Oregon Active Military Service Member’s Exemption Claimed By Lawful Occupant

# (1)

(1) "Qualifying duty" means:

(a) An Oregon resident is serving in the Oregon National Guard, military reserve forces, or other U.S. state's or territory's organized militia;

(b) The individual has been ordered to federal active duty under Title 10 United States Code (USC), or a deployment under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact;

(c) The individual was ordered or deployed on or after January 1, 2005; and

(d) The period of ordered active duty service exceeds 178 consecutive days.

# (2)

(2) A qualifying service member's homestead:

(a) Must be the qualifying service member's principal residence that is located in Oregon;

(b) Must be owned by the qualifying service member prior to July 1 of the tax year for which exemption is claimed;

(c) May be a personal property manufactured structure or a residential floating structure as defined in ORS 308.290; and

(d) Includes land under a manufactured structure if the land is owned by the qualifying service member.

# (3)

(3) A lawful occupant is an individual who is using the qualifying service member's homestead as his or her principal residence at the time the claim is filed.

(a) The lawful occupant is not required to hold an ownership interest in the homestead.

(b) A lawful occupant may include, but is not limited to, a qualifying service member's: spouse, parent, adult child, or other relative; domestic partner; or roommate. A neighbor or caretaker, who has a key to the qualifying service member's homestead, but for whom the homestead is not a principal residence, does not qualify as a lawful occupant.

# (4)

(4) The lawful occupant may claim the homestead exemption if the service member would otherwise qualify for this exemption but died while performing the qualifying duty during the current or prior tax year and before filing a claim.

(a) An individual claiming to be a lawful occupant must attach documentation to the claim for exemption that demonstrates the homestead is his or her principal residence at the time claim is made. The county assessor may require more than one piece of documentation.

(b) Documentation may include, but is not limited to, a valid driver's license, passport, election registration card, or the most recent property tax statement for the homestead.