Chapter 7 pauses an Oregon tax foreclosure for about four months. Chapter 13 can end it, if you can afford the plan. Here is the county timeline, what each option really does, and what the 2025 law changed.
Bankruptcy can stop a tax foreclosure in Oregon — for a few months or for good, depending on which kind you file. Chapter 7 pauses the county for about four months, but the property tax lien survives and the foreclosure picks up where it left off. Chapter 13 can end it, if you can afford a three-to-five-year plan that pays the back taxes in full, with interest. Either way, you almost certainly have more time and more options than you think.
A homeowner in Eugene called me recently. He was behind on his property taxes, the county had started a tax foreclosure, and he had decided the answer was bankruptcy. I told him that the kind of bankruptcy most people mean — Chapter 7 — would buy him about four months, and then he would be right back where he started, with a bankruptcy on his credit report.
That is true for Chapter 7. It is not the whole story. Chapter 13 works differently, and so does Oregon’s tax foreclosure process, which gives owners far more runway than a mortgage foreclosure does. If you are in his position, here is all of it, with the statutes linked so you can check every line.
If two or more of those fit, keep reading.
Oregon’s property tax foreclosure process runs on a long clock, and most people I talk to think it is much shorter than it is.
Add it up and it can be roughly five years from the first missed payment to losing the house. The Marion County and Yamhill County tax offices both lay out the same statewide timeline. The date that matters most is the end of your redemption period. Call your county tax collector and get it in writing, along with the exact payoff. In Eugene and the rest of Lane County, that is Lane County Assessment and Taxation, and the redemption notice it mails lists the foreclosure clerk’s number.
Filing any bankruptcy triggers the automatic stay, which forces the county to stop. That part is real. The problem is what happens after.
So when I tell people Chapter 7 buys about four months, that is what I mean. For a house where the taxes are the main debt, it delays the problem without solving it.
Chapter 13 is a different tool. Instead of wiping out debts, it puts you on a three-to-five-year repayment plan, and it can let you pay the back taxes over time while you keep the house.
Chapter 13 is a real option for someone with steady income who wants to keep the house. It is the wrong option for someone who could not afford the taxes in the first place, because the plan asks for all of it, plus interest.
Mortgage foreclosure is a different process, run by a lender instead of the county, on a much shorter clock. I cover it in How to Stop Foreclosure in Oregon and the Oregon foreclosure timeline. If you are already in Chapter 13 and want to sell, read selling a house in Chapter 13.
Until recently, losing a house to the county in Oregon meant losing everything in it, even if the house was worth ten times the taxes. That changed with House Bill 2089 (Chapter 475, Oregon Laws 2025), passed after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that a county cannot keep more than it is owed.
That is a real protection. But it is not a plan. You still lose the house, the county decides the costs, and the money can take a year or more to reach you.
If you have steady income and want to keep the house, talk to a bankruptcy attorney about Chapter 13 before your redemption period ends. If you do not, Chapter 7 will buy you a few months and cost you ten years of credit. Selling before the deadline — with an agent if there is time — usually leaves more in your pocket than letting the county sell it for you. The worst option is the one most people pick without meaning to: waiting.
The Oregon State Bar’s Lawyer Referral Service can connect you with an attorney at 503-684-3763, or 800-452-7636 toll-free in Oregon. A first consultation of up to 30 minutes costs no more than $50.
We buy houses in Lane County and across Oregon, and a house behind on property taxes is one we see often. If you want to know what selling your house for cash would leave you after the county is paid, call (541) 250-3067. I will lay out every option, including the ones that do not involve us, and I will tell you if listing would net you more.
I am a registered Oregon residential property wholesaler, #201264508. Before you work with any buyer — us included — here is how to check whether cash home buyers in Oregon are legitimate.
Our office is in Cottage Grove, and Lane County — Eugene, Springfield, Creswell and Cottage Grove — is home ground.
Will bankruptcy stop a tax foreclosure in Oregon? Filing triggers the automatic stay, which stops the county. Chapter 7 only pauses it for about four months, because the property tax lien survives the discharge. Chapter 13 can end it if you can pay the back taxes in full, with interest, over a three-to-five-year plan.
How long before the county forecloses on unpaid property taxes in Oregon? The county can’t foreclose until three years after the earliest delinquency (ORS 312.010). After the court’s judgment there’s a two-year redemption period (ORS 312.120), so it can be roughly five years from the first missed payment to losing the house.
What is the property tax redemption period in Oregon? Two years after the foreclosure judgment. You still own the house during that time and can pay what’s owed and keep it. In Lane County, call Lane County Assessment and Taxation for your exact redemption date and payoff, and get it in writing.
Do you lose all your equity in an Oregon tax foreclosure? Not anymore, if it was your primary residence. Under HB 2089 (2025), the county has to list the house with an agent, and you claim what’s left after the taxes, interest, costs and commission through the Oregon State Treasury’s unclaimed property program.
Can I sell my house if it’s in tax foreclosure? Yes, as long as the redemption period hasn’t ended. The title company pays the county out of the sale, and you keep the rest.
What interest does Oregon charge on unpaid property taxes? One and one-third percent a month, about 16% a year. Once the county files in circuit court, a 5% penalty is added on top.
