Oregon

UCC filings: Moderate Land records: Moderate

Invalid-encumbrance refuse + owner show-cause + ≥$5k; outside-scope UCC refusal What the badges mean

Last verified: July 27, 2026 — confirm current text on the official site; this date is not a promise the law is unchanged.

General information, not legal advice. Confirm current fees, forms, and deadlines on official government sites, and talk to an attorney about your situation. LienGuardAI does not file anything for you. See Legal Disclaimer & Terms of Use.

Relevant case law: A group of tax protesters filed primitive “Common Law Liens” and related papers with Oregon county clerks — and attempted bank “garnishments” — listing IRS and other federal employees by name, with no court judgment or lawful debt behind them. The United States sued. The District of Oregon held the filings meaningless and void, found they were used to harass officials in their private lives and cloud title, and issued declaratory and injunctive relief to stop the campaign. Verified. (United States v. Van Dyke, 568 F. Supp. 820 (D. Or. 1983).)

This is a plain-language summary of a published judicial opinion, not a complete report of the case. Confirm names, holdings, and procedural posture against the opinion itself.

UCC financing statements

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Search Oregon's UCC records

Free basic search. Oregon SoS public UCC search as Public User; free debtor search without account.

Refusal / removal authority

Oregon lets the filing office refuse a record that on its face is outside the scope of Article 9 (including debtor=secured party / collateral-scope problems). The statute was renumbered in 2025: the current sections are ORS §79A.5160 (formerly §79.0516) and the hearing path in §79A.5200 (formerly §79.0520(5), 20-day request window).

Citations OR §79A.5160 OR §79A.5200

Full citations

Or. Rev. Stat. §79A.5160
Or. Rev. Stat. §79A.5200

The filing office refuses a filing outside Art. 9 on its face; a filer whose record is refused can request a hearing before the Secretary of State within 20 days under §79A.5200.

If it's already filed: Information statement / §79A.5180 / §79A.6250; invalid-encumbrance tools in ORS chapter 205 where they apply.

Real-property liens

ORS §205.450–.470 is a live invalid-claim-of-encumbrance package (NCCL-shaped, not a forged-deed affidavit): no person or county shall accept an invalid encumbrance (§205.455(1)); owner circuit-court show-cause petition that may be ex parte (§205.460); knowing filing → ≥$5,000 or actual plus fees (§205.470). Official/employee duty-based encumbrances need a court order or are invalid; government-attorney notice-of-invalid-encumbrance path clears title for those filings.

Citations OR §205.450 OR §205.455 OR §205.460 OR §205.470

Full citations

Or. Rev. Stat. §205.450–.470
Or. Rev. Stat. §205.455
Or. Rev. Stat. §205.460
Or. Rev. Stat. §205.470

Under §205.455(1) the county clerk can refuse an invalid encumbrance. Private owners may petition under §205.460 (hearing no earlier than 7 days; unavailable vs banks/credit unions/mortgage companies/insurers and vs government officers/agencies). §205.470 provides damages. Officials also have the §205.455 notice path.

If it's already recorded: Show-cause strike/release under §205.460; ≥$5k or actual + fees under §205.470; notice of invalid encumbrance for official-duty filings.

Real-property records are held by the county clerk where the property sits.

Get notified before it happens

A free "property fraud alert" service is available in at least part of Oregon — it emails or mails you whenever a document gets recorded against your name, so you find out right away instead of months later. Sign up for Multnomah County Property Recording Alert Service →

Oregon's largest county (Portland). Deschutes, Columbia, and Douglas Counties run separate comparable programs.

If you're a government official or employee

Official/employee duty-based encumbrances are invalid without a court order; designated government counsel may file a notice of invalid encumbrance that clears title under §205.455.

Citation OR §205.455

Full citation

Or. Rev. Stat. §§205.455, 205.465

How this usually works in Oregon

A summary of the tools Oregon law and filing offices provide — general information, not instructions for your facts. Confirm current practice with the filing office and talk to an attorney about your situation.

1Oregon's free public UCC search is linked on this page.
2§79A.5160 (renumbered from §79.0516 in 2025) addresses UCC filings that are outside Article 9 on their face.
3For an invalid encumbrance on land, §205.455(1) provides refusal and §205.460 a show-cause proceeding, in addition to the officials-only notice path. (§205.445 is not the relevant section.)
4The §79A.5200 hearing, requested within 20 days, is for a filer contesting a UCC refusal.

What to expect

Oregon's outside-scope UCC refusal and chapter 205 encumbrance package (including private owner show-cause) are real (UCC sections renumbered in 2025). Confirm the current fee on the state's official site — filing and search fees change and are not published here.

Sources: the LienGuardAI fifty-state survey and UCC search portal review (How we verify). No dollar fee amounts are published here — always confirm the current fee on the state's own site.