Kings County, CA tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Kings County, seat of Hanford: 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 Kings County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
Details are being verified for this county.
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Kings County Treasurer-Tax Collector, part of the Kings County Finance Department. The Bid4Assets storefront is headed "County of Kings, California Treasurer-Tax Collector, Tax Defaulted Properties Auction" and the 2017 storefront states "The Treasurer-Tax Collector's Office of Kings County, California is offering 64 tax defaulted properties for auction online."
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- March, when a sale is held. Verified Bid4Assets storefronts show bidding that ran "March 10, 2017 at 11:00 AM ET (8:00 AM PT)" to "March 14, 2017", "March 8, 2019" to "March 12, 2019", and "March 11, 2022 at 11:00 AM ET (8:00 AM PT)" to "March 15, 2022 Closing times vary; check Auctions for details." Each sale set a deposit deadline on the Monday roughly a week before bidding opened. Kings County does not appear on the current Bid4Assets county tax sale schedule, so the county sells only when it has enough power-to-sell parcels. Confirm the next sale date with the Tax Collector before planning.
Registration and deposit
Online only, through Bid4Assets. Create a free Bid4Assets account, which the storefront says "is required to participate in any county tax sale." Kings County additionally requires prospective bidders to complete their vesting information before deposit instructions unlock. A single $5,000 deposit plus a $35 non-refundable processing fee covers every parcel in the sale, and it must reach Bid4Assets by the published deposit deadline (4:00 PM ET / 1:00 PM PT on the Monday before the sale in past years). Only certified check, money order, or wire transfer are accepted; ACH, direct deposit, credit card, and money transfers are rejected. Allow up to 48 business hours for deposit acknowledgment. Deposits from non-winning bidders are refunded by eCheck within 10 business days after the auction closes.
California sells the deed, not a lien, so Kings County offers tax-defaulted parcels at public auction. The county page states taxes "can remain unpaid for a maximum of five years following their tax default, at which time your property becomes subject to the power of sale," meaning the property "will be sold at a public auction or acquired by a public agency" unless redeemed before the sale date. Redemption before the sale requires all delinquent taxes, a 10% penalty per unpaid installment, a $20 administrative charge per delinquent year, monthly penalties of 1.5% of unpaid taxes, and a $30 redemption fee, plus extra fees once the parcel is subject to power to sell. Past Kings County sales were run as no-reserve auctions with opening bids as low as $600 (2017), $500 (2019), and $2,500 (2022); parcel counts were 64, 19, and 20 respectively. No buyer's premium is stated on the Kings County storefront. The county's own Tax Sale page currently covers only excess proceeds claims under Revenue and Taxation Code section 4674, and claims must be postmarked within 12 months of recordation of the tax sale deed. Bid4Assets lists [email protected] as the county contact for questions about the assets. The California State Controller's public auction page links Kings County directly to this county Tax Sale page.
Register on Bid4AssetsCounty offices
Notes for Kings County
- County seat is Hanford. The Tax Collector sits inside the Kings County Finance Department at the Government Center, Building 7, 1400 W. Lacey Blvd., Hanford, CA 93230.
- Tax Collector counter hours are Monday through Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Phone is (559) 852-2479 and email is [email protected].
- Excess proceeds claims go to Kings County Finance Department, Attn: Property Tax Manager, 1400 W. Lacey Blvd., Hanford, CA 93230, and must be postmarked within 12 months of recordation of the tax sale deed.
- The county's Tax Sale page carries no sale calendar or parcel list right now, so the Bid4Assets storefront is the only place the auction dates, deposit amount, and parcel list appear.
- Kings County is absent from the current Bid4Assets county tax sale schedule. The most recent verified Kings County sale on the platform closed in March 2022, and prior sales ran in March 2019 and March 2017, so the county sells on an irregular multi-year cycle.
- Both countyofkingsca.gov and countyofkings.com serve the same county site; countyofkings.com redirects to countyofkingsca.gov.
- The county website blocks automated fetching at the Akamai edge, so verification required a real browser session.
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 Kings County, California sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Kings County follows California's tax deed state system.
How often does Kings 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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