Rule 5.Jurisdiction (In Rem)

Some lawsuits are not about compelling a particular person to do or pay something — they are about determining rights in a piece of property or a legal status. Rule 5 gives Oregon courts a separate kind of authority for those cases: jurisdiction “in rem,” meaning jurisdiction over the property or status itself rather than personal jurisdiction over a defendant under Rule 4. That authority still depends on proper notice — a judgment in rem can affect a defendant’s interest in the property or status at issue only if the defendant has been served with summons under Rule 7 or another applicable rule or statute.

Rule 5 recognizes two situations. Section A covers actions where the property itself — real or personal, located in Oregon — is the subject of the case, and a defendant has or claims a lien or interest in it, or the plaintiff is asking to exclude the defendant from an interest or lien in it. This section reaches even an unknown defendant, which matters in disputes over title where every possible claimant needs to be bound by the result. Section B covers actions to foreclose, redeem from, or satisfy a mortgage, claim, or lien on Oregon real property — the kind of case a lender or lienholder brings to enforce rights against a specific parcel rather than to collect a personal debt from a specific person.