Q: How do I evict a roommate from my house when we had no written lease/agreement?
I allowed a friend to stay in my home for 5 months and 5 months only, while I was away. He has been paying me rent + utilities, but we do not have a signed agreement. Now that I am returning and he has lost his job, he does not want to leave at the agreed upon time. What action can I take to get him to live up to our verbal agreement and leave?
A: Assuming you are referring to a rental in Oregon but not within Portland city limits, you must properly terminate his tenancy, either for cause or for no cause. Since your rental agreement was verbal only, it is a month to month tenancy. If you wanted to limit it to a 5 month term, it had to be a fixed term, written lease in order to be enforceable. If he stops paying rent (be careful about utility charges), you will need to serve a lawful 72 hr notice and if still not paid, then you can evict. If you have to go with a no cause, it will take longer. Landlord-tenant law is quite technical in Oregon and any mistake by the landlord in either law or procedure will likely result in your case being tossed out of court, the tenant remaining in possession, and you owing the tenant's court costs and attorneys fees (which could be thousands of dollars if the matter goes to trial). So all in all, you may wish to consult a landlord-tenant attorney in the same area as your home before initiating any sort of eviction. Good luck.
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