Chaffee County, CO tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Chaffee County, seat of Salida: 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 Chaffee County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Chaffee County Treasurer
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Annual, in early November at 10:00 a.m. The Treasurer's statutory sale notice reads: "PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT I WILL, ACCORDING TO LAW, OFFER AT PUBLIC SALE IN THE CHAFFEE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING ROOM, 104 CRESTONE AVENUE, SALIDA, COLORADO, ON THE SECOND DAY OF NOVEMBER A.D. 2023. COMMENCING AT THE HOUR OF TEN O'CLOCK A.M. OF SAID DAY, THE TAX LIENS ON THE FOLLOWING DESCRIBED REAL ESTATE, SITUATE IN SAID COUNTY ON WHICH TAXES FOR THE YEAR 2022 HAVE NOT BEEN PAID." Treasurer's deed notices confirm the same early-November pattern in other years: the county sold liens at public tax lien sale on November 7, 2019 and on November 5, 2020. The notice is published three times in the fall, and the 2023 notice was published September 28, October 5 and October 12, 2023. Confirm the current year's date with the Treasurer's office.
- Next expected
- by the second Monday in December, 2026 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Registration and deposit
Neither the Treasurer's website nor the published sale notice sets out bidder registration steps, deposit amounts, or payment terms. Because the sale is conducted in person at the county building in Salida, register directly with the Chaffee County Treasurer. Call 719-539-6808 ahead of the sale to confirm what identification, funds, and paperwork bidders must bring.
Chaffee County runs its tax lien sale in person, not online. The Treasurer's statutory notice places the sale in the Chaffee County Board of Commissioners Meeting Room at 104 Crestone Avenue, Salida, Colorado, starting at 10:00 a.m. No online bidding platform is confirmed for this county, so verify the format with the Treasurer's office before you plan a trip. Note one misleading signal: a subdomain at chaffee.coloradotaxsale.com does resolve, but it serves Realauction's generic corporate homepage rather than any Chaffee County auction, so treat it as unrelated to this sale. The sale covers three categories in one notice: general real estate, severed mineral interests, and certified special assessments, specifically Buena Vista Sanitation District sanitation assessments and City of Salida water and sewer assessments. The county does not host a tax lien sale page or a current delinquent list on its website. The list reaches investors through the statutory notice published in the county's newspaper of record each fall, so request the current list from the Treasurer's office. The Treasurer's site states the sale carries a buyer beware warning and that eventual transfer of deed has occurred in less than 2 percent of Chaffee County purchases.
Tax 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)
Notes for Chaffee County
- Office hours listed on the Treasurer's page are Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with the office closed Friday.
- The county website lists Jolene Ellis as Chaffee County Treasurer. The 2023 and 2024 statutory notices were signed by Dee Dee Copper as Treasurer, so signatures on older notices carry a different name.
- The Chaffee County Treasurer also holds the office of Public Trustee and handles releases of deeds of trust and foreclosures on deeds of trust.
- The Treasurer's page states the annual percentage rate is set at nine points above the Federal discount rate as of September 1, as determined by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and that the rate at the time of tax sale is fixed for the life of the certificate.
- The Treasurer's page states a Treasurer's deed may be issued three years from the original date of sale, that the certificate holder must surrender the original certificate and file a deed application, and that a $500 deposit is required to cover advertising, certified mail, title search, and legal fees.
- After July 1 each year, certificate holders have first option to endorse subsequent unpaid years onto the original certificate at the same guaranteed rate of return, per the Treasurer's page.
- Redemption can occur until a Treasurer's deed is issued or until 15 years from the date of sale, whichever comes first, per the Treasurer's page.
- Property tax payment deadlines posted for 2026 are first half March 16, second half June 15, and full payment April 30.
- The county's tax lien sale is not listed on any online auction platform the research could verify, and the county site has no sale-specific page, which is why data quality is medium rather than high.
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 Chaffee County, Colorado sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Chaffee County follows Colorado's tax lien state system.
When is the Chaffee County tax certificate sale?
- Annual, in early November at 10:00 a.m. The Treasurer's statutory sale notice reads: "PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT I WILL, ACCORDING TO LAW, OFFER AT PUBLIC SALE IN THE CHAFFEE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING ROOM, 104 CRESTONE AVENUE, SALIDA, COLORADO, ON THE SECOND DAY OF NOVEMBER A.D. 2023. COMMENCING AT THE HOUR OF TEN O'CLOCK A.M. OF SAID DAY, THE TAX LIENS ON THE FOLLOWING DESCRIBED REAL ESTATE, SITUATE IN SAID COUNTY ON WHICH TAXES FOR THE YEAR 2022 HAVE NOT BEEN PAID." Treasurer's deed notices confirm the same early-November pattern in other years: the county sold liens at public tax lien sale on November 7, 2019 and on November 5, 2020. The notice is published three times in the fall, and the 2023 notice was published September 28, October 5 and October 12, 2023. Confirm the current year's date with the Treasurer's office.. 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 Chaffee 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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