Oregon  |  Landlord & Tenant Law

Self help is not preferred and in some cases can be legal prohibited. In your case, assuming you have properly served a 30 day notice on this person, your safest course of action is to file an FED (eviction) action in the court where the dwelling is located. If you do decide to change the locks you need to provide legal notice to this person of the right to claim any property that is located on the premises. The way to do this properly is tricky and must be done very carefully. Therefore, I suggest you file the eviction action as soon as possible . You will obtain an order of eviction and get legal possession of the premises. The cost involved in minor compared to the problems associated with changing the locks and completely preventing access while this person still has possession there.

You don't want to ever change the locks unless you have a court order removing the tenant. There is a significant possibility that if you do so, you will be sued by the tenant and she will win (and you will have to pay damages and HER attorney fees). If you correctly served a proper notice (there are some very specific laws regarding these notices) then the next step would be to file an eviction action (FED). If she is really moving out, there is a good chance that she will not appear in court and you will win by default. If you get the default, you can then (over time) have the sheriff come out to "remove" her and allow you to change the locks. If any of her possessions remain, you will then have to deal with those - it is important to understand that you do NOT get to keep them, they must be returned to her. Dealing with personal property is another tricky area of landlord tenant law and must be done correctly. This area is one where you really do need an attorney experienced in landlord tenant law.