Every eviction case that goes to court will eventually end one of two ways - with a judgment of eviction or a dismissal. Judgments of eviction are recorded on a tenant’s record, and can be considered as a reason to deny future housing to that tenant. In 2023 over 6,000 eviction cases filed in Oregon ended in a judgment of eviction. In 2024, around 5,500 eviction cases ended in a judgment of eviction. A judgment of eviction indicates that a judge has determined that the landlord should regain possession of the unit - thereby prevailing in (winning) the lawsuit they filed.

Default judgments of eviction are issued when is the tenant misses a court hearing. When a landlord files an eviction case in Oregon, the court schedules a First Appearance hearing and notifies the tenant of the date and time of that hearing by mail. If the tenant is not in the courtroom when their case is called, the landlord can request that the judge issue a judgement of eviction against the tenant by default because the tenant failed to appear for their hearing. Over half of the judgments of eviction issued in Oregon are default judgments of eviction because the tenant missed their hearing. In these cases, the tenant will be displaced and have a judgment of eviction on their record even though the case was never adjudicated. 

Tenants have no say in when their hearing is scheduled. Eviction hearings take place on weekdays during regular business hours. Multiple cases can be scheduled for their First Appearance hearing at the same time, but the judge will call the cases one by one. Therefore tenants often have to wait an unknown amount of time for their case to be called, but they must be in the courtroom when their case is called, to avoid a default judgment being issued against them. In counties where dozens of hearings are scheduled for the same time, tenants may have to wait for over an hour for their case to be called. If a tenant is not present in the courtroom when their case is called, the judge may enter a default judgment of eviction against them at that time, or call the case a second time after calling all of the other cases scheduled for that date and time. 

Tenants may be late to or miss a court hearing for any number of reasons including: 

• Not receiving the documents that were mailed to them notifying them of the hearing. 

• Not understanding the documents that were mailed to them notifying them of the hearing.  

• Having to work at the time of the hearing. 

• Having difficulties getting to court, especially if they rely on public transportation. 

• Having difficulties using the “appear by phone or video” options available in some courtrooms in Oregon. 

There are two other situations in which a judge can issue a judgment of eviction against a tenant: 

• If after the parties submit a stipulated agreement to the court and a declaration of noncompliance is filed by the landlord alleging that the tenant has not complied with the terms of the Stipulated Agreement on file.

• If a trial is held and the landlord prevails at trial.

In 2023, Oregon’s landlord/tenant law was updated to prevent judgements of eviction by default being issued against tenants who had already moved-out of their units before their court date. Some tenants decide to move-out of the unit after receiving the court summons. If they are able to move-out before their hearing date, they might assume that they have resolved the issue and no longer need to appear in court for the scheduled hearing. In 2023, changes were made to the eviction process to prevent judgments of eviction being issued by default against tenants who had already moved-out of their units. Before these changes were made, nothing prevented a landlord from requesting a judgement of eviction by default against a tenant who had already moved out, but did not appear in court. Since the changes have been implemented, landlords must submit an affidavit stating that the tenant is still in possession of the unit when requesting a judgment of eviction by default against a tenant who failed to appear in court for a hearing. 

Court data changes frequently, as cases move through the process and the court records are updated.