Gregory L Abbott

Protecting Consumers and Small Businesses in Oregon for Over 29 Years. Landlord-Tenant Matters, Debt Collection Issues, Wills/Probates/Estate Administration, Auto Accidents are All Mainstays of My Practice. Other Attorneys in Oregon Hire Me to Help - Shouldn't You Too?

Lewis & Clark Law School

J.D. (1993)

1989 - 1993

Honors: AmJur Award in Alternate Dispute Resolution, Winner of Mock Trial Competition

Knox College

B.A. (1975) | Anthropology

1970 - 1975

Activities: On Student Government

Oregon

Since 1993

Washington

Since 2007

9th Circuit

Since 1994

• Contingent Fees
  I accept contingent fees in select cases after a thorough review
• Rates, Retainers and Additional Information
  Depending upon the case and the situation, I offer flat fees in some matters; contingent fees in some; and hourly rates in others.

Q. Does first-year notice penalty apply after 3 years of occupancy?

February 13, 2025

A: It depends upon what your lease says about termination and whether you are terminating a fixed term lease or a month to month tenancy. Regardless, read your lease. The norm, however, is to require at least 30 days written notice (written means written - NOT email, text, verbal, etc.) and you would ordinarily owe rent through the end of that 30 days, regardless of how long you have been there.

Q. Can my landlord charge me a lease break fee after I provided a 30 day notice because I vacated a few days early?

January 27, 2025

A: If your lease terminated 12\19, and you gave written notice you would be out then, you owed rent through 12\19 (assuming your lease doesn't have different termination requirements - check it). But you don't owe any lease break fee and he still owed you a written accounting for your security deposit within 31 days. If you would have had more coming back but for his false charges, or didn't get an accounting within the time frame, you likely are entitled to twice the amount that should have been refunded you, plus your court costs and attorney's fees. Consider reviewing everything with a local landlord-tenant attorney to see exactly what rights you may have.

Q. Is it legal to be garnished if the judgment against me was 07/21/2014?

January 1, 2025

A: Before you can be garnished, there has to be a Judgement against you by a court of law. Then the Judgement Creditor can garnish or otherwise try to collect on the Judgement for 10 years, usually with 9% annual simple interest accruing on the unpaid amounts until paid in full. A Judgement can be renewed once for an additional 10 years if renewed prior to the expiration date of the original Judgement. So a garnishment now on a July 2014 original Judgement could, or may not, be lawful. If it is not, you likely have a dandy unfair debt collection claim, perhaps more.