Q: I'm a tenant and the only one on my lease. I've rented out a room to someone who has now not paid rent. Can I evict?
I'm in Multnomah County and I have permission from my landlord to sublet. Can I evict the person legally for not paying rent by the 5th (2 days ago)? If so, is it a 30 day notice? Do I send it via first class mail and also in person with a witness? If this is possible for me to do and they do not leave after the 30 days, are court proceedings appropriate?
A: IF the subtenant pays their rent to you (well, is supposed to anyway) you are likely their landlord - with all the obligations and privileges of being such. If they do not pay their rent by the 8th day of the month (assuming it is due on the 1st), you can/should issue a 72 hour Termination of Tenancy Notice and then, if not paid by the time it expires, no longer accept rent and proceed to file an eviction in the local court. Understand this is a very technical process which must be followed EXACTLY or you risk having your lawsuit tossed out; you owing the tenant's court costs and attorneys fees (which can be in the thousands by then); the tenant still in possession; and you having to start over from scratch. So unless you are VERY familiar with the requirements and process, you may want to review everything with a landlord-tenant attorney before doing anything - it can save you money in the long run and maximize your chances of prevailing on first try. There are rules about what information must be contained in a 72 hour notice (and what cannot be in it) as well as the way it must be served. But as to your last question, you do not have to allow a tenant to stay an additional 30 days without paying rent before you can file a lawsuit to get rid of him.
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