oregon real estate and foreclosure laws, do both spouses have to sign 2nd mortgage loan documents

A mortgage normally requres the signatures of all owners of property to be valid. However, unless you raise the issue of your lack of execution of the mortgage properly, the foreclosure will go forward. You need an attorney, and quickly, to raise this issue and to stop the private party from going forward.

The National Association of Consumer Advocates has members in every state listed on its web site, www.naca.net

You state that both of you signed the original trust deed, but you do not say that you are both on the original deed as co-owners of the property. If you are not an owner, your wife is capable of encumbering the property alone. If you are an owner, she can encumber only her interest.

If you own the property jointly, as husband and wife, ultimate ownership is not determined until one of you dies, which makes the matter rather complicated. As suggested, get an attorney on this right away.

Just to clarify terminology: Your wife signed a promissory note. This is not a recordable document, so if she secured the note with her interest in the home, she must have signed a 'deed of trust/trust deed.' There is a very good chance that the private party did not properly disclose the terms of the loan. The lender may be subject to federal or stateTruth in Lending/RESPA type mandatory disclosures including a 3 day right to cancel. The 3 day right to cancel timeframe does not start until she receives the mandated 2 copies. Both the form and content are very precise, a Good Faith Estimate of costs and fees, servicing transfer disclosures, etc....

Violation of these disclosure laws, either federal or state, can result in legal rescission or cancellation of the security interest in the home, attorney fees, damages, etc... but you must stop the non-judicial foreclosure process and the sooner the better either by payment of the debt or filing a suit in federal or state court. Do not loose your rights by sitting on them.

If she is on title, she has the authority to obligate and secure loans against her interest in that property. Conventional lenders-bank/credit unions-will not lend on partial interest securities due to the illiquidity of the loan.