How to serve a notice on a tenant in Oregon: four methods, three extra days for mail and a day-counting rule
Oregon spells out service in ORS 90.155 and day-counting in ORS 90.160. A written notice may be served by personal delivery, first class mail (which adds three days), first class mail plus attachment to the door if the lease allows, or e-mail under a signed addendum. Days are counted without the day of service, through 11:59 p.m. of the last day.
What methods does ORS 90.155 allow?
- Personal delivery to the landlord or tenant.
- First class mail.
- If a written rental agreement allows it, both first class mail and attachment to a designated location. Mail and attachment service from the landlord requires the agreement to provide the same for tenant notices. For notices to the tenant, the mailed copy is addressed to the tenant at the premises and a second copy is attached in a secure manner to the main entrance of the tenant's part of the premises.
- E-mail, only under a written addendum signed by both parties after the tenancy begins, naming each party's e-mail address, allowing either to end e-mail service or change the address on three days' written notice, and including the statute's boxed warning. A notice terminating the tenancy by e-mail must also be sent by first class mail (subsection 5).
Subsection 3 lets you add alternative methods, such as a text message, but only in addition to one of the listed methods.
How does mail change the clock?
Subsection 2: if a notice is served by first class mail alone, "the minimum period for compliance or termination of tenancy, as appropriate, shall be extended by three days, and the notice shall include the extension in the period provided." Mail plus attachment does not carry that extension in the text.
ORS 90.160 sets the counting rule: days are consecutive calendar days, "not including the initial day of service, but including the last day until 11:59 p.m." For hours-based periods, the clock starts at 11:59 p.m. the day a notice is both mailed and attached, or both mailed and e-mailed.
A worked example with the nonpayment notice
ORS 90.394(2) allows two nonpayment notices for tenancies other than week-to-week: at least 10 days' notice, given no sooner than the eighth day of the rental period (counting the due date as the first day), or at least 13 days' notice, given no sooner than the fifth day. The notice must state the amount to be paid and the date and time by which to pay it (subsection 3).
Example a made-up Eugene owner's rent is due May 1. The earliest day for a 10-day notice is the eighth day, Saturday, May 8. Handing it to the tenant that day, the day of service is not counted, so the 10 days run May 9 to May 18, and the deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, May 18. Mailing it first class instead extends the period by 3 days, so the notice must say 13 days and the last day is Friday, May 21. Mailing on May 8 and attaching under a written agreement would carry no extension and keep May 18.
What should you keep?
Keep a dated copy of the notice, proof of how it was sent or handed over, and a note of who received it. Those three items are what you show a court. For mail and attachment, take a dated photo of the notice on the door and keep the mailing receipt. The statute makes timely payment by mail count in some cases only if the notice and the lease say where payment is to be made (ORS 90.394(4)), so name the payment place clearly.
How DoorKeeping helps in Oregon
DoorKeeping keeps each lease's notices, dates and ledger together, so you can ask Claude or ChatGPT what notice a tenant has been given and when the clock ends. Any notice waits for your one-tap approval before it goes out. DoorKeeping never holds your money and sends a payment only when you approve it. This is general information, not legal advice: check the current statute and your own lease.
Sources
Questions
- How many extra days does mail add in Oregon?
- Three days when a notice is served by first class mail alone, and the notice must include the extension (ORS 90.155(2)).
- Can an Oregon landlord e-mail a notice?
- Only under a signed written addendum with the required terms, and a termination notice must also go by first class mail (ORS 90.155(1)(d) and (5)).
- How are days counted for an Oregon notice?
- Consecutive calendar days, not counting the day of service, through 11:59 p.m. on the last day (ORS 90.160).