Delta County, CO tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Delta County, seat of Delta: 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 Delta County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Delta County Treasurer's Office
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- The county states: "The annual tax lien sale will be held online on the first Thursday in November, beginning at 8:00 a.m. MST on the Zeus Auction website." The 2025 sale ran on November 6, 2025 with a registration window of October 24 to 31, 2025.
- Next expected
- by the second Monday in December, 2026 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
- Sale list
- Delinquent Property Tax Sale List
Registration and deposit
Registration is handled entirely through SRI on the Zeus Auction site. Bidders register once as a member of the auction system, then register separately for each county auction. The county requires a W-9 plus the Tax Sale Registration and Declaration of Statutory Compliance form, completed in the secure auction system and signed electronically, and every bidder must enter checking account information because winning bids are collected by ACH. SRI forwards registrations to the Delta County Treasurer for approval. Registration opens for one week beginning two weeks before the sale date, and the county states that no late registrations are allowed.
The sale is an internet auction administered by SRI Incorporated, with liens broken into random batches. Bidding opens at 8 a.m., the first batch is scheduled to close at 11 a.m., and further batches close every 30 minutes until all original batches have closed. A final batch of unsold parcels is scheduled to close at 3 p.m., and each certificate shows its own closing time. Bidding is a silent auction with proxy bids and a $1.00 bid increment; the opening bid covers taxes, penalties, interest, costs due the county and the auction fee. Any amount bid above the starting bid is premium, is not part of the lien, and is not returned if the parcel redeems. Payment is by ACH only, submitted after the last batch closes, and a bidder who fails to pay can be barred from future sales for up to five years under C.R.S. 39-11-116. Parcels that do not sell are struck off to the county, and strike-off lists are posted on the county site and in the Treasurer's office. Owners can pay and pull a parcel from the sale up to two days before the sale date. The county posts the delinquent list in its Document Center and updates it annually in September, and the auction site carries a weekly updated listing after newspaper publication. Questions about the auction platform go to SRI at 1-800-800-9588; questions about registration with the county go to the Treasurer at 970-874-2135.
Register on SRI / ZEUSTax 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 Delta County
- Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Fax is 970-874-2141 and email is [email protected].
- Mailed property tax payments go to a separate remittance address: Delta County Treasurer, PO Box 580, Grand Junction, CO 81502-0580. The Treasurer's office itself is at 501 Palmer Street, Suite 202, Delta.
- The county published a 14 percent rate for the 2025 lien sale and explains that the rate is set at 9 points above the Federal Reserve discount rate on September 1 each year, so the rate changes annually.
- Delta County also runs a separate County-Owned Property Sale on the same Zeus Auction platform, with its own rules page and a property list updated each February. Do not confuse it with the tax lien sale.
- Account prefixes on the lien list identify the asset type: N for mineral rights, M for manufactured homes, R for real property. Mineral and manufactured home liens are common in this county, so confirm what the account actually covers before bidding.
- The county warns that a purchased lien with an existing senior lien older than 2012 will require paying off the senior lien holders if the buyer later applies for a Treasurer's deed.
- Certificates are held electronically at the Treasurer's office and buyers receive an emailed list of the liens they purchased.
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 Delta County, Colorado sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Delta County follows Colorado's tax lien state system.
When is the Delta County tax certificate sale?
- The county states: "The annual tax lien sale will be held online on the first Thursday in November, beginning at 8:00 a.m. MST on the Zeus Auction website." The 2025 sale ran on November 6, 2025 with a registration window of October 24 to 31, 2025.. 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 Delta 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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