Seattle, WA asked in Landlord - Tenant for Oregon

Q: We have rented almost 3 years. In September of 2020 lease changed month to month. Today we got 60 day notice to vacate

Landlord gave us a no cause eviction June of 2020 the day after we paid rent and late fee. When the moratorium was extended she rescinded that notice. A couple weeks ago she mailed us a notice of Rent increase effective Sept 1 but didn't give it to us until end of June, so definitely not 90 days. Then today emailed us "Notice of Non Renewal of Lease" with 60 days to move even though we are in a month to month tenancy and have been here almost 3 years

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1 Lawyer Answer
Gregory L Abbott
Gregory L Abbott
Answered
  • Landlord Tenant Lawyer
  • Portland, OR
  • Licensed in Oregon

A: Your landlord's actions appear to be highly suspect but more exact details are needed to know much. Charging a late fee in June 2020 may or may not have been legal (it became unlawful to charge late fees during Covid but I don't recall the effective date off the top of my head). Any rent increase cannot be over 9.2% total in the last 12 months and it requires at least a 90 written notice containing the legally required information and have been lawfully served or it is invalid. To maximize remaining at your current rent, I recommend NOT telling your landlord the notice is unlawful before its purported effective date since she will then have to re-issue a new, correct 90 day notice. You don't say what the reason stated is for non-renewal of the lease or where you are located (inside City of Portland limits?). Either or both could affect things but regardless 90 days is most likely required (though 60 days is legal in some limited circumstances) and it MUST be a written notice - as in paper and ink/toner - not email, text, voicemail, verbally, etc. It too must contain the legally required language and be lawfully served in order to be valid. All in all, you may wish to review everything with a local landlord-tenant attorney to be sure you are "safe" in ignoring her notices and to establish a game plan for how to address things going forward. You may also already have damage claims against the landlord for issuing unlawful notices. Good luck.

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