Archuleta County, CO tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Archuleta County, seat of Pagosa Springs: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
Verified Jul 30, 2026 against official county and state sources.
New here? Read how Colorado tax sales work, the difference between a lien and a deed, and redemption periods.
How Archuleta County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Archuleta County Treasurer
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Early November, online over roughly five weeks. The county states: "The 2025 Tax Lien Sale will be conducted on Thursday, November 6, 2025." The bidding rules add that "The website will open for research and deposits beginning 10/01/2025. Formal Bidding and modification of bids begins 10/01/2025 and can be done up till the closing hour of each batch on the last day of the tax lien sale (11/06/2025)." Owners avoid the sale by paying with certified funds "by 4:00 p.m. on Monday, November 3, 2025." Confirm each year's date with the Treasurer, since the county had not yet posted a 2026 date at the time of review.
- Next expected
- by the second Monday in December, 2026 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Registration and deposit
Register online at the county auction site, which the Treasurer describes as going live October 1. Every buyer must register to participate, and lien purchasers must complete an IRS W-9 at the time of registration. A 10% deposit of total intended winnings is required by ACH transfer, due 10/27/2025 at 2:00 PM MT for the 2025 sale. The site also carries the bidding rules and RealAuction webinar training signup.
Premium bid sale. The minimum starting bid equals unpaid taxes, interest, penalties and fees, bid increments are one dollar, and premiums are never returned and draw no interest. Redeemed certificates pay 4.5% over the Federal Reserve Discount Rate as of September 2, so certificates from the 2025 sale earn 14%. A Treasurer's Deed may be applied for three years after the sale date if the lien stays unredeemed, and liens expire after 15 years. County employees, officials, their immediate families and their agents cannot buy liens at this sale. The Treasurer publishes a separate County Held Liens PDF listing liens available for purchase outside the annual auction. The short domain www.archuletataxsale.com printed in the newspaper notice redirects to the same RealAuction site; www.archuletatax.com is the county's property tax lookup, not the auction.
Register on RealAuctionTax deed sale
- Run by
- County Treasurer
- Frequency
- on application
- Typical timing
- There is no fixed calendar. A public auction is scheduled only when a certificate holder applies for one, at least three years after the tax lien sale, and the treasurer must hold it between 110 and 125 calendar days after the known interested party notice is first published or mailed.
Registration and deposit
What sells is a certificate of option for treasurer's deed, not the parcel outright. The treasurer may only accept bids above the combined amount owed to the lawful holder plus the treasurer's fees and costs. County officials, county employees acting in their individual capacity, and their immediate family members may not bid. Payment is by cash, cashier's check, bank check, or electronic funds transfer subject to the treasurer's bidding rules. Any overbid goes to junior lienors who filed a notice of intent to redeem and then to the property owner. Confirm the notice, the bidding rules, and the auction venue with the county treasurer.
This Article 11.5 process replaced direct deed issuance on July 1, 2024. Colorado does not hold a routine calendar tax deed sale, so treat this as an occasional, application-driven auction rather than a recurring event.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
Liens that draw no bid are struck off to the county and the treasurer issues the county a certificate of purchase. The county may then assign, sell, or transfer those certificates in the manner, at the times, and on the terms set by resolution of the board of county commissioners, which is how county-held liens are sold between annual auctions. A certificate on property owing more than ten thousand dollars in taxes needs the property tax administrator's approval after published notice. Whether a county maintains a published county-held list, and on what terms, varies. Contact the county treasurer.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
305 Village Dr, Pagosa Springs, CO 81147 (mailing: P.O. Box 790, Pagosa Springs, CO 81147)
Official websiteNotes for Archuleta County
- The Treasurer is Elsa P. White. The office moved to 305 Village Dr in Pagosa Springs and is open Monday through Thursday, 7:00 am to 5:00 pm.
- The 2025 sale covered tax year 2024 and prior years. The published newspaper sequence is followed as closely as possible, except that prior-year liens are listed last on the sale site and grouped with current-year taxes where applicable.
- Subsequent taxes: if the owner does not pay future taxes before July 1 each year, the certificate holder is notified and may pay them, with the payment endorsed onto the lien at the certificate rate.
- The county's Scheduled Tax Lien Auctions page carries no dates. It exists mainly to tell former owners that surplus funds from a Treasurer's Deed public auction may be due to them, and to warn that purchases are buyer beware and the county will not represent investors in legal proceedings.
Colorado statewide rules
- Redemption
- Redemption may be made at any time before a treasurer's deed is executed, so the practical window runs well past the three-year mark and through the Article 11.5 auction process. The treasurer must hold that public auction between 110 and 125 calendar days after the known interested party notice is first published or mailed, which gives owners and junior lienors a further defined period to pay. A separate rule lets an owner who was under a legal disability when the deed was executed redeem within nine years of the deed being recorded, at 15 percent per year plus the present value of any improvements.
- Deed deposit
- The treasurer may require the applying lawful holder to post a deposit covering the recording fee plus the actual and reasonable cost of administering the auction, and all Article 11.5 fees and costs are chargeable as additional amounts owing under the tax lien. For bidders, the treasurer accepts cash, cashier's check, bank check, or electronic funds transfer subject to the treasurer's bidding rules. The statute sets no fixed bidder deposit percentage, so the deposit terms come from county bidding rules.
- Surplus proceeds
- Any overbid goes first to junior lienors in order of recording priority, measured as of the recording date of the application for public auction, who filed a notice of intent to redeem and whose liens are unredeemed, up to each lien's unpaid amount plus fees and costs. Whatever remains is paid to the property owner. The treasurer must post a public notice about these funds and mail the owner a notice within thirty calendar days of the auction. Unclaimed remaining overbids sit in escrow for six months without interest, then transfer to the state administrator under the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act. An agreement to pay someone to recover an owner's overbid is unenforceable, and inducing one is a class 2 misdemeanor.
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 Archuleta County, Colorado sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Archuleta County follows Colorado's tax lien state system.
When is the Archuleta County tax certificate sale?
- Early November, online over roughly five weeks. The county states: "The 2025 Tax Lien Sale will be conducted on Thursday, November 6, 2025." The bidding rules add that "The website will open for research and deposits beginning 10/01/2025. Formal Bidding and modification of bids begins 10/01/2025 and can be done up till the closing hour of each batch on the last day of the tax lien sale (11/06/2025)." Owners avoid the sale by paying with certified funds "by 4:00 p.m. on Monday, November 3, 2025." Confirm each year's date with the Treasurer, since the county had not yet posted a 2026 date at the time of review.. Registration and bidding happen on the county's online platform. Always confirm the exact date with the Tax Collector before the sale.
How often does Archuleta County hold tax deed sales?
- on application. 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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