Oregon 10-Day Notice for Nonpayment of Rent: A Practical Guide for Landlords

A tenant hasn’t paid the rent.

At first glance, the next step may seem simple: give the tenant a notice, wait the required number of days, and file an eviction if the rent still isn’t paid.

In Oregon, it isn’t quite that simple.

A nonpayment eviction can succeed or fail based on details that occur before the case ever reaches the courthouse: when the notice was issued, the amount demanded, the expiration date and time, how the notice was served, whether required additional information was delivered, and what happened if the tenant made a payment.

A mistake at the notice stage can jeopardize the entire eviction.

This guide explains the Oregon 10-day nonpayment process and some of the details landlords should understand before proceeding.

Oregon Actually Has Two Nonpayment Notice Options

For most residential tenancies other than week-to-week tenancies, ORS 90.394 currently provides two primary notice periods for failure to pay rent.

This article focuses primarily on the 10-day notice.

Week-to-week tenancies have different requirements and should not automatically be handled using the rules described here.

When Can a 10-Day Notice Be Given?

Assume rent is due on September 1.

For a standard tenancy covered by ORS 90.394(2)(a), the 10-day notice cannot be given before September 8.

That distinction matters.

A landlord should not simply count ten days from the date rent became due. Oregon law establishes when the landlord may first give the notice and then establishes the notice period that must follow.

What Amount Should Be Listed on the Notice?

The notice must specify the amount of rent that must be paid to cure the nonpayment.

This is one of the most important parts of preparing the notice.

A nonpayment-of-rent notice should not become a collection statement containing every amount the landlord believes the tenant owes.

Late fees, damage charges, repair bills, utility charges and other debts may be legally owed, but that does not automatically make them rent for purposes of a termination under ORS 90.394.

For example, Oregon law specifically provides that nonpayment of a late charge alone is not grounds for termination for nonpayment of rent under ORS 90.394.

The safest principle is simple:

Know exactly what legally qualifies as rent before placing an amount on a nonpayment-of-rent termination notice.

Accuracy matters. Oregon appellate law has addressed nonpayment notices that incorrectly stated the amount required to cure, and an incorrect amount can invalidate the notice.

The Notice Must State a Deadline — Including the Time

ORS 90.394 requires the notice to specify:

• the amount of rent that must be paid; and
• the date and time by which the tenant must pay it to cure the nonpayment.

Do not treat the expiration date as an approximate deadline.

The date matters.

The time matters.

And the method of service can affect the calculation.

How Oregon Counts the Days

For notice periods stated in days, Oregon generally counts consecutive calendar days.

The initial day of service is not counted.

The last day is counted through 11:59 p.m., subject to the properly stated deadline and other applicable requirements.

Weekends do not automatically disappear from the calculation simply because the courthouse is closed.

This is one reason landlords should calculate the notice period before serving the notice rather than attempting to determine the deadline afterward.

Service Method Can Change the Deadline

This is an area where mistakes are particularly easy to make.

Oregon law permits several methods of delivering written notices, but those methods are not necessarily interchangeable and can affect the timing.

Personal Delivery

A written notice may be personally delivered to the tenant.

For a day-based notice, the day of service is not counted as Day 1.

If a valid 10-day notice is personally delivered on September 8, September 9 is the first day of the notice period.

First-Class Mail Only

A notice may also be served by first-class mail.

However, when written notice is served by first-class mail alone, Oregon law extends the minimum compliance or termination period by three additional days.

That means a statutory 10-day notice served solely by first-class mail effectively requires a 13-day period.

This is an extremely important distinction.

Example

Assume a valid 10-day nonpayment notice is mailed on:

The landlord should therefore not treat September 18 as the expiration simply because ten calendar dates have passed since the notice was mailed.

The mailing extension matters.

What About Posting the Notice on the Door?

This deserves special attention.

Oregon does recognize a method commonly called mail and attachment, but a landlord should not assume that simply taping a notice to the tenant’s door is valid service.

Mail-and-attachment service must be authorized by the written rental agreement, and the rental agreement must provide the required reciprocal right for the tenant to serve notices on the landlord in the same general manner.

When properly authorized, the landlord sends one copy by first-class mail to the tenant at the premises and securely attaches another copy to the main entrance of the portion of the premises occupied by the tenant.

Posting alone is not the same thing as legally authorized mail-and-attachment service.

This is an area where knowing what the lease actually says is critical.

Can the Notice Be Sent by Email?

Oregon law now permits certain written notices to be delivered electronically when very specific statutory requirements have been satisfied.

This is not as simple as having the tenant’s email address.

There must be a qualifying written addendum to the rental agreement that satisfies Oregon’s requirements for electronic service.

For a notice terminating the tenancy, electronic service also requires the termination notice to be sent by both first-class mail and electronic mail.

Landlords should therefore not assume that texting or emailing a photograph or PDF of a termination notice constitutes valid service.

What Happens if the Tenant Pays?

The purpose of a nonpayment notice is to give the tenant an opportunity to cure the nonpayment.

If the tenant properly pays the amount necessary to cure within the applicable period, the landlord generally cannot proceed with an eviction based on that cured nonpayment notice.

There is also an important rule concerning payments sent by mail.

Under ORS 90.394, payment from a tenant who has received a nonpayment notice can, in certain circumstances, be considered timely when it is mailed within the notice period, even if the landlord has not physically received it by the expiration date.

There are statutory exceptions involving the method of service, the rental agreement, the language of the notice and the designated payment location.

This is another reason landlords should be cautious before filing an eviction immediately after a notice expires.

Be Careful With Partial Payments

Partial payments can create another serious issue.

Oregon law contains specific rules governing what happens when a landlord accepts less than the full amount of rent owed.

Depending upon the circumstances, accepting a partial payment can waive the landlord’s right to terminate under the existing nonpayment notice.

There are statutory circumstances in which a landlord may preserve the right to proceed, including certain written agreements concerning partial payments.

But landlords should not improvise here.

Before accepting partial rent while a termination notice is pending, understand exactly what effect that payment may have on the notice.

A $200 payment accepted without considering the consequences can become far more expensive if it results in the eviction having to start over.

The Notice Expired. Can the Landlord Change the Locks?

No.

Expiration of the notice does not itself give a residential landlord the right to physically remove the tenant.

If the tenant remains in possession after a valid notice expires and the nonpayment has not been cured, the landlord may proceed with an Oregon residential eviction action, commonly called an FED — Forcible Entry and Detainer action.

The landlord files the appropriate eviction complaint with the court.

The court process determines the right to possession.

If possession is ultimately awarded and the tenant still does not leave, the statutory restitution process is used and, when necessary, the sheriff performs the physical removal.

The Court Case Is a Separate Stage

A properly prepared notice is the foundation of the eviction case.

But it is not the court case itself.

Once the notice has properly expired, the landlord must determine whether the circumstances support filing an FED action and must use the current court procedures and forms.

This is particularly important in 2026.

Effective August 1, 2026, Oregon implemented new provisions in UTCR Chapter 18 and new forms for landlord-tenant FED cases.

That means landlords relying on an old eviction packet, an old saved PDF or instructions from a previous case may be working from outdated material.

Small Errors Can Become Big Problems

Landlords sometimes view a termination notice as little more than a warning letter.

It isn’t.

The notice can become a foundational exhibit in the eviction case.

Before filing, the landlord should be able to answer questions such as:

• Was the correct type of notice used?
• Was it issued on a date when Oregon law permitted it to be issued?
• Is the amount of rent required to cure accurate?
• Does the notice identify the correct tenants and premises?
• Does it state the correct expiration date and time?
• Was the notice served using a legally permitted method?
• If it was mailed, was the additional mailing period properly included?
• If mail-and-attachment was used, does the rental agreement actually authorize that method?
• Was the required Oregon rental-assistance/support-services notice delivered?
• Did the landlord accept any payment after the notice was issued?
• Was any payment mailed or tendered before expiration?
• Has anything occurred since service that could affect the landlord’s right to proceed?

These questions should be answered before the eviction complaint is filed, not for the first time when the landlord is standing in front of a judge.

Why Accuracy Matters

An Oregon eviction is an expedited legal proceeding, but expedited does not mean informal.

A landlord can have a legitimate reason to recover possession and still lose an eviction case because the procedure was not followed correctly.

An incorrect expiration date, defective service, incorrect rent amount, missing required document or mishandled payment can become a defense to the eviction.

If the case must be dismissed, the landlord may lose more than the filing fee.

There can be additional lost rent, additional service expenses, another notice period, another filing and potentially attorney-fee consequences.

Getting the process right at the beginning is usually far less expensive than correcting it after something has gone wrong.