Portland, Oregon - Can I evict my tenant for smoke alarm issues?

Question

PDX has some of the craziest tenant protection laws and I (single home landlord) need my tenants out. The way it works here is I have to renew their lease and only they can walk off it. I kept my rent low because they seemed nice, didn't make much and to me this was just a temporary thing until we sell the house. Yet another fool, I know.

So question - have you ever served an eviction notice for not having running batteries in the smoke detectors? What about yard maintenance?

The former is in the contract but I have a feeling the pothead in one of the rooms has the batteries removed. Now I wish I could serve notice for pot usage (also in the lease) but I don't know how to prove that.

Anthony Dooley · Answer

If they have violated any part of the lease agreement and you can show this to a judge in a court of law, then you have grounds for eviction. It is contract law. Eviction laws vary from state to state, but contract law should be consistent.

Hubert Kim · Answer

I'm not familiar with OR landlord/tenant laws, but in California, smoke detectors are considered part of habitability so they are required by law. Landlords are required to provide appropriate and working smoke detectors during tenancy. Tenants are responsible to notify landlords if they are not functioning properly. So if a tenant neglects or abuses a smoke detector, a landlord has limited responsibility if something goes wrong.

That said, it is a good idea for a landlord to inspect a rental at least annually. If during an inspection a smoke detector is not functioning, the landlord has the responsibility to make it work. If it is apparent the tenant has removed the batteries intentionally, I suggest putting in new ones and doing a follow-up inspection to ensure it is properly working.

Unless the tenant removes the smoke detector completely or damages it, it may be very difficult to do anything further. You can send a notice to cure or quit to a tenant who repeatedly abuses or removes a smoke detector, but it probably will not end in eviction since it would be easily correctable by the tenant.

This same reasoning applies to yard maintenance and marijuana, too. All three would be fairly difficult to evict for. Are these the reasons you want them out or is there any other reason? Again, I'm not familiar with Portland, but I would consider raising your below market rents as appropriate. Annual, if not semi-annual inspections might help as well.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Inspect, document, and notify the tenant of the violation. Rinse and repeat. If they continue to violate the contract (three violations should be sufficient) then contact an attorney and start the eviction.

My lease says the tenants are responsible for landscaping. If they fail, I will hire someone to clean up the landscaping and then charge the tenant. What if the tenant refuses to pay? Their payments are applied to oldest charges first so I would pay the landscaping bill first and then rent, leaving them short on rent and I can evict for non-payment.

Mathew Wray · Answer

It's going to be a tough road ahead for you, Mark...I'm sorry.

I think before you start taking any action you need to review your lease and make sure it will hold up in court. Hopefully you used an Oregon specific lease from one of the advocacy groups here in state and not one of the free downloadable, generic leases you can find online.

Once your lease has been vetted, there are a couple of ways to tackle the issues at hand. Portland has some very tough landlord tenant laws that are being tightened, so the longer you wait, the more challenges you'll likely face. Start by giving simple notices to cure the defects (lawn and smoke alarms) but you have to make sure you use the proper delivery methods or they won't hold up. After multiple violations and notices then you'll have some more leeway to take action.

What I recommend you'll want to do is spend some money on an attorney specializing in landlord/tenant law and have them help you craft a game plan that will hold up in court. Would hate for you to go through the process only to have a paperwork error prevent an eviction down the line. Alternatively, you could connect with a local property manager, but I'd expect to pay there too...you're calling them in when there's already trouble brewing. But once they get things under control, they can run the rental for you as they (if you choose a good one) will be up to date on all of the changing rental laws.

Best of luck!

Mathew

Portland, Oregon - Can I evict my tenant for smoke alarm issues?

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