- Who sends it
- The trustee, by service like a summons or by first class and certified mail, plus service or posting at the home and four weeks of newspaper ads
- What it starts
- At least 120 days to the sale; the right to cure runs until 5 days before the date last set for the sale
- Do this first
- Mark the sale date, the 5-day cure cutoff, and the 15-day deadline to ask the trustee for exact figures
What this document is in Oregon
After the notice of default and election to sell is recorded, ORS 86.764 requires the trustee to serve or mail a notice of sale at least 120 days before the sale. Mail goes by both first class and certified mail, return receipt requested, to every address the trustee has for you, including post office boxes.
ORS 86.771 lists what it must say: the names of the grantor, trustee and beneficiary, the trustee's mailing address, the property, where the trust deed is recorded, the default, the sum owing, that the property will be sold, and the date, time and place of the sale. It must state your right under ORS 86.778 to have the proceeding dismissed by curing the default no later than 5 days before the date last set for the sale. It also carries a warning to bidders about possible methamphetamine contamination.
If the home has rental units, it includes a NOTICE TO RESIDENTIAL TENANTS section. The trustee must also serve or post it at the home at least 120 days before the sale and publish it once a week for four weeks (ORS 86.774).
What it does and does not mean
- It does not mean the home is sold or that you must move now. The buyer is not entitled to possession until the 10th day after the sale (ORS 86.782(6)(a)).
- Sales are held in the county where the home is, after 9 a.m. and before 4 p.m., to the highest bidder for cash (ORS 86.782(1)).
- The sale can be postponed by announcement at the sale for periods totaling no more than 180 days from the original date. You must get written notice of a new date at least 15 days ahead, except for one short postponement of up to 2 calendar days (ORS 86.782(2)).
- It comes with the separate You are in danger of losing your property notice.
The deadlines it starts and how to count them
- Sale date: at least 120 calendar days after the notice is mailed or served. Mailed notice is effective on the day it is mailed (ORS 86.764(3)).
- Cure cutoff: any time before 5 days before the date last set for the sale (ORS 86.778). Count back 5 calendar days from the sale date printed on the notice. If the sale is postponed, count from the new date.
- Request for exact figures: send a written request to the trustee's address on the notice, by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by hand delivery, no later than 15 days before the sale. Include a mailing address, fax or email. The trustee must send the exact amount to cure or pay off, with per diem interest, at least 7 days before the sale (ORS 86.786, 86.789).
- Newspaper: published once a week for four weeks, with the last ad more than 20 days before the sale (ORS 86.774(2)).
See an Oregon sale date is set for a day-by-day plan.
What to do this week
- Write the sale date, the 5-day cure cutoff and the 15-day figures deadline on a calendar.
- Send the trustee your written request for cure and payoff figures by certified mail and keep the receipt.
- If you are more than 37 days from the sale, get a complete loss mitigation application to your servicer now, in a way you can prove.
- Ask your servicer in writing to have the trustee postpone the sale while it reviews you. The trustee can postpone but does not have to.
- Call a free housing counselor and legal aid. See how to stop foreclosure in Oregon.
Help and scam warnings
Sale notices are published in the newspaper, and people read them looking for homeowners to approach. Free help is listed on the Oregon foreclosure help page.
- Do not sign over your deed to anyone who promises you can rent the home and buy it back later.
- A foreclosure consultant cannot collect a fee until every promised service is done, and you can cancel its contract at any time in writing (ORS 646A.710, 646A.715).
- Pay a cure amount only to the trustee or servicer, the way the trustee's written statement says.
The rest of the Oregon process
See how foreclosure works in Oregon, the timeline, ways to stop it and free help in Oregon, or read the national guide to this letter.
Common questions
What if the Oregon trustee never answers my request for the cure amount?
If you sent it at least 15 days before the sale and the trustee cannot prove it sent the statement at least 7 days before the sale, the trustee may postpone to give you 7 days, and you have the rights of a person left off the notice list (ORS 86.789(3), (4)). Keep your certified mail receipt and talk to a lawyer.
How many times can an Oregon sale be postponed?
There is no set number, but postponements cannot total more than 180 days from the original sale date (ORS 86.782(2)). After a bankruptcy or court stay ends, the trustee sends an amended notice of sale within 30 days (ORS 86.782(12)).
Can I stop an Oregon sale the day before by paying what I am behind?
Not by right. The cure right ends 5 days before the date last set for the sale (ORS 86.778). Until the sale, the danger notice says you can still refinance or pay off the loan in full, and the lender may agree to accept other payment, but it does not have to.
Can an Oregon trustee's sale be undone after the auction?
Within 10 calendar days after the sale, the trustee may rescind it only for listed reasons, such as a bona fide error, an agreed foreclosure avoidance measure that would have stopped the sale, or the lender accepting cure money (ORS 86.782(4)). Call the trustee and servicer the same day.
Other Oregon letters
- Notice of Resolution ConferenceIn Oregon, most larger lenders must ask for a resolution conference with you before they can start a foreclosure. The program mails you this notice, and you then have 25 days to pay your fee and send your financial documents. Missing the fee deadline cancels the conference and lets the lender move ahead.
- Notice of Default and Election to SellIn Oregon, a trustee foreclosure formally starts when the trustee or lender records a notice of default and election to sell with the county clerk. For a home loan it must be recorded with proof that the lender took part in the resolution conference program or is exempt. After it is recorded, a notice of sale can go out, and the sale must be at least 120 days after that.
- Notice: You are in danger of losing your property if you do not take action immediatelyThis is a state form printed in at least 14-point type that comes with or before the notice of sale. It shows what you needed to catch up as of a date, a phone number for the current amount, the sale date and place, and four things you can do to stop the sale. If it is never sent and you do not actually get it, Oregon law gives you a special remedy.
- Eviction summons and complaint after a trustee's saleIn Oregon, the buyer at a trustee's sale is entitled to possession on the 10th day after the sale. Anyone still in the home after that is a tenant at sufferance, and the buyer must file an eviction case to remove them. The summons gives a first appearance date, and only a court judgment and the sheriff can remove you.