I have a tenant, who started a month to month residency on 10/1/12. They have paid their rent on time but they have (allegedly) kicked open one of their doors (I haven't had a chance to check for damage yet based on location) and now they have verbally abused a female tenant and threatend another tenant twice, and the police have been called to the property as a result. The following clause is in the lease
"IF THERE ARE POLICE CALLS OR CALLS FROM NEIGHBORS TO COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR BEHAVIOR, YOU WILL PAY A $75.00 NUSIANCE FEE, AND WE WILL HAVE GROUNDS TO TERMINATE YOUR LEASE."
What is my best course of action on dealing with said tenant so that I can get him out PERMANANTLY as quickly as possible.
To clarify, the female tenant mentioned is the girlfriend of the other tenant mentioned. She no longer feels safe on the property and has temporarily relocated to live with a family member.
You can file a 24-hour notice for eviction, but you have to put on PROOF of a relatively high burden of specific facts. From your description of the issue it's unclear if you can meet that burden. So your best bet is to either 1) hire an attorney to prepare the 24-hour notice and file the eviction; or 2) give a 30-day no cause notice to terminate. You still would be better off to hire an attorney, especially if the tenant doesn't move out at the end of 30 days.
Orion Jacob NesslyFamily Law AttorneyLake Oswego, OR ·
I agree with Mr. Mauger about the high burden for filing a 24-hour notice. Police calls are not enough, especially if they didn't result in an arrest or charges. Neither are complaints from neighbors. Threats MIGHT be (see below). The clause you included in the lease may help a small amount, but you are still bound by the requirements of the Landlord-Tenant Act. Here's what IS enough:
1. The tenant, someone in the tenants control or the tenants pet seriously threatens to inflict substantial personal injury, or inflicts any substantial personal injury, upon a person on the premises other than the tenant;
2. The tenant or someone in the tenants control recklessly endangers a person on the premises other than the tenant by creating a serious risk of substantial personal injury;
3. The tenant, someone in the tenants control or the tenants pet inflicts any substantial personal injury upon a neighbor living in the immediate vicinity of the premises;
4. The tenant or someone in the tenants control intentionally inflicts any substantial damage to the premises or the tenants pet inflicts substantial damage to the premises on more than one occasion;
5. (A) The tenant intentionally provided substantial false information on the application for the tenancy within the past year; (B) The false information was with regard to a criminal conviction of the tenant that would have been material to the landlords acceptance of the application; and
(C) The landlord terminates the rental agreement within 30 days after discovering the falsity of the information; or
6. The tenant, someone in the tenants control or the tenants pet commits any act that is outrageous in the extreme, on the premises or in the immediate vicinity of the premises. For purposes of this paragraph, an act is outrageous in the extreme if the act is not described in paragraphs (a) to (e) of this subsection, but is similar in degree and is one that a reasonable person in that community would consider to be so offensive as to warrant termination of the tenancy within 24 hours, considering the seriousness of the act or the risk to others. An act that is outrageous in the extreme is more extreme or serious than an act that warrants a 30-day termination under ORS 90.392 (Termination of rental agreement by landlord for cause). Acts that are outrageous in the extreme include, but are not limited to, the following acts by a person:
(A) Prostitution, patronizing a prostitute or promoting prostitution, as described in ORS 167.007 (Prostitution), 167.008 (Patronizing a prostitute) and 167.012 (Promoting prostitution);
(B) Manufacture, delivery or possession of a controlled substance, as described in ORS 475.005 (Definitions for ORS 475.005 to 475.285 and 475.752 to 475.980), but not including:
(i) The medical use of marijuana in compliance with ORS 475.300 (Findings) to 475.346 (Short title);
(ii) Possession of, or delivery for no consideration of, less than one avoirdupois ounce of marijuana as described in ORS 475.860 (Unlawful delivery of marijuana) (3) or 475.864 (Unlawful possession of marijuana) (3); or
(iii) Possession of prescription drugs;
(C) Intimidation, as described in ORS 166.155 (Intimidation in the second degree) and 166.165 (Intimidation in the first degree); or
(D) Burglary as described in ORS 164.215 (Burglary in the second degree) and 164.225 (Burglary in the first degree).
Unless one of the above things has very clearly happened, a 24-hour notice is not the correct route. Also, there are other requirements that I didn't list that you can read about here: http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/90.396
Even if you do serve a 24-hour notice, it's a good idea to get a valid 30-day notice in as well as a back-up. If you've never served one of these notices before, you really should consult with a landlord-tenant attorney beforehand because they are very specific and landlord's often have to reserve (AND pay a tenant's attorney fees) based on even innocent mistakes.
