Medford, OR asked in Landlord - Tenant for Oregon

Q: How much time do you we have to vacate the property; 30-days or 60-days for the selling of the property?

This was a 1 year lease turned into a month to month after the 1 year lease was up. We have been on the month to month for over 3 years.

We received an email from the landlord stating they sold the house, and the new owners want to move in on XXXXXX.

In the e-mail it was stated this was a 30-day notice but we have until XXXXXX, which is a little more than 30 days. It was all written in an email, no other documentation was included or offered.

I don't see this as satisfying the requirement of ORS 90.427 (5)(c), for issuing a 30-day eviction. I only ask because here in Roseburg decent rentals are difficult to find, we did find one but it puts us at 54-days from time of notice until it is available, and the new owners want an obscene amount of money to stay the extra days.

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1 Lawyer Answer

A: Based upon your posting, no, it does not sound as if you have been given lawful notice of the termination of your tenancy. Assuming the new buyer wants to occupy the home as his personal residence, you are correct that while you normally would be entitled to at least 60 days advanced notice, ORS 90.427(5) provides an exception which requires only 30 days. But it must be strictly complied with - not only by your original landlord providing you the notice and documentation within the specified 120 days (NOT the new owner), but also by providing you WRITTEN notice. This does NOT mean by email, text message, verbal, etc. ORS 90.155 specifies how the written notice must be delivered or served - and there are only 3 ways - in person; by regular first class mail (not Certified); or, if your written lease expressly allows it, by posting it on your door and mailing you a copy. If all you have received so far is email notice, and no required documentation of the sale to boot, it is the same thing as not having received any notice so far. If you elect to not vacate, then the landlord can only lawfully get you out by filing an eviction action in court - and assuming you are correct about what notice you have received, you likely would prevail, get to stay, and recover your court costs and attorney's fees from the landlord. So you may want to review everything ahead of time (as in NOW) with a landlord-tenant attorney to confirm everything is as you think and that you are thus protected in any eviction action. If such a case is filed against you, and your attorney agrees that you are protected, it is the sort of case that many attorneys will take on a contingency meaning you don't have to pay them anything for their fees; they will collect them directly from the landlord upon your winning. Good luck.

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