OAR 150-311-0720: Taxes Unpaid Before Approval of Senior Deferral Application

(1) Delay of foreclosure is only available for real property. It is not available on personal property. To qualify for delay of foreclosure, the property owner’s household income must not exceed the limits allowed under ORS 311.668 for the immediately preceeding calendar year. (2) When an application for property tax deferral has been submitted and approved by the department, the taxpayer is notified of that approval. If prior years’ taxes on the property subject to deferral remain unpaid on the date of approval, the applicant may apply for a delay of foreclosure by completing the appropriate application for all years in which unpaid taxes exist and submit that application to the county assessor, pursuant to ORS 311.693. (a) Applications are accepted for delay of foreclosure only for delinquent taxes accumulated for tax years prior to the tax year for which property tax deferral is sought. An applicant may have several years’ worth of delinquent taxes covered under one or more delays of foreclosure. (b) The delay of foreclosure will remain in effect until the property is disqualified under ORS 311.684, even if the homestead or taxpayer are inactivated from the deferral program for failure to meet one or more requirements under another deferral program statute. Example 1: The taxpayer owed delinquent property taxes to the county for the 2009/10 tax year. The taxpayer first applied and was approved for the deferral program in 2010. At that time, the taxpayer applied for and was approved to have foreclosure delayed for the 2009/10 taxes. The Department of Revenue paid the 2010/11 deferred taxes to the county. Then, the taxpayer failed to meet the program qualifications for tax year 2011/12, and was inactivated from the deferral program, which meant that the department stopped paying property taxes to the county. But the delay of foreclosure for the 2009/10 taxes remained in effect, because the taxpayer and the homestead were not disqualified under ORS 311.684. The taxpayer did not pay the property taxes to the county for the 2011/12, 2012/13, and 2013/14 tax years. In 2014, the taxpayer reapplied for deferral and was approved for the property tax deferral program for tax year 2014/15. The taxpayer submitted and was approved for another delay of foreclosure for the 2011/12, 2012/13, and 2013/14 taxes. (3) Interest will continue to accrue at the current county interest rate on any unpaid delinquent taxes covered under the delay of foreclosure. (4) When the property is disqualified from the deferral program for an event listed in ORS 311.684, any deferred taxes plus interest and fees, along with the full amount of any delinquent taxes and applicable interest or other charges covered under the delay of foreclosure become due by August 15 the year following the disqualification. Example 2: The taxpayer had received a delay of foreclosure when applying for the Senior Citizen Deferral program. The account was disqualified on July 15, 2008. The taxpayer has until August 15, 2009 to pay both the amounts due to the county for the delinquent taxes, interest any other charges that were subject to the delay of foreclosure and amounts due to the Department of Revenue for the deferred property taxes, and applicable interest and other charges.