Calaveras County, CA tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Calaveras County, seat of San Andreas: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
Verified Jul 27, 2026 against official county and state sources.
New here? Read how California tax sales work, the difference between a lien and a deed, and redemption periods.
How Calaveras County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
Details are being verified for this county.
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Calaveras County Tax Collector / Treasurer's Office (Bid4Assets lists the seller as "County of Calaveras, California Treasurer-Tax Collector")
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- A main tax-defaulted auction in November, followed by a January re-offer auction for parcels that did not sell. The Bid4Assets auction calendar, under a month block marked data-year="2026", lists "Calaveras County, CA Tax Defaulted Properties Auction" for "November 13th - 16th". The most recent completed sale, the January 2026 re-offer, is quoted on the storefront as Starts "January 23, 2026 at 11:00 AM ET (8:00 AM PT)" and Ends "January 26, 2026 Closing times vary; check Auctions for details."
Registration and deposit
Bidding is online only. Create a free Bid4Assets account, which the storefront states "is required to participate in any county tax sale." Calaveras adds a county-specific step: "all perspective bidders MUST fill out their vesting information before they are allowed to access the deposit instructions." A single refundable deposit then covers every parcel in the sale. The January 2026 re-offer required "A single $2,000 deposit (plus a $35 non-refundable processing fee)", due by "4:00 PM ET (1:00 PM PT) Monday, January 22nd, 2026", the day before bidding opened. Deposit amounts are set per sale and are not fixed. Only certified check, money order, or wire transfer are accepted; ACH, direct deposit, credit card, and money transfers are rejected. Full settlement was due by "4:00 PM ET (1:00 PM PT) on Thursday, January 29, 2026", with no exceptions, and default forfeits the deposit.
Calaveras County sells tax-defaulted property at online public auction through Bid4Assets. The county's own FAQ is explicit that there is no offline path: "All bids must be made online at bid4assets.com," and mailed or sealed bids are not accepted. The FAQ also confirms buyers cannot acquire a listed parcel by paying the delinquent taxes beforehand, since "Legal title to tax-defaulted property subject to the tax collector's power to sell can be obtained only by being the successful bidder at the tax sale." The recent cadence is a November main sale plus a January re-offer. County-published results show 13 parcels sold in the November 2025 sale, with prices from $6,700 to $105,200, and 2 parcels sold in the January 2026 re-offer at $30,000 and $9,600. The January 2026 re-offer opened 6 parcels with bids starting as low as $3,600 on no-reserve auctions. Winning bidders pay California documentary transfer tax at $0.55 per $500 of purchase price, plus a $35 per-parcel-won administrative fee, on top of the bid. Parcels sell "AS IS" and the county "makes no guarantee, expressed or implied, relative to the title, location or condition of the properties for sale." The right to redeem ends "at the close of business on the last business day prior to the sale." Title passes under R&T Code section 3712 free of most prior encumbrances, but the FAQ lists carve-outs that survive, including post-sale tax installments, non-consenting taxing agency liens, certain special assessments, recorded easements and restrictions, unpaid Improvement Bond Act of 1915 assessments, undischarged IRS liens, and unpaid Mello-Roos special taxes. Deeds generally record within three weeks to three months. Property-specific questions go to the county at [email protected]; bidding-process questions go to [email protected]. The county Auctions page is a JavaScript document browser, so its file list may not render in simple fetchers.
Register on Bid4AssetsCounty offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
Notes for Calaveras County
- County seat San Andreas. The Tax Collector / Treasurer's Office is at 891 Mountain Ranch Road, Building D, San Andreas, CA 95249, open Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm, closed weekends and holidays. Fax is (209) 754-6355. Lehua Mossa is the current Tax Collector / Treasurer.
- Online only. Bid4Assets is the sole bidding channel; the county FAQ states all bids must be made online at bid4assets.com and that sealed or mailed bids are not accepted.
- Next scheduled sale per the Bid4Assets 2026 calendar: Calaveras County, CA Tax Defaulted Properties Auction, November 13th to 16th, 2026. That calendar row was not yet hyperlinked to a storefront when checked, which indicates the auction was scheduled but not yet live.
- Deposit size varies by sale and should be re-checked each cycle. The January 2026 re-offer required $2,000 plus a $35 processing fee. Publicly indexed material for an earlier Calaveras sale referenced a $2,500 deposit, so do not treat any single figure as permanent.
- Calaveras-specific friction point for investors: vesting information must be submitted before Bid4Assets will release deposit instructions, so budget extra lead time ahead of the deposit deadline.
- Sale advertising follows state law. Per the county FAQ, notice of a tax sale must be published three times in successive seven-day intervals before the sale date in a general-circulation newspaper published in the county.
- Minimum bids are statutory. The FAQ states the minimum price for a parcel offered at public auction for the first time shall be no less than the total amount necessary to redeem the parcel plus costs, and the tax collector may set it higher.
- Excess proceeds are handled by the county, not the platform. The Auctions page hosts an Excess Proceeds Claim Form for the November 2025 sale and general Excess Proceeds Instructions.
- Vacant land is common in this inventory and has no street address. The county FAQ directs buyers to Assessor maps and books for approximate location and notes exact boundaries require a survey at the purchaser's expense, which is a strong fit for pre-bid land due-diligence content.
- The county Auctions page loads its document list via a JavaScript file-browser module, so the PDFs are reachable only by direct URL under /Portals/TaxCollector/Documents/Auction/ when scripting is unavailable.
California statewide rules
- Redemption
- Tax-defaulted property may be redeemed until the right of redemption is terminated (section 4101). That right terminates at the close of business on the last business day prior to the commencement date of the tax sale, and the start of the auction counts as the sale date no matter when bidding closes. A redemption payment sent by mail must be received in the tax collector's office before that deadline. California has no post-sale redemption period: once the auction opens, a record owner who has not redeemed loses all legal and equitable interest in the property. Two situations revive the right of redemption. The right revives if the property is not sold, and it revives on the next business day if the tax collector approved a credit sale and the buyer did not pay in full by the deadline the tax collector set.
- Deed deposit
- The tax collector may require a deposit and must give public notice before the sale of its amount, payment method, and due date, and of whether it is a condition of bidding or applies toward the purchase price. On a sale the tax collector approves as a deferred-payment transaction, the deposit may be $5,000 or 10 percent of the minimum bid price, whichever is greater. Counties set the specific figure, so confirm it on the county page or auction platform.
- Surplus proceeds
- Sale proceeds first cover statutory distributions, then taxes, assessments, and county costs. Anything left is excess proceeds held in the delinquent tax sale trust fund. A party of interest may file a claim at any time before one year after the tax collector's deed to the purchaser is recorded. Distribution runs first to lienholders of record before the tax deed was recorded, in order of their priority, then to persons with title of record. Excess proceeds not claimed within that year may be transferred to the county general fund.
A tax deed does not convey marketable title. Most buyers file a quiet title action before they can resell or insure the property. See the due diligence guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does Calaveras County, California sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Calaveras County follows California's tax deed state system.
How often does Calaveras County hold tax deed sales?
- annual. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.
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