Month-to-Month Tenancy Termination Notice Requirements in Oregon

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Oregon's rule lives in a single statute, ORS § 90.427, part of the statewide Oregon Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. It applies across the state — there is no local-adoption step. Its defining feature comes from Senate Bill 608 (2019), which made Oregon a "just cause" state: a landlord may end a tenancy without giving a reason only during the tenant's first year, and after that must have a statutory reason. This page covers an ordinary residential month-to-month tenancy; separate sections govern eviction for nonpayment or a lease violation, and manufactured-home and floating-home space tenancies (ORS 90.505 to 90.850) run on their own rules.

Landlord's notice period

The landlord's obligation turns on one line: the "first year of occupancy." During that first year, a landlord "may terminate the tenancy by giving the tenant notice in writing not less than 30 days" before the date named in the notice, with no reason required (§ 90.427(3)(b)). Once the tenant crosses one year, that door closes: after the first year the landlord "may terminate the tenancy only" for a tenant cause or a "qualifying landlord reason" (§ 90.427(3)(c)), which carries a 90-day clock (or 60 days for a qualifying sale) and, for most landlords, a relocation payment — see "Just-cause limits." A week-to-week tenancy needs just 10 days (§ 90.427(2)). Note that "first year of occupancy" counts any tenant: if a new roommate moves in, the clock effectively restarts for the household.

Tenant's notice period

The tenant's side is simple and constant: "At any time during the tenancy, the tenant may terminate the tenancy by giving the landlord notice in writing not less than 30 days prior to the date designated in the notice" (§ 90.427(3)(a)). A week-to-week tenant gives 10 days (§ 90.427(2)). The tenant's 30 days never grows — the just-cause machinery restricts landlords, not tenants — so after the first year the two clocks are asymmetric: the tenant still gives 30 days while the landlord generally owes 90.

When termination takes effect

Oregon counts from the notice, not from a rent date. Each period runs "not less than 30 days prior to the date designated in the notice for the termination of the tenancy" (§ 90.427(3)) — you choose an end date and count back the required days; it does not have to be the last day of a rental month. A qualifying-reason termination after the first year counts back 90 days (or 60 for a sale) the same way. One counting trap: if the notice is delivered by first class mail, three days are added to the period (ORS 90.155, 90.150), so a mailed 30-day notice is effectively a 33-day notice.

Form and required contents

Every termination must be in writing (§ 90.427(2), (3)). A no-cause first-year notice needs only the intended termination date. A qualifying-reason notice after the first year is different: the landlord "shall … [s]pecify in the termination notice the reason for the termination and supporting facts" (§ 90.427(6)(a)(A)). A notice that leaves out the reason and the facts behind it is not a valid way to end the tenancy once the first year has passed.

How notice must be delivered

Service follows ORS 90.155. Written notice "shall be executed by one or more of the following methods: (a) Personal delivery to the landlord or tenant" (§ 90.155(1)), or by first class mail, or by "nail and mail" (first class mail plus attaching a copy to the premises) — but the attachment method works only if the rental agreement provides for it, and it must run both directions between landlord and tenant. Because mailing adds three days to the period, hand delivery is the way to hit the shortest possible timeline.

What the lease can change

The statute's numbers are minimums. Section 90.427 phrases each period as "not less than" a set number of days, so a lease can require more notice but cannot cut below the statutory figure, and Oregon offers no option to agree to a shorter period. The just-cause protection is likewise not something a lease can bargain away: after the first year a landlord "may terminate the tenancy only" for a listed cause or a qualifying reason (§ 90.427(3)(c)), so a clause purporting to let a landlord end the tenancy for no reason after year one has no effect against that rule.

Just-cause limits

This is the column that sets Oregon apart. A landlord's no-cause termination is allowed only in the tenant's first year (§ 90.427(3)(b)). After that, the landlord must have either a tenant cause (nonpayment, a lease violation, and the other grounds cross-referenced in § 90.427(3)(c)(A)) or one of four "qualifying landlord reasons" in § 90.427(5)(a):

• intent to demolish the unit or convert it to non-residential use;
• repairs or renovations that make the unit "unsafe or unfit for occupancy";
• the landlord or an immediate family member moving in as a primary residence (if the landlord has no comparable available unit in the same building); or
• an accepted good-faith offer to purchase from a buyer who will live in the unit.

A qualifying-reason termination needs at least 90 days' notice (60 days for the sale track), must state the reason and supporting facts, and requires the landlord to pay the tenant "an amount equal to one month's periodic rent" as relocation assistance at the time notice is given (§ 90.427(6)(a)). That payment does not apply to a landlord who owns "four or fewer residential dwelling units" (§ 90.427(6)(b)) — a small-landlord carve-out from the money, though not from the 90-day-notice-and-stated-reason requirement. A landlord who terminates in violation "shall be liable to the tenant in an amount equal to three months' rent in addition to actual damages" (§ 90.427(9)). One structural exemption: under § 90.427(8), a landlord who lives on a property with two or fewer units may still terminate after the first year. Several cities — Portland, Eugene, and Milwaukie among them — layer on longer notice or larger relocation payments.

What trips people up

The one-year line changes everything for the landlord. A 30-day no-cause notice is fine in month eleven and unlawful in month thirteen. After a year the landlord needs a tenant cause or a qualifying reason, 90 days, and usually a month's rent (§ 90.427(3), (5), (6)). A bare "please move in 30 days" to a two-year tenant is void.

"First year" counts everyone in the unit. Because the definition sweeps in any tenant who has lived there a year or less, adding a roommate or partner can reset the household's first-year clock — which briefly reopens the landlord's no-cause option.

Mailing costs you three days. A mailed notice is treated as served three days after mailing (ORS 90.155, 90.150), so a 30-day notice sent by mail really needs 33 days of runway. Hand-deliver if timing is tight.

Small landlords still owe the notice and the reason — just not the check. The four-or-fewer-units exemption (§ 90.427(6)(b)) only removes the one-month relocation payment. The 90-day notice and the written reason-and-facts still apply.

Common questions

I've rented here 8 months and my landlord gave me a 30-day no-cause notice. Legal? Yes. In the first year, a landlord may end a month-to-month tenancy with 30 days' written notice and no reason (§ 90.427(3)(b)). Once you pass a year, that changes.

I'm the tenant and want to move. How much notice? At least 30 days in writing, any time (§ 90.427(3)(a)) — your obligation never rises to the landlord's 90 days. Give 33 days of lead time if you mail it.

My landlord wants to move a family member in. Can they make me leave after two years? Yes, but only as a qualifying reason: at least 90 days' written notice stating that reason and the facts, and — unless the landlord owns four or fewer units — one month's rent as relocation assistance (§ 90.427(5), (6)).

What happens if the landlord skips the required reason or payment? The termination is a violation, and the landlord "shall be liable to the tenant in an amount equal to three months' rent in addition to actual damages" (§ 90.427(9)). A notice missing its required contents does not lawfully end the tenancy.

Statutes and sources

• Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.427 — termination without tenant cause: week-to-week 10 days (2); tenant's 30-day notice (3)(a); landlord's first-year 30-day no-cause notice (3)(b); the after-first-year just-cause limit (3)(c); the four qualifying landlord reasons and 90/60-day notice (5); the reason-and-facts and one-month-rent relocation payment with the four-or-fewer-units exemption (6); the owner-occupied two-or-fewer-units exemption (8); and the three-months'-rent-plus-damages remedy (9). https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors090.html (accessed 2026-07-15)
• Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.155 — service or delivery of written notice: personal delivery, first class mail, or mail-and-attachment where the lease provides; mailing adds three days to the period. https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors090.html (accessed 2026-07-15)