Tenant Abandoned Property Notice, Storage, and Disposal Requirements in Oregon

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Trigger, notice, and response

Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.425(2) covers three starting points: an ended tenancy plus a reasonable belief that the tenant left the property with no further claim; seven continuous days of absence after a court termination order that has not been executed; or the landlord's receipt of possession from the sheriff after restitution.

Before storage, sale, or disposal, § 90.425(3) requires personal delivery or first-class mailing to the premises, every actually known tenant post-office box, and the most recent provided or known forwarding address. The notice must identify the property as abandoned, say it is in safekeeping, explain how to contact the landlord and arrange removal, state the applicable charge rule and deadline, and warn of sale or disposal.

For ordinary belongings, the contact date must be at least five days after personal delivery or eight days after mailing. A timely actual response stating an intent to remove generally opens a 15-day pickup period by appointment at reasonable times. Missing the response or pickup deadline—and any later agreed date—makes the property conclusively abandoned.

Safekeeping, animal care, and charges

Under § 90.425(7), ordinary property must be kept in a place of safekeeping with reasonable care. It may remain in the dwelling, move elsewhere on the premises, or go to commercial storage or another safe place. The statute does not require a general inventory or photographs.

Rotting food may be promptly discarded. Animal control may remove pets or livestock; if it will not, the landlord must exercise reasonable care under the circumstances and may place the animals with a capable humane or similar organization.

For voluntary or ordinary abandonment and the unexecuted-court-order route, reasonable or actual removal and storage charges may be required before release. After sheriff restitution, the landlord may not condition release on advance payment of storage charges.

Sale, low-value disposal, and proceeds

Once the property is conclusively abandoned, § 90.425(10) permits a public or private sale. An ordinary-property sale follows ORS 79.0610. Property may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of when its reasonable current fair-market value is $1,000 or less, or when storage and public-sale cost would probably exceed the sale return. The landlord may also sell some items and dispose of the rest.

“Dispose” has a narrow meaning: throw the property away or give it without consideration to a nonprofit or a person unrelated to the landlord. The landlord may not keep it for personal use or benefit.

Section 90.425(13) applies sale proceeds first to reasonable or actual notice, storage, and sale costs, then unpaid rent. The remainder goes to the tenant or owner with an itemized accounting. If due diligence does not locate that person, the landlord deposits the balance with the county treasurer; after three years unclaimed, it reverts to the county general fund.

What trips people up

Contact and pickup are different clocks. Five days after hand delivery or eight days after mailing is the minimum time to contact the landlord. A timely response then generally produces 15 days to remove ordinary property.

The charge rule changes after a sheriff's writ. Advance storage payment may be required in the voluntary/ordinary and unexecuted-order routes, but not when the landlord received possession from the sheriff.

Low value does not mean the landlord may keep the item. Even when the $1,000 shortcut applies, the statutory disposal definition bars personal use or benefit by the landlord.

Lease boilerplate cannot waive the process. Section 90.425(26) allows only a narrow good-faith written agreement made after termination or no more than seven days beforehand. A rental agreement cannot require advance waiver.

Common questions

Must the notice be certified mail?

Not for ordinary tenant belongings. Section 90.425(3) permits personal delivery or first-class mail to all specified tenant addresses. Special vehicle and home routes add recipients and methods.

May the landlord charge unpaid rent before returning the property?

The pre-release condition in the ordinary route concerns removal and storage charges, not unpaid rent. Unpaid rent is a permitted deduction from later sale proceeds.

Can the landlord immediately discard food or care for animals?

Rotting food may be promptly discarded. Animals follow the animal-control and reasonable-care route in § 90.425(7).

What happens to unclaimed sale money?

After allowed deductions, the tenant or owner receives the remainder and an itemized accounting. If that person cannot be found after due diligence, the balance goes to the county treasurer for three years before reverting to the county general fund.

Statutes and sources

• Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.425. Complete abandoned-property route: triggers, notice, response, storage, charges, sale/disposal, proceeds, remedies, and waiver limits. Official enrolled current-text source (accessed July 22, 2026).
• Current ORS Chapter 90. Official compiled chapter and section history. Official chapter (accessed by official-domain search July 22, 2026; direct fetch host failed).