Breaking a lease in Oregon

During a fixed term you may end the tenancy only for cause. If the term ends within the first year of occupancy, you may end it without cause with 30 days' written notice before the end date. A term that ends after the first year becomes month-to-month unless you agree to a new term, the tenant gives 30 days' notice, or you have a qualifying landlord reason and give the required notice.

ORS 90.427(4)

• A written agreement may set a fee for a tenant who abandons the unit during a fixed term without cause, up to one and a half times the monthly rent. If you charge it, you may not recover later rent or re-renting costs. Any other liquidated damages are barred. ORS 90.302(2)(e) ORS 90.302(5) ORS 90.245(1)(d)
• If the tenant abandons the unit, make reasonable efforts to re-rent it at a fair rent; the agreement ends when a new tenancy begins. ORS 90.410(3)
• A victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, bias crime or stalking may be released on 14 days' written notice with verification, with no fee and no rent after the release date. ORS 90.453
• A service member who enlists, is ordered to active service outside the area for more than 90 days, or leaves active service may end the agreement with proof of orders, with no penalty, fee or loss of deposit. ORS 90.475
• You may decline to renew a fixed term after three written warnings for violations within 12 months, with 90 days' notice before the end of the term. ORS 90.427(7)
• Since June 5, 2026, if a natural disaster destroys the unit, the tenancy ends at once unless you and the tenant agree otherwise afterward; you return the deposit and prepaid rent, including rent prorated from the date of the disaster, under the deposit statute, and no rent is owed while the unit is inaccessible. Or. Laws 2026, ch. 108, § 21
• For example, with monthly rent of $1,600, one and a half months is $2,400. That is the ceiling for the lease-break fee described above when a valid written provision and the circumstances allow it, not an automatic charge for every early move. If that fee is charged, do not add later rent or re-renting costs. Keep any separately owed earlier rent or damage items identified in the final accounting, and check whether a protected termination or agreed release applies first. ORS 90.302(2)(e): fixed-term abandonment fee

A tenant may end a month-to-month tenancy at any time with at least 30 days' written notice. You may end one without cause with 30 days' written notice only during the first year of occupancy. After the first year, you may end it only for a tenant cause under the statute, or for a qualifying landlord reason with at least 90 days' written notice stating the reason and supporting facts: demolition or conversion, repairs that make the unit unsafe or unfit to live in, occupancy by you or an immediate family member when you have no comparable unit in the building, or a sale to a buyer who will live there.

ORS 90.427

• With a qualifying-reason notice, pay the tenant one month's rent when you deliver the notice, unless you have an ownership interest in four or fewer dwelling units. ORS 90.427(6)
• For a sale to a buyer who will live there, the notice may be 60 days if you give written evidence of the accepted offer and also pay one month's rent at the time of the notice. ORS 90.427(5)(b)
• The first year of occupancy lasts while any tenant in the unit has lived there one year or less. ORS 90.427(1)(a)
• If you live in the same building or on the same property and it has no more than two units, after the first year you may end a month-to-month tenancy without cause on 60 days' notice, or 30 days for a sale to a buyer who will live there. ORS 90.427(8)
• A week-to-week tenancy ends on 10 days' written notice from either side. ORS 90.427(2)
• Ending a tenancy in violation of the qualifying-reason or three-violation rules costs three months' rent plus actual damages, and gives the tenant a defense to eviction. ORS 90.427(9)