PORTLAND, Ore. - Facing foreclosure is one of the scariest things that can happen to a homeowner.

In February, about 3,600 Oregon homeowners received foreclosure notices.
    
But could three simple words – “produce the note” - give the little guy a fighting chance against foreclosure?

In some cases, the bank has to prove it owns your home before they can foreclose. But almost half the time banks don't have that critical paperwork.
    
So some homeowners are fighting foreclosure by making the lenders “produce the note,” which is a short way of saying banks needs to prove they legally own the mortgage on the home.

But it’s not a foolproof strategy, and it can be expensive to pursue.

Jacci O'Brien was behind on her mortgage following a death in her family overseas. When she came back and fought foreclosure, she discovered the bank filed a motion for "lost instruments.” It had to prove it owned her house.

"I think the note has been sold so many times and they've become very sloppy with their paperwork, it could be in a dumpster somewhere for all I know," she said.

O’Brien lives in Florida where the "produce the note" technique has taken off for delaying or halting the foreclosure process.
    
But the owner of a southeast Portland home who's also facing foreclosure and ironically is a mortgage broker who's business dried up, wondered if the  “produce the note" tactic would work in Oregon.
    
He asked that KATU News conceal his real identity and identify him as "Mike."

"I'm not some deadbeat who's not making my mortgage payment; I’m desperate to do anything. Deliver pizza, dig ditches, I don't care,” Mike told KATU News.

His attorney is perhaps the first to try the "produce the note" technique in a court in Oregon. The bank's attorney protested.
 
Attorney Rich Parker of Portland said the bank’s lawyer tried to work around the problem, asking the judge "why do I need it and it's really a burden, and if I’m going to do this, can't I have someone look at the note in the warehouse and then sign an affidavit that I’ve seen the note?"

Katherine Porter, Associate Professor at the University of Iowa, said a recent study shows banks are losing documents at an astounding rate.

“What we found is banks failed to attach a copy of the promissory note… the evidence the consumer owes the debt... in 40 percent of the situations," Porter said.

But if homeowners are facing foreclosure in Oregon and Washington, simply telling your bank on the phone to "produce the note" probably won't scare them off.

In Oregon, foreclosures are usually just between the homeowner and the bank. They don't usually involve the courts as they do in other states.

In order to even have the chance to use the "produce the note" technique, basically, you have to sue the bank, according to  Parker.

"You have to bring an affirmative lawsuit on your own to say, ”I want to stop this, I want an injunction, I want my day in court, I want this looked at,”” Parker explained.

Suing a bank can be expensive, a tough decision for anyone struggling with a mortgage already.

In the case he argued in Portland, Parker said the judge ignored the request to make the bank "produce the note,” saying it was clear the homeowner owed the money.

Foreclosure proceedings continued in that case.

"What I'm after is an honest fighting chance at my own personal economic recovery,” homeowner Mike told KATU News.

Critics complain it's an underhanded way to keep from paying what debtors know they owe. But Rich Parker says his peers are discussing trying to use the "produce the note" tactic more often.