Q: After 3 years, I cant afford another year lease. Landlord won't do month/month. I have 30 days to leave. Is that legal?

A: I am not quite clear about your circumstances but am interpreting your posting to mean that your lease expires in 30 days and does not otherwise self-renew. Hence, your landlord expects you to vacate at the end of the lease term. Everything depends upon the exact wording of your lease as to what rights you may have and/or how much notice you are entitled to receive. Ironically, if it was a month to month, you would be entitled to at least 60 days advanced notice (90 days if in City of Portland and Milwaukie). Do understand, however, that first, if you are not out, all she can do is go to the court and file for eviction. That will buy you at least 7 more days, maybe 10 or more and as long as you are out by the time of the first court appearance, the eviction lawsuit is dismissed and you are listed as being the prevailing party. If she believes you will be out but just need an extra week or two, you may be able to make a deal that avoids having her even file the eviction in court - it just is a waste of her money if you really are going to be out anyway. Second, realize that it all applies to you physically being gone - not necessarily all your property. If you vacate but leave property behind, the landlord is required to preserve, protect and store it for you until they send you a letter (make sure they have new mailing address for you or, at a minimum, have a forwarding order on file with the post office) giving you at least 8 days from when they mail the letter to contact them to make an appointment to come retrieve your property. You have another 15 days from when you first contact the ex-landlord to make the appointment to actually come remove your property. Only after the landlord has gone through these hoops are they free to dispose of your stuff. So you can essentially buy another 3+ weeks to both move out and remove all your stuff.

IF the above scenario is not accurate and the landlord has somehow given you notice to leave (as opposed to your lease just expiring without any sort of renewal or notice requirements), then 30 days is likely not enough legally speaking. Regardless, if you have questions, review it all with a landlord-tenant attorney. A single visit should answer all your questions and help you make informed decisions as to how to best proceed and whether you have any rights you are otherwise unaware of.

Best of luck.