Housing Justice
Tenant Advocacy Hotline: 503-433-6431
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 9 am to 5 pm
CLEAR Clinic provides eviction expungements, a legal service available in Oregon since 2020, to help people realize their right to housing by preventing landlords from improperly considering past evictions in residential tenancy decisions.
What is Eviction Expungement?
What is Tenant Advocacy & ELD?
The CLEAR Clinic provides limited scope legal advice and assistance to help people navigating the housing court process pro se, and information and training for tenants to self-advocate.
Our tenant advocacy program also offers limited scope legal services for people dealing with all types of tenant rights issues. We offer brief legal advice and assistance drafting communications to landlords on issues like security deposit returns, habitability, reasonable accommodations, and more.
Our eviction legal defense (ELD) program provides legal assistance to people facing termination notices or eviction proceedings in Portland. This program is funded by the Portland Housing Bureau and may be able to provide rent assistance through our collaboration with United Way. To access Tenant Advocacy or ELD services, fill out the intake form linked above.
What should you do if you have a termination notice from your landlord?
If you receive an termination or eviction notice, and you live in Portland, you should fill out our intake form above, to request free legal representation and potentially rental assistance. Filling out this form is not a guarantee that we can provide you legal assistance or connect you with rent assistance.
For eviction legal defense outside of Portland, please call the Oregon Law Center at 1-888-585-9638
Your landlord cannot evict you from your house without a court order. If your landlord files for an eviction in court, make sure you attend any hearing, even if you have moved out.
Eviction Expungement FAQ’s
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Eviction expungement is the process that allows someone to remove an eviction from their record.
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You are eligible to have your eviction expunged if it meets one of the following criteria:
-Resulted in a dismissal in the tenant’s favor (You weren’t ordered to leave the property);
-Five years have passed since the eviction; or
-The eviction arose during Covid times (April 1, 2020 - March 1, 2022)
You will also need to have paid off any money that the court ordered you to pay.
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Once an intake form is submitted, someone from the CLEAR Clinic will review your evictions for eligibility and contact you. The process is
Step 1. Draft and file the correct documents with the court. A copy of these documents must be sent to your landlord.
Step 2. Wait thirty days. The law gives your landlord thirty days to object.
Step 3. If the court receives no objection in thirty days, they will grant your request and sign an order removing the eviction from your record.
Step 4. You receive a copy of the signed order in the mail. You no longer have that eviction on your record.
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Having your evictions expunged prevents future landlords from being able to use them against you when evaluating your rental application.
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There is no fee to have an eviction expunged in Oregon! You would be losing money by not doing it.