Colorado tax sales

Where your money goes

1. Sale day

   You pay the taxes, delinquent interest and costs on the parcel, plus any premium you bid. C.R.S. §39-11-115

2. While you wait

   You receive nothing until the owner redeems. Redemption is paid to the County Treasurer, who then pays you the taxes you paid plus the accrued interest. The redemption interest rate is set each year: ten points above the federal discount rate on September 1, rounded to the nearest whole percent. The rate of the year you buy stays with the certificate for its life. Interest is simple, not compounded, and accrues from the sale date until the day the owner redeems. C.R.S. §39-12-103 · C.R.S. §39-12-103(3)

3. When the owner redeems

   The County Treasurer pays you the taxes, interest and costs you covered at the sale, plus the redemption interest. The premium you pay above the taxes is kept by the county and is not returned when the owner redeems. No interest is paid on the premium. Interest accrues only on the taxes, delinquent interest and costs you paid at the sale. C.R.S. §39-11-115

4. Later tax years

   After the sale you may pay later years' delinquent taxes on the same parcel and have them endorsed on your certificate. Endorsed subsequent taxes earn the certificate's own rate from the day you pay them. C.R.S. §39-11-119

5. If nobody redeems

   After 3 years the deed step opens. The next panel follows it. C.R.S. §39-11-120(1)

A worked example appears here once the current year's rate is read from an official county notice. Until then, use the rate printed in the notice of the sale you are bidding in.

If the owner never pays

1. Years 0 to 3

   You may apply to the County Treasurer for the deed step only after three years from the date of the sale. The owner, or anyone with an interest in the parcel, can redeem at any time until a treasurer's deed is issued, including during the three-year holding period and after you apply for the deed. C.R.S. §39-11-120(1) · C.R.S. §39-12-103(1)

2. You apply

   Since July 1, 2024 the treasurer no longer issues a deed to the lienholder directly. After notice, the treasurer holds a public auction of a certificate of option for treasurer's deed, and the deed follows from that. The deed step runs through the County Treasurer, not a court. C.R.S. §39-11-120 et seq., as amended by HB24-1056 · C.R.S. §39-11-120

3. Notice and title work

   Before the auction the treasurer orders a title search and gives notice to the owner, the occupants and every lienholder of record, by certified mail and by publication. C.R.S. §39-11-128, as amended 2024

4. Public auction

   Outside bidders can buy the certificate of option at the treasurer's public auction. If one of them wins, you are paid off. If there is no qualifying bid, you may proceed to a treasurer's deed. HB24-1056 (2024)

5. Afterwards

   Auction proceeds above the lien payoff, the costs and the liens of record belong to the former owner, not to you. A certificate on which no deed step has been started expires fifteen years after the sale, and the lien is extinguished with it. HB24-1056 (2024) · C.R.S. §39-11-148

Two ways to play Colorado

What to check before you bid

• Title and recorded liens, including federal tax liens, which can survive a tax sale
• Mortgages, and whether the lender is likely to redeem
• Bankruptcy filings against the owner
• HOA, municipal and utility balances, and special assessments
• Occupancy: owner, tenant or vacant
• Legal access, easements and road frontage
• Zoning, land use, and any demolition or code orders
• Floodplain and environmental conditions
• Property value against the tax balance and any premium
• Other delinquent years on the same parcel
• Whether the parcel was redeemed or withdrawn before the sale
• The county's own registration, deposit and payment rules for this sale

Colorado in particular

• Buying the lien does not give you the property. Three years on, the treasurer auctions the deed option publicly and another bidder may take it; you are paid off, not deeded. HB24-1056 (2024)
• Premium bidding can erase the return. The premium is kept by the county and earns nothing, so a high premium on a lien that redeems within months loses money. C.R.S. §39-11-115
• The rate is set every September and applies to that year's sale. Read the county's sale notice for the current figure before you bid. C.R.S. §39-12-103(3)

Common practice, not statute: A treasurer's deed is not a warranty deed. Buyers who mean to resell or insure the title commonly file a quiet title action first.