Real Property Foreclosure

What is Foreclosure?

Foreclosure is a legal procedure by which the County enforces payment of real property taxes. The County can acquire legal title to the property if the taxes aren’t paid by a certain date. Real property is normally subject to foreclosure three years after taxes become delinquent. As of July 1, the County will start foreclosure proceeding if you have taxes owing that are four years or older.

When Does Foreclosure Start?

There are several steps in the foreclosure process and you can stop the process by paying your taxes during most of these steps.

>> After May 15, if there are unpaid taxes, a delinquent notice will be sent out telling you the date foreclosure will start, normally July 1. These notices are sent to all owners with any delinquent taxes, not only those that might be foreclosed upon. There is normally an * by the year(s) in danger of foreclosure.

>> After July 1, a list of all properties subject to foreclosure is prepared. If you have a split code account and only one account is subject to the foreclosure, it will still pull the other account into the foreclosure regardless if any taxes are due. The same goes for a real property mobile home, it can pull the land into foreclosure or vice versa.

>> After July 15, the Tax Department no longer accepts personal or business checks on foreclosure accounts. Payments must be made by cash, cashier’s check or money order.

>> A notice will be sent regular mail to you regarding the foreclosure and about a week later, you should receive the same notice by certified mail. Keeping a current address on file with the Assessor’s office is important or you may not receive proper notification. If your mortgage company has requested to be notified, a notice is also sent to them.

>> After August 1, a foreclosure list is sent to the newspaper for publication sometime around August 15. The foreclosure list is provided to the newspaper about a week before publication. If you do not wish your name to be published, you must pay the oldest year prior to the list being provided to the newspaper.

>>Once the foreclosure list is published in the newspaper, we can no longer accept partial payments and an additional 5% penalty will be charged. The 5% penalty is calculated on all taxes and interest due at the time of publication. The day of publication is the same day the foreclosure list goes to Circuit Court to apply for Tax Foreclosure Judgment.

>>You can still pay just the oldest year plus the publication penalty during the publication period of thirty days to stop foreclosure proceedings.

>> Thirty days after publication, a Judgment and Decree is secured from Circuit Court. After Judgment and Decree is secured all taxes, penalties and interest must be paid to clear the judgment. You can no longer make partial payments.

So, have I lost my property now?

No, once the property is in Judgment and Decree status you still have two years to redeem it. Please be aware that a lien holder can redeem the property. They do not automatically receive the property. Only the owner or someone with a recorded interest can redeem the property.

During this time you must pay all taxes, penalties and interest at one time with cash, cashier’s check or money order in order to clear the Judgment.

If you do not redeem the property during the two-year redemption period it will then be deeded to Coos County. Any questions you might have, after it has been deeded, need to be directed to the County’s Land Agent, Robert Laport. His telephone number in the Assessor’s Office is 541-396-3121ext 349 email laportrv@co.coos.or.us . The County Commissioners make all decisions regarding the disposal of tax-foreclosed property. Any questions regarding land auctions please contact Mr. Laport.