I am in foreclosure in the home I live in. Can they take property I have that is raw land. I live in oregon

Short answer is generally, "no," but you may have to be careful about some timing issues. You should probably consult with an attorney. Christopher D. Schwindt Attorney at Law, Licensed in Oregon and Washington Schwindt | Richardson LLC 621 SW Morrison, Suite 700 Portland, OR 97205 (503) 546-0141 office (503) 536-6843 fax [email protected] Website and blog at: www.SRLfirm.com Like on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/SchwindtRichardson-LLC/102465436535369 This e-mail transmission is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed, and may contain information that is PRIVILEGED, CONFIDENTIAL, and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. Any dissemination, distribution or reproduction by unauthorized persons is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please immediately notify the sender and permanently delete this transmission including any attachments. IRS Circular 230 NOTICE: To be sure that you do not rely on advice that may not meet the "covered opinion" test in addressing federal tax issues and that we comply with IRS Circular 230 provisions, our firm's e-mail and certain other written communications bear the following notice: IRS CIRCULAR 230 DISCLOSURE To ensure compliance with new requirements of the Internal Revenue Service, we inform you that, to the extent any advice relating to a Federal tax issue is contained in this communication, including in any attachments, it was not written or intended to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (a) avoiding any tax related penalties that may be imposed on you or any other person under the Internal Revenue Code, or (b) promoting, marketing or recommending to another person any transaction or matter addressed in this communication. PLEASE BE NOTIFIED THAT OUR LETTERS AND E-MAILS TO YOU ARE NOT INTENDED TO MEET THE "COVERED OPINION" TEST. We do not provide legal advice on Federal (or any) tax issues.

There are several issues raised in your question. Instead of asking for additional facts from you I will just outline the law in this area. Two ways they could go after your bare land are: 1. If you gave them a voluntary trust deed on the bare land which served to make the bare land collateral for the loan or loans on the house. 2. If they get a judgment against you, the effect of which is to attach all your assets including your bare land as potentially available to satisfy the debt. They would generally garnish your bank account and wages before going after assets to sell to satisfy the debt. So the question is, assuming you did not voluntarily use the bare land as additional collateral for the home, under what circumstances could they get a judgment against you based on you defaulting on the note on the home. To answer this you follow a decision tree to ascertain whether or not the bank could get a “deficiency judgment” against you. If they got a deficiency judgment they could collect on that judgment by garnishing or attaching any of your assets including the bare land. A deficiency judgment is when the bank has the right to go get a judgment against you for the amount of the debt not covered when they repossess(i.e foreclose) and sell the house. The following are the factors in the analysis in Oregon to determine whether a bank can get a judgment against you for the remaining debt. All the below is spelled out in ORS 86.770. This is just trying to put it in laymans terms. 1. Nonjudicial foreclosure a. One Trust Deed Only i. They can’t get a deficiency b. Two trust deeds (a "1st" and a "2nd") i. They can get a deficiency if the two loans were not made at the same time by the same lender (80/20 loan). If they were then bank can not get a deficincy. It is Usually the second that is the one going after a judgment on its loan after the 1st forecloses. ii. Refinance of original 80/20 situations and HELOCs may raise additional questions and be most problematic. c. Bank can still go after a “guarantor” for a deficiency regardless of any anti-deficiency laws described above. Guarantor/cosigner is different than a co-borrower 2. Judicial foreclosure a. Rules are same as for above nonjudicial except that in judicial foreclosure you must first establish that the trust deed in question is a “residential trust deed” before the anti-deficiency rules apply . i. If it is not a residential trust deed then the bank can get deficiency judgment ii. If it is a residential trust deed then same rules apply as in nonjudicial above b. Definition of residential trust deed is found in ORS 86.705(5) it says… i. (5) Residential trust deed means a trust deed on property upon which are situated four or fewer residential units, one of which the grantor, the grantors spouse or the grantors minor or dependent child occupies as a principal residence at the time a trust deed foreclosure is commenced.. 1. The definition above has recently been changed by Senate Bill 1552. The new definition says that to qualify as "residential" you have to occupy the property only until the first default upon which the subsequent foreclosure is based occurs. That means that under the new law (effective about July 11th 2012) if you abandon the property after you default but before they file a foreclosure complaint or record a “notice of default and intent to sell” then the anti-deficiency laws apply and they can’t get a deficiency. 2. If you abandoned right now before the new law goes into effect and before they initiative foreclosure then they could go after a deficiency in judicial foreclosure because your trust deed does not now qualify as a residential trust deed because you abandoned the house too early. You can see this could be fairly complicated but if your facts fit one of the clear scenarios then it is simple. This is for general information. I don’t know your facts so I would advise consulting an attorney.

You don't provide a great deal of information. If this is your home, and you remain there, they cannot get a deficiency and thus cannot pursue any of your other assets. There are also some new laws, recently passed, which might help you deal with the lender (loan modification?). You really need to talk to a real estate lawyer familiar with these issues with whom you can review all of the relevant facts and circumstance.