Dolores County, CO tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Dolores County, seat of Dove Creek: 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 Dolores County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Dolores County Treasurer & Public Trustee
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Late fall, most recently early November. The county's published notice is headed "2024 DELINQUENT REAL PROPERTY TAXES / TAX LIEN SALE, NOVEMBER 5th, 2025" and states the Treasurer will "offer at a public sale at the office of the Treasurer of the County of Dolores and State of Colorado, 409 N. Main Street, Dove Creek, Colorado on the 5th DAY OF NOVEMBER, A.D., 2025." The Treasurer's public notices page now reads "Tax Lien Sale / Sale Concluded November 5, 2025." The county's registration form explains that parcels "are advertised in the Cortez Journal for 3 consecutive weeks as well as listed on the Dolores County website under the Treasurer's Public Notices page," and that "This typically happens in October or November." The 2025 list ran October 1, 8, and 15. Bidding "will begin at 10:00 a.m. on the date advertised for the sale." Confirm the next 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
Pre-registration is required and is due before the morning of the sale. The Treasurer's public notices page states that to attend any listed auction or sale "you must be register no later than 2 p.m. the day before." Registration means completing the county's Tax Lien Sale Registration Form and Declaration of Statutory Compliance plus an IRS Form W-9, both posted as PDFs on the public notices page. Each registered bidder is assigned a bidder number that "must be received prior to sale to confirm that you have registered properly." County officials, county employees, and members of their immediate families are barred from bidding under C.R.S. 39-11-151. Forms and questions go to the Treasurer's office at 970-677-2386.
Dolores County runs its tax lien sale in person, not online. The Treasurer states that "All Dolores County Treasurer & Public Trustee auctions & sales are held in person at Dolores County Courthouse, 409 Main Street, Dove Creek, CO," and the Treasurer page repeats that "The Dolores County Tax Lien Sale is held at the Dolores County Courthouse." No online auction platform is used, so plan to attend or send a representative. Three separate delinquent lists are published each year: real estate, mines, and oil, gas and other minerals. The county warns that these lists are not updated after publication, so call the office to confirm a parcel is still in the sale. Bidding method: each lien is offered in number sequence and sold to the bidder who offers the base amount of taxes, interest and fees, with the highest bid winning when more than one bidder competes. Premium bid above the taxes earns no interest and is not refunded on redemption. Legal descriptions are handed to bidders on paper rather than read aloud. Liens that draw no bid are struck off to the county and can be bought later over the counter. A certificate of purchase is a lien only, not ownership, and stays valid for 15 years. Certificate holders can endorse the following year's unpaid taxes onto the certificate after August 1 at the same rate. Redemption runs three years from the sale. The rate is set annually by the Colorado Banking Commission at nine points above the September 1 federal discount rate; the 2025 sale notice cites 14 percent per annum. Under Colorado House Bill 24-1056, a treasurer's deed is no longer issued automatically to the lien holder: the option to obtain the deed is auctioned, opening at the lien amount plus Treasurer fees and costs, and that auction is also held in person at the courthouse. The county posted five treasurer's deed auction notices for September 16, 2026. In-person live auction at the Dolores County Courthouse, no online bidding platform
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 Dolores County
- Dolores County's elected Treasurer also serves as Public Trustee, so the same office handles tax lien sales, treasurer's deed auctions, and deed of trust foreclosures.
- Office hours are Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Fax is 970-677-2946 and email is [email protected].
- The Treasurer at the time of the November 5, 2025 sale was Taylor L. Funk.
- To keep a property out of the sale, payment had to reach the office by 2:00 p.m. on November 3, 2025, two days before the November 5 sale.
- A certificate of purchase can be assigned to another investor using the county's Request for Tax Lien Sale Certificate Assignment; an assignee who is not already registered must complete the same new bidder paperwork.
- The county's official website is dolocnty.colorado.gov. The similar-looking domain dolorescounty.com is a parked domain listed for sale and is not the county.
- Delinquent list publication runs in the Cortez Journal, described on the Treasurer page as The Journal, for three consecutive weeks before the sale.
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 Dolores County, Colorado sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Dolores County follows Colorado's tax lien state system.
When is the Dolores County tax certificate sale?
- Late fall, most recently early November. The county's published notice is headed "2024 DELINQUENT REAL PROPERTY TAXES / TAX LIEN SALE, NOVEMBER 5th, 2025" and states the Treasurer will "offer at a public sale at the office of the Treasurer of the County of Dolores and State of Colorado, 409 N. Main Street, Dove Creek, Colorado on the 5th DAY OF NOVEMBER, A.D., 2025." The Treasurer's public notices page now reads "Tax Lien Sale / Sale Concluded November 5, 2025." The county's registration form explains that parcels "are advertised in the Cortez Journal for 3 consecutive weeks as well as listed on the Dolores County website under the Treasurer's Public Notices page," and that "This typically happens in October or November." The 2025 list ran October 1, 8, and 15. Bidding "will begin at 10:00 a.m. on the date advertised for the sale." Confirm the next 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 Dolores 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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