PO box that the tenant has; and (3) the most recent forwarding address. It can also be handed to the tenant personally. The notice must be sent 1st class (NOT certified). You should get a proof of mailing from the post office when you mail the notice.

If the tenant fails to respond to the notice within the alloted time (for most property 15 days) and the landlord reasonably determines that the property has a value of less than $500 or the value is so low that the cost of storing and selling the property will exceed the amount recovered from the sale, then the landlord may dispose of it without selling it. Typically this would mean disposing of the property by donation (if it has any value) or in the dump.

If the value of the property exceeds $500, then the landlord then may sell the property, keeping only enough of that money to cover the costs of storing and selling the property. The landlord may not profit from the tenant's property and may not apply those funds to other debts owed to the landlord by the tenant.

It is important to remember that the landlord cannot keep or otherwise profit from the tenant's property. You must sell (to recover costs), donate or dump the property. If the sale yields more than the actual cost of storing and selling the property, that money must be turned over to the tenant.

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